HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Regional Sections > Canada


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #21  
Old Posted Feb 8, 2018, 10:58 PM
SignalHillHiker's Avatar
SignalHillHiker SignalHillHiker is offline
I ♣ Baby Seals
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Sin Jaaawnz, Newf'nland
Posts: 34,641
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty_Mcfly View Post
*Terra Nova and Labrador
Ooh, that's a good one. Most Canadians assume it's La bras d'or (the Golden Arm) in French, because that's their frame of reference.

But it's named for Portuguese explorer João Fernandes Lavrador, OR the name for a type of tool used on boats in that language. Europeans generally accept the former as historically proven, whereas we ourselves lend some credence to the latter. The reason for the discrepancy is that, according to our NL/Canada historians, "Labrador" originally referred to Greenland in the late 1400s and early 1500s. But either way, it's a Portuguese name, like basically every early place name in Newfoundland - and it was all resolved in the early 1500s so the name Labrador was already attributed to Labrador before there were French people in North America - so I don't see what the issue is.
__________________
Note to self: "The plural of anecdote is not evidence."

Last edited by SignalHillHiker; Feb 9, 2018 at 1:34 AM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 1:06 AM
Blader Blader is offline
Calgary Martindale
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Saskatoon-Toronto-Calgary
Posts: 889
Quote:
Originally Posted by geotag277 View Post
Regina SK's original name is "Pile O' Bones", from the Cree "oskana kâ-asastêki", due to buffalo bones being piled on the banks of a creek.
If Regina wanted to be noticed on the world stage they should change the city name to the original. That would require broad shoulders and a sense of humor while still staying true to its origins. Regina doesn't do that.I'm thinking of it being ranked with the likes of Kathmandu, Timbuktu.
Just a notion from a guy living in Calgary. Oh, globally known as Okotoks.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #23  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 1:10 AM
Andy6's Avatar
Andy6 Andy6 is offline
Starring as himself
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Toronto Yorkville
Posts: 9,739
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blader View Post
If Regina wanted to be noticed on the world stage they should change the city name to the original. That would require broad shoulders and a sense of humor while still staying true to its origins. Regina doesn't do that.I'm thinking of it being ranked with the likes of Kathmandu, Timbuktu.
Just a notion from a guy living in Calgary. Oh, globally known as Okotoks.
Moose Jaw is at least a specific bone.

Such worldwide recognition as Regina has comes (like Nantucket) from its usefulness in limericks, so you wouldn't want to risk losing that.
__________________
crispy crunchy light and snappy
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #24  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 1:15 AM
Andy6's Avatar
Andy6 Andy6 is offline
Starring as himself
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Toronto Yorkville
Posts: 9,739
"Winnipeg" means "muddy water", which makes eminent good sense, given the appearance of the Red River. At least it seems to until you realize that the name was applied to Lake Winnipeg much earlier and only used for the settlement when "Red River" needed a fancier name on being turned into a city in 1873. Lake Winnipeg was known as Lac Bourbon in the French days.
__________________
crispy crunchy light and snappy
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #25  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 1:41 AM
SignalHillHiker's Avatar
SignalHillHiker SignalHillHiker is offline
I ♣ Baby Seals
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Sin Jaaawnz, Newf'nland
Posts: 34,641
One more favourite...

Cape Spear just outside St. John's. "Most Easterly Point in North America" (not counting Greenland because who does?).

Cape Spear by Dave Jackson, on Flickr

It's another Portuguese name.

Cabo Esperanca, meaning Cape of Hope. When the French conquered St. John's and burned English/Irish settlements all along the Avalon Peninsula, it was translated to Cap d'Espoir, French for the same thing - Cape of Hope.

When the English conquered it back, it just slowly bastardized over the centuries to Cape Spear.

And another... Carbonear, on the opposite side of Conception Bay from St. John's.

