Here's one you might not realize is Native: "Tuxedo". The tuxedo is named after Tuxedo Park, NY where it originated and became popular as a style of men's clothing. But Tuxedo, NY was named after the Algonquian (Munsee) word Tuxedo. In Algonquian the word is "tucsedo" or "p'tuxseepu", ran refers to "crooked river"
Actually the Dinner Jacket was popularized by the Prince of Wales and brought to the USA by someone from Tuxedo Park where then become popular and thus on this side of the Pond it is called a Tuxedo...
The tuxedo was invented in 1865 by Henry Poole & Company, a Savile Row Taylor in London, England. It was ordered by King Edward VII, who was the the Prince of Wales.
As a Yank transplant to the UK, I was very confused when I came across someone insisting "Turtle" strictly refers to salt water animals, while "terrapin" is for freshwater ones. Turns out my confusion was due to the person being utterly incorrect, as "turtle" includes all the animals we think of with turtle, tortoise, and terrapin. Terrapin is another Algonquin word that somehow crossed the Atlantic and became the british english word for fresh water turtle, despite it not actually having any zoological validity.
I learned turtles are the kind that swim (fresh or salt water), tortoises are land animals and terrapin is another word for tortoise. It's probably wrong, but that's what I was taught.
@@JEBavido Yeah for some reason, at least some Brits call freshwater turtles terrapins here. Some freshwater turtles do use terrapin as part of their common name, but there is no scientific basis for differentiating between the two.
You can't fool me. I know skunks can't be exclusive to the Americas, because Pepe Le Pew is obviously from France, you can tell by his accent. QED. Also, one that catches a lot of people by surprise is "woodchuck". Everyone assumes it's related to the English word "wood", since after all they do often live in the woods. But in fact that's a coincidence: the word is of native American origin.
Colonists not only took the native words for some indigenous plants, they also adopted some agricultural practices. The growing in the same row and eating together of the 'three sisters' (corn, beans and squash) is common to this day. The planting together greatly increases the yield and quality of all three and consuming them together is synergistically more nutritious than eating them independently. This was a practice learned from the Iroquois and spread throughout the colonies and later the country.
And although colonists learned some agricultural techniques from Native Americans, Americans unfortunately didn't learn enough and that is why we had situations like the Dust Bowl....
amandag417 The addition of mechanical assistance, lack of knowledge about the perc rate of soil and the underlying aquifer and unprecedented demand for American grain worldwide combined to cause the dust bowl. I guess if they had stuck to sustenance farming, foraging and hunting like the native Americans it wouldn't have happened but that wouldn't have satisfied demand. Anyway, this is what I get for creating a tangent....another tangent.
I'm 1/8 Cherokee from the Carolinas . Thanks for speaking about the Native Americans and our languages . Here's a few words in English with native origins . Tomahawk , canoe , kayak , succotash , potato , tobacco , chocolate , avocado . Hominy is ground into finer bits making the southern dish called grits . Pumpkins are a type of squash , the hard skinned squashes are called winter squash , the soft skin types are called summer squash . Succotash today is a stew of vegetables , but long ago contained vegetables and wild game meats . The dish Brunswick Stew is derived from early succotash .
@@Markle2k Same food with different names . Grits are a common staple in the South and cheap . Polenta is an exotic Italian dish with a high price tag . Go figure . I cooked up a pot of grits with cheese and eggs this morning , shared them with my grandpa . I should have boiled a pot , called them polenta , and made $30 in some fancy restaraunt .
Don't forget the word Potluck which is used everywhere in the USA and Canada. Pow wow, Totem, Muskeg, skookum(awesome/powerful) but this word is pretty much only used in WA/BC
Raccoons are derided, because they're too goddamn smart. They, like squirrels, are masters of taking advantage of any food stuffs we humans leave unguarded for any reason. Wanna leave that fruit to ripen? Too bad! The raccoons are on it. Pretty much anything left where they can get it, is theirs. They've been around us so long, and have watched and learned all our tricks. Toronto recently put out a raccoon proof garbage bin only to have raccoons figure out how to break it in less than a month. I personally think raccoons are great, but we shouldn't coddle them or they'll lose their edge.
I kept cat food in in five gallon bucket with a screw top until I caught two raccoons standing up on either side of the bucket, turning the lid together with obviously coordinated movements.
Old joke for Laurence: A couple was driving through a state that had many difficult to pronounce Native names for their towns. At one gas and restroom stop, they also visited a local drive thru before returning to the highway. As the teenaged blonde girl was handing them their order, the husband asked, “Miss, can you please, very slowly, pronounce for me the name of where we are right now?” The girl leaned forward and and clearly enunciated “Burr-Gerr-King!” 😀
@MrSting17 I would love to come and help rid the British isle of the squirrels. I love squirrel meat. I might be the next st Patrick or his British equivalent I mean.
