Well-known places you've never heard of

chained_bear commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Ptero, what a cool list! *favorited*

August 25, 2008

rolig commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

An excellent list. Here are two suggestions from my part of the world: Hrvatska (Croatia) and Crna Gora (Montenegro). Also, currently in the news is Sakartvelo (Georgia).

August 25, 2008

milosrdenstvi commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Tickled pink that I recognized four, and two of rolig's, and guessed two more.

August 25, 2008

frindley commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Aotearoa (New Zealand).

August 26, 2008

bilby commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

How about Baile �?tha Cliath?

A few Australian ones come to mind, mainly where the Aboriginal name is the official one but a European name has a high profile, eg. Uluru for Ayer's Rock.

There are some where the better-known label simply no longer exists. Plenty of Wordies list antimacassar, a kind of protector against the stains of Macassar hair oil. Makassar was knocked off the map some time ago and replaced with the bland Ujung Pandang.

August 26, 2008

chained_bear commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

I hear that Istanbul was Constantinople. Now it's Istanbul--not Constantinople.

So, for example, if you have a date in Constantinople? She'll be waiting in Istanbul.

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam.

August 26, 2008

johnmperry commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Better spelling is Baile �?tha Cliath = Dublin, Ireland

August 26, 2008

johnmperry commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

before it was Constantinople, it was Byzantium.

In the middle ages, the two largest cities in Europe, with populations 600000 to 800000, were Constantinople and Cordoba, basically at either end of the Mediterranean.

August 26, 2008

chained_bear commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Don't want to sing with me, then. Okay, I'll just hum by myself.

August 26, 2008

pterodactyl commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

I'm pleasantly surprised by the positive response to my little list. It started with me sitting in my chair thinking "why do we use an ugly word like Finland when a pretty word like Suomi already exists?", and it sort of grew from there.

I'm limiting the list to well-known places, defined as "places that I, pterodactyl, have heard of". :-) Unfortunately, this excludes Makassar, but I did spend an interesting couple of minutes at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makassar. Check it out, y'all!

Also, even though I didn't specify it in the title, I intended to list only the native names for places. What does a native Dubliner call his/her city? I read somewhere that the Irish language is used more in the west of Ireland than in the east, which makes me suspect that a native Dubliner, while knowing the Irish name for the city, probably doesn't use it that much.

August 26, 2008

pterodactyl commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Uluru is one of my favorite examples of a native name that's much prettier than the European name. (Other good examples are Denali and Tennessee.)

Happily, usage of Uluru is becoming pretty common, enough that I think it's no longer accurate to say that people have "never heard of" Uluru.

August 26, 2008

pterodactyl commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Oh, c_b, I'll sing with you!

*wraps arm around chained_bear's shoulders and raises mug of root beer*

Why thy changed it I can't say... people just liked it better that way!

So take me back to Constantinople!

August 26, 2008

qroqqa commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Apsny and Xussar Iryston are in the news. Nearby is Hayastan. Near-ish-by is Shqipëria.

August 26, 2008

chained_bear commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

@ptero... No! You can't go back to Constantinople! Been a long time gone, Constantinople.

Why did Constantinople get the works, anyway?

August 26, 2008

skipvia commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

♩ That's nobody's business but the Turks... ♩

August 26, 2008

chained_bear commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Ohhh.... ohohoh..... ohohoh... ohohoh... Istanbul...

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam. Why they changed it, I can't say.

August 26, 2008

super-logos commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

We need a list for well-known places no one has visited but wished he or she could, just to see what's going on there in order to appease his or her curiosity. Like Timbuktu. I would love to go there. It is a remote place (though not to the people from that area) and a place of ancient learning.

August 26, 2008

pterodactyl commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

♩ People just liked it better that wayyyyyyyyy! ♩

August 26, 2008

reesetee commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

♩ Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night. . . . ♩

August 26, 2008

pterodactyl commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

♩ Every gal in Constantinople lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople / Been a long time gone, Constantinople, why did Constantinople get the works? ♩

August 26, 2008

rolig commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Here's a couple more, both in Europe: Lëtzebuerg and Alba. And of course there are Deutschland and Rossiya, but most people recognize the one and can decipher the other. But how about Eesti? Or even Österreich?

August 26, 2008

qroqqa commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

And there's Euskal Herria, also called Euskadi. Over in the east near Bod there's Druk-yul.

August 27, 2008

frogapplause commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

My kinda list.

August 27, 2008

lampbane commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

How about Borinquen? It's the Taíno (aboriginal) name for what we know (in English y Español) as Puerto Rico.

August 27, 2008

rolig commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Now here's a tricky one: Slovensko. No, it's not what you think. The country I live in has the readily decipherable name Slovenija.

Still loving this list.

August 27, 2008

bilby commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

I remember that one from their stamps, rolig :-)

August 28, 2008

Prolagus commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Shardana, also (un)known as Hyknusa (Ichnusa).

December 2, 2008

pterodactyl commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Hey, Pro-- you're referring to Sardinia, right? I want to add your suggestions, but first let me ask: which of the names you posted is the common name used by Sardinians?

December 2, 2008

sarra commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Finnish does well: Ruotsi, Alankomaat, Itävalta, and best of all Yhdistynyt kuningaskunta and Yhdysvallat!

December 2, 2008

sarra commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

I would disagree with Österreich and Lëtzebuerg personally, though.

Alba did throw me utterly, some months ago when I first encountered it.

Ulster is one for me. Kernow and Eire not quite so.

Oh! And Euskadi, I should think, just about counts. And Kalaallit Nunaat.

I'm reading a book at the moment, bil, which reminded me that Macassar did exist (and so spelt, too, although he also says cocoanut and bees'-wax)

December 2, 2008

pterodactyl commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

I've opened the list, so feel free to jump in with your suggestions.

But please, only post names used by natives of that place! (For example, don't post the Chinese names for places in France -- just for places where they speak Chinese.) It may seem draconian, but I think we need this rule to keep the list from undergoing a combinatorial explosion.

December 2, 2008

sarra commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Just spotted that!

December 2, 2008

sionnach commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

It may be Burkina Faso to you, but it'll always be Upper Volta to me.

December 2, 2008

bilby commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Upper Volta? I only just met 'er.

December 2, 2008

Prolagus commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

I'm not adding those terms, since they are no more in use. But Monti di Mola is listworthy.

December 3, 2008

bilby commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

It strikes me that we don't have a list for the mostly affectionate names with which residents refer to their cities, regions and countries. A couple of famous examples would be the Big Apple for New York and Down Under for Australia. I'm not convinced they fit properly on this list.

January 29, 2009

pterodactyl commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

That's a good idea, bilby -- would you like to have the honor of making such a list?

January 29, 2009

bilby commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

I might :-> Suggest you me a title, dear 'dactyl?

January 29, 2009

reesetee commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Great idea. :-)

January 29, 2009

pterodactyl commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Sorry, bilby -- I tried to come up with a witty and fitting title for this new list, but I think my Muse must be on her coffee break.

January 30, 2009

pterodactyl commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of

Just spotted this article on the Wordnik Twitter feed: http://mentalfloss.com/article/30810/why-are-there-different-names-same-country

April 11, 2013