Monday 1 December 2008

American Onion.


This morning I was awake in bed at 3.15 and I was thinking about Barack Obama, about whom I am still Leeds United.

Anyhow, he is making Chicago a bit of a place of note prior to inauguration, and I was wondering (as you do) why Chicago is called Chicago so I got out of bed to find out. Apparently when the place was founded in 1833 it smelled of onions! The name Chicago is the French rendering of the Miami-Illinois name shikaakwa, meaning wild leek. So there you go. Bristol of course was up and going in 1033 but I don't imagine BS5 was around then.

This pic' is a pic I found of Chicago in the 1930s and I thought it was cool.

5 comments:

Cannwin said...

That picture reminds me of a bunch of nazis... that's just what it looks like to me. And I'm quite proud of myself that I actually knew that little bit of information, not the whole wild leek thing but that it was a variation on a Native American term, which probably isn't that hard to guess, half the names of cities here are some variation of a Native American word. You could guess that on all the answers and probably pass the test.

BS5 Blogger said...

Yes, I know what you mean - it does have a sinister feel to it! The light was cool though.

I know that Canada comes from 'Kanatta' which is a native word for a bunch of huts, as seen at the end of the St Lawrence river! Lots of that sort of influence on the continental N American land.

Suburbia said...

And there I was thinking you dreamed of the dentist ;)

BS5 Blogger said...

A Chicago dentist maybe. Or maybe not!

Wanderlust Scarlett said...

Weird names abound for communities both small and large, although I never knew that about Chicago, so thank you for sharing it!

I know someone who lives in Bald Knob, Arkansas. I was astounded, the first time I heard that name.

And, that is a fantastic photograph, I dabble in photography more than a little and it appeals to me enormously.


Scarlett & Viaggiatore