Hominy and the process of making it (nixtamization) is vitally important though little known. Many Native American societies depended on maize corn as their main staple crop. When whites took over, this also became the case among Americans, espescially in the South. Unbeknownst to Anglo-Americans at the time, however, maize corn does not provide the biologically necessary nutrient Niacin (vitamin B) unlike the other grains that Europeans were used to depending on. During the Great Depression, when the Southern diet depended to a huge extent on maize corn for everything from beverages to bread, the mysterious disease Palagra swept the region killing and disabling large numbers of children. It turns out the Native tribes had long ago learned of the necessity of treating a small amount of their corn with special solutions to provide a balanced diet and stave of illness. When corn is turned into hominy, it is able to release Niacin into the system. Once people were finally convinced that Palagra was simply a vitamin defficiency, many lives were saved, and hominy became a staple of Southern cooking.
James Woodard The Massachusetts Pilgrims came to live on a diet of beans and cornbread, both of which they learned from the Wampanoag, and I guess the combination was probably much healthier than just corn alone.
A couple political terms from Native American - caucus (Algonquin) and mugwump (Massachusett). And woodchuck (Narragansett) is another animal, maybe more widely known as the ground hog and less widely known as the whistle pig.
A mugwump is a bird that sits on a fence with his mug on one side and his wump on the other! (My mom taught me that as a child and it still makes me giggle!)
Actually hillbilly English is what 17th and 18th century English without much change it was contained within the appalachian mountains almost unchanged for a couple centuries it's was considered a language isolate!
That show is great! I love how the butt-end of the jokes almost always ended up being the supposedly better-educated, supposedly sophisticated city-folk. That show so easily could have gone into cringe territory, but managed to avoid doing so.
The Raccoon is also known as “Trash Panda”, originating as a joke online. They’re, to use a British word, cheeky. Mischievous and clever, you have to respect their hustle.
Jaguar was a word that came from native south Americans that uk people are familiar with and based on my understanding of the language (I'm mvskoke so it isn't my native language) Americans pronounce it closer to it's original sound than Europeans. Also maze, hurricane etc. There are many words taken from our languages. It's sad because for a long time it was illegal for us to speak our own language, so much of it has been lost. Also please don't use the word squaw, that is not a good word and I was afraid you would say that.
@@carlablair9898 languages come and go, its unfortunate, but that's how it goes. "English wont be around forever either." though with the invention of the internet, that saying means less than it used to, as language is spread across the entire planet now all we can do is study and appreciate them. though there are many cases of ppl actively deciding to bring a language back from extinction, which i think is cool.
@@WGGplant yes! I love these programs that are trying to bring back endangered languages before they become extinct. I am personally studying Cherokee, as my grandmother was Cherokee and I want to learn more about the language and culture of my ancestors. There are a lot of resources now to study these languages completely free. Even Duolingo now has a course for Navajo.
Got a movie for you... you will hear 80% of the native words you just discussed in this video. "The Last of the Mochicans" with Danial Day Lewis... Brilliant Film.... amazing soundtrack. Be Good.
If you visit NY Glens falls/Lake George is def worth the visit for the F&I war history and Rev war as well.You can see the real Coopers cave that inspired the book.
@@ronaldcammarata3422 I'm not familiar with any of his other work. I do remember it being long and drawn out at times it seems. But I did like the story
Native American words, here in Alabama are common. From, Noccalula Falls, Tuscaloosa, Talladega, Wetumpka (and many more) which are all locations of course. My children have found authentic arrow heads made from stone just walking along some of the shorelines of creeks and rivers or hiking in Oak Mountain or Talladega National Forest.
Nancy Kelly - same up here in New Hampshire. Ashuelot, Monadnock, Sunapee, Winnepesauke, Wantastiquet, Wapack, Nubanusit... down in Massachusetts you've got Cohasset, Rehoboth, Nantucket...
@@corinnekinzinger5494 In turn derived from Greek and Latin Hieronymus, "named for the holy." Geronimo was used by American paratroopers, apparently to provide a brief pause before pulling the ripcord.
I lived in an area of Clifton, NJ, called 'Skunk Hollow' and we certainly had a lot of those mostly friendly creatures. Raccoons are very talented at getting stuff out of garbage cans. They love the suburbs and they used to knock over our garbage cans if we had chicken bones in the garbage.
Racoons are the most bothersome while camping. They're very good at getting into coolers, picnic baskets, etc. Even latched coolers. One night I was falling asleep and heard a noise, went out with my flashlight just in time to see a giant trash panda dragging a 1L tupperware container of GORP into the woods. I really wanted that GORP. :(
Yeah, we have a Skunk Hollow street in TN! And Pig Lane. Of course most people call the former Skunk Haller. 😅 If I had an animal band, raccoons would play bass I think.
@@Belboz99 sure that wasn't a black bear? Bears in the Sierras are very skilled at getting at people food, even if you sling it up in a tree, they send the cubs out on the branch.
The opossum is also a marsupial. You mean like kangaroos, koalas, and Tasmanian devils? Yep. There's also a possum in Australia. Similar, but not related. Just another marsupial to them. South America had a number of marsupials, bit after being connected to North America, the placental invaders made most of them go extinct. The opossums came north and were successful, since they can and will eat anything.
In Australia the marsupial in question is always called possum, never opossum, which is preferred by American zoologists. Why the Ozzies chose that word is puzzling, but no more so than American use of buzzard, elk, robin, turkey, etc. ad nauseam.
