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:
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.
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.
And there I was thinking you dreamed of the dentist ;)
A Chicago dentist maybe. Or maybe not!
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
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