Stone Jug by night (Carbonear, Newfoundland) by branan888, on Flickr

It's just a bastardized version of the original Portuguese name, Cabo Carvoeiro.
__________________
Note to self: "The plural of anecdote is not evidence."
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #26  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 2:02 AM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is online now
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,901
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty_Mcfly View Post
*Terra Nova and Labrador
Terranova is still the actual name, if you're in Italy or Spain, etc..
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #27  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 2:12 AM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is online now
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,901
Quote:
Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker View Post
...
It's just a bastardized version of the original Portuguese name, Cabo Carvoeiro.
Then there is Paradise, which also originates from the Portuguese "Paraiso".
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #28  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 3:31 AM
bless-u's Avatar
bless-u bless-u is offline
True North
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Ottawa
Posts: 118
Interesting thread.

If I am correct, "Canada" means "village". I've also found out that "Ottawa" originates from an indigenous word "Odawa" or "Odaawaa" which means "trader".
__________________
"Canada is Free and Freedom is its Nationality" -Wilfrid Laurier
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #29  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 4:09 AM
MolsonExport's Avatar
MolsonExport MolsonExport is offline
The Vomit Bag.
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Otisburgh
Posts: 44,639
Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!

wikipedia

He was this jolly Saint that was extremely funny. Had them rolling on the grounds and holding their bellies in the pews.

Video Link
__________________
"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."-President Lyndon B. Johnson Donald Trump is a poor man's idea of a rich man, a weak man's idea of a strong man, and a stupid man's idea of a smart man. Am I an Asseau?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #30  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 4:22 AM
lio45 lio45 is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Quebec
Posts: 41,956
Quote:
Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker View Post
Cabo Esperanca, meaning Cape of Hope. When the French conquered St. John's and burned English/Irish settlements all along the Avalon Peninsula, it was translated to Cap d'Espoir, French for the same thing - Cape of Hope.

When the English conquered it back, it just slowly bastardized over the centuries to Cape Spear.
Isn't there a "reversed in translation" place in Newfoundland called either Cape Despair or Bay Despair as the result of a too direct Englishification of "Bay of Hope"...? Pretty sure I recall you mentioning that at some point
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #31  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 4:29 AM
lio45 lio45 is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Quebec
Posts: 41,956
Quote:
Originally Posted by Laceoflight View Post
During the French regime and until about 1790, the nickname of the place was Fort-aux-Maringouins (or "Fort Mosquito") because of well... haha. Our mascot during the Jeux du Québec was a huge maringouin called Moustique. Sadly the name didn't stick. Would have been fun.
On a similar theme, FYI, the county in FL where Orlando is was originally called Mosquito County for good reason not unlike the one you refer to. The name eventually got changed for something more marketable as the county was reduced in size, spawning others. Interestingly, both Mosquito County (pre-insecticides) and Orange County (later) have been very apt names for the same area in their respective eras. (To continue on that trend I suppose it could be renamed again to Theme Park County now.)
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #32  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 4:39 AM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is online now
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,901
Quote:
Originally Posted by lio45 View Post
Isn't there a "reversed in translation" place in Newfoundland called either Cape Despair or Bay Despair as the result of a too direct Englishification of "Bay of Hope"...? Pretty sure I recall you mentioning that at some point


Bay d'Espoir is locally pronounced Bay Despair, an accidental reversal of the actual meaning.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #33  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 4:42 AM
lio45 lio45 is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Quebec
Posts: 41,956
Sherbrooke, QC : named after a British General who did stuff in the war of 1812, among other things. In fact it's just crazy how no one in the city (and I literally mean no one) knows anything (and I literally mean nothing at all) about the guy the city's named after. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Coape_Sherbrooke

Lévis, QC : named after a French nobleman who was Montcalm's 2IC in the mid-1700s (including at the time New France fell). He then went back home to the other side of the pond..... Again, extremely few people in the city could tell you who he was.




