Graydon wrote:

>On Sun, Sep 12, 2010 at 03:11:05PM +0100, Bob W scripsit:
>[snip]
>> ...This sort of thing is found a lot where one language group has
>> replaced another. The conqueror points to some natural feature and asks
>> 'What is that called'. The vanquished native replies 'it is the Don' meaning
>> 'it's the river, you idiot'*. The mighty conqueror says 'we shall call it
>> the River Don'. And so it flows quietly on.
>> 
>> *This is the meaning of the Ojibwe word Mississippi.
>
>My favourite of these is Torpenhow Hill.  (Tor, Pen, and How all meaning
>hill in a succession of languages.)

Sort of like Glendale - "glen" and "dale" both words meaning "valley".
Or people referring to "lake" Windermere in the Lake District.


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