Toponyms: when a place is the origin of a word (I)

Hiya,

today I would like to show another English quirk may sound familiar to you: toponyms. A toponym is a word that describes the name of a place, for instance, New York is a toponym. However, a toponym is also a word that derives from the name of a place, in other words, a word named after a famous place. I love this quirk, given that the word does not only reflect the name of a country, but somehow some kind of history going back to the time when it was coined. Let's see this with some examples:

1. china

The origin of this word is not very clear but it refers to the country where this porcelain was made. Have you heard the idiom: like a bull in a china shop? 

2. Sandwich

Yummy! Two slices  of bread and... in the middle... delicious stuff! But what is the origin of this well-known food? Apparently, the origin is the Earl of the town of Sandwich. He was gambling and he was hungry... so he 'invented' this 'dish' to keep on gambling!

3. Hamburger

As you know from last week's post about National Hamburger Day, hamburger comes from the city Hamburg, and its origin may date back to some German immigrants in the United States, the hamburg steak. 

4. Canary

This lovely yellow bird receives its name from the Spanish Canary Islands. 

5. Jeans













It may seem that the most common trousers in the world are named after some John inventor, but nothing far from the truth. The origin of jeans goes back to the city of Genoa in Italy, a place where cotton corduroy called jeane, was manufactured. 

6. Marathon

The origin of this fashionable race dates back to the battle of Marathon in Greece. A messenger Pheidippides was the chosen one to announce the Greek's victory over the Persians. He ran the entire distance to deliver their victory, only to die of exhaustion after that. Wow! What a history, don't you think?

7. Lesbian

Well, Greek origin again. The word lesbian comes from the Greek island of Lesbos, whose most famous resident was a female poet who expressed devotion for women. 

Well, did you enjoy my selection of toponyms? Next week I'll continue unveiling some more!  In fact, here you have another post with more toponyms. In the meantime, if you want to keep learning English quirks, do not hesitate and click on this link.

See you next week.