Actually, from a functional point of view, for the honorific value in the real world we may as well have picked random/basic names ("Newtown", etc.) without any difference.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #34  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 4:46 AM
lio45 lio45 is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Quebec
Posts: 41,956
Quote:
Originally Posted by Architype View Post
Bay d'Espoir is locally pronounced Bay Despair, an accidental reversal of the actual meaning.
Thanks! That's exactly what I was talking about.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #35  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 4:47 AM
jlousa's Avatar
jlousa jlousa is offline
Ferris Wheel Hater
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 8,371
Quote:
Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker View Post
Ooh, that's a good one. Most Canadians assume it's La bras d'or (the Golden Arm) in French, because that's their frame of reference.

But it's named for Portuguese explorer João Fernandes Lavrador, OR the name for a type of tool used on boats in that language. Europeans generally accept the former as historically proven, whereas we ourselves lend some credence to the latter. The reason for the discrepancy is that, according to our NL/Canada historians, "Labrador" originally referred to Greenland in the late 1400s and early 1500s. But either way, it's a Portuguese name, like basically every early place name in Newfoundland - and it was all resolved in the early 1500s so the name Labrador was already attributed to Labrador before there were French people in North America - so I don't see what the issue is.
There is also the myth that the name Canada has Portuguese origins as well. The story goes that some Portuguese sailors landed and met with some natives. They spent a few days and did not find anything of interest and left telling the natives ca nada (meaning nothing here in Portuguese) Years later when other Europeans arrived and asked the natives what the name of this place was it they repeated Canada and the rest is history. At least that's the myth, and there is certainly some evidence that points to it being possible.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #36  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 4:52 AM
Laceoflight's Avatar
Laceoflight Laceoflight is offline
Montérégien
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Montréal, QC <> Paris, FR
Posts: 1,230
Quote:
Originally Posted by lio45 View Post
Lévis, QC : named after a French nobleman who was Montcalm's 2IC in the mid-1700s (including at the time New France fell). He then went back home to the other side of the pond..... Again, extremely few people in the city could tell you who he was.
Well, Lévis still won Nouvelle-France's last battle (Sainte-Foy battle, 1760). It's not his fault that France decided to keep its sugar/slave colonies instead of the furry snowy ones and didn't send the ships . He deserves his city. More than the obscure Mr. Sherbrooke, who also appears to have one of Montreal's main streets ? What's with this Sherbrooke fetichism in the province ? Since it doesn't mean anything to about anyone, maybe it would be the time to "frenchify" it : Cherbrouque ;-)
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #37  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 4:55 AM
lio45 lio45 is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Quebec
Posts: 41,956
Quote:
Originally Posted by Laceoflight View Post
More than the obscure Mr. Sherbrooke, who also appears to have one of Montreal's main streets ? What's with this Sherbrooke fetichism in the province ?
Ahem, it's _Sir_ Sherbrooke in fact As I just learned from my own link.....

Montreal Street in Sherbrooke is also a reasonably major/strategic artery (it's one of only three axis that lead to a bridge over the St. Francis). And back in the day, IIRC I'm pretty sure King Street (Sherbrooke's #1 way) was called Montreal Road as soon as you exited downtown, going west. Which at the time would have made Montreal in Sherbrooke even more important than Sherbrooke in Montreal.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #38  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 5:00 AM
lio45 lio45 is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Quebec
Posts: 41,956
Quote:
Originally Posted by Laceoflight View Post
He deserves his city.
Not saying the contrary (not even in Sir Sherbrooke's case), in fact I was deploring how ignorant people are generally. The motto on our license plates is mostly a lie...
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #39  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 5:01 AM
Laceoflight's Avatar
Laceoflight Laceoflight is offline
Montérégien
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Montréal, QC <> Paris, FR
Posts: 1,230
Quote:
Originally Posted by lio45 View Post
The motto on our license plates is mostly a lie...
Amen
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #40  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 5:01 AM
lio45 lio45 is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Quebec
Posts: 41,956
Quote:
Originally Posted by Laceoflight View Post
Since it doesn't mean anything to about anyone, maybe it would be the time to "frenchify" it : Cherbrouque ;-)
There was an actual attempt to "francize" it as Cherbourg, at some point. True story. I believe it was the SSJB behind the initiative, IIRC. In the end it didn't work.
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Regional Sections > Canada
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 6:29 AM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.