Possums are quite common where I live in the deep south, and I have had occassion to handle them. They do play dead, but they will also bite and pee on you. When you see a possum "run", you will realize why they play dead. Their "run" is more like a scoot, and it is funny to watch. There is probably no possum predator that they can outrun. Cheers, Russ
Possums have gotten a bad rap. Not only do they eat pests including ticks, they don't carry rabies. They'd much rather be left alone than get into it with anyone. In fact, they rarely bite.
I live in Washington state (West coast) and Possums cut through the yard often. Occasionally if the dogs are out they just race across the top of the wooden back fence. It is about 6 feet high so they feel safe and just hiss at the dogs. My granny ate them and squirrels often as a child. About as revolting as those Texas guys who ate BBQ rats, gag! (of course in a pinch maybe... big pinch that is)
Shell H (pronounced pot-luck) It was/is a gift-giving feast, which you can read up on more accurately than I can portray. In the colloquial use, it refers to a feast where all invited parties bring part of the meal
Lost in the Pond probably hasn't heard that one because he's mostly lived in the Midwest where we call that a potluck. It's probably another iteration of potlatch. Thanks for the reply/info. :)
I just want you to know that I’m recovering from an illness that has been long term. I’m doing about 75% better after 9 months of suffering, but one of the things that has been so helpful to getting my mind off of it has been this channel. Your humor, love, and whit are enchanting, and guest visits from your wife make the channel even more fun. The videos have been great fun when I otherwise can’t do much to have fun and have even accompanied me as I drift off to sleep. I don’t know why I’m commenting this on a 2 year old video but, here I am. God bless you. Lol and side note, I’m pretty sure the mayflower had no booze as the passengers were puritans and believed in abstinence from alcohol and basically anything fun.
Actually he misspoke here. In the pumpkin pie vs sweet potato pie, I think he preferred the pumpkin pie. Since pumpkin is a type of squash, when he said he tried it in a pie as an alternative to pumpkin pie, he was mixing up "squash" with "sweet potato."
In Rhode Island we have the Narragansett word "quahog" used to refer to a type of hard-shell clam. I don't know how widely the word is used, but fans of "Family Guy" will recognize it as the name of the fictional hometown of the Griffins.
Laurence, you and Alexis de Toqueville are my 2 fave non-native observers of this country. The advantage here is that we can ask you questions! thanks as usual--this is particularly fascinating.
I never would have thought of eating raw squash and I had no idea that it didn't exist in Europe or the UK. I know I've heard British people use the word "gourd" before, so I just assumed squash was a thing in the UK.
We eat a salad with raw zucchini and yellow summer squash I just put it in the pasta salad with the other veggies tomatoes, carrots, spinach, whatever is on sale or good at the farmers market!
“Canoe” is the native loanword American school teachers use as an example of such, at least when I was a kid. So probably the most well known of the native loanwords.
In GB English 'squash' is also non-alcoholic drink made from fruit juice and sugar [or sweetener in reduced calorie versions]. it is usually diluted before consumption. The drink is aka fruit crush or cordial.
If you have any fascination with native American contributions to modern society... Look up the book called Indian givers. Yes... It may not sound right... But once you read it then you will realize the irony. The follow-up book is also a great read. Have yourselves a great day.
Squash - I have eaten them both raw and cooked. Pumpkins are in the squash family. One of my favorites it the acorn squash. Cut it in half, scrape out the seeds, fill the hollow with butter, then bake it in the oven for about 1/2 hour. turn it over then bake for another 1/2 hour. Turn it over, sprinkle with salt and pepper, than bake again for 1/2 hour. I forget the baking temperature but if I remember right about 350F. I did this for a friend, and she said it was the best she had ever tasted. How to tell it's ready, if you can put a fork through the outer skin with little resistance, it's done. Skunks - I have encountered 2 skunks at close range. One I was on the steps of my apartment and the skunk came out from under the steps. I quickly stepped back and shut the door. The skunk sprayed my door. The other I saw coming in my direction while in the smoking area where I work. I chose to abandon my table in order to stay out of his way. Opossums - I have had 2 of those visit me in my house. One of those I fed on my kitchen table. Fascinating animals. Although wild, and not socialized at all, one of them did let me touch it. Chipmunks - Also known as ground squirrels, While they can climb trees, they generally don't. I have had them sit on my legs begging for food which they would take from my hand. This was in a state park where people would feed them on a regular basis. Outside of a special situation like that, they will run away if you try to approach them. Raccoons - One of my uncles had one as a pet. They are highly intelligent, and curious about the world around them. They can also cause a lot of destruction in a hurry due to their very nature. They can open simple latches on cage doors. Generally, don't mess with them, they will go on the attack if the perceive you as a threat.
Hominy is a food produced from dried maize kernels that have been treated with an alkali, in a process called nixtamalization. "Lye hominy" is a type of hominy made with lye
On the subject of skunks: you usually only ever encounter them on a summer night when they’ve had the misfortune of becoming road pizza (there’s some slang for ya) and you can smell them for miles.
@@cjpietropinto9293 I did... "midwestern 1 adj of a region of the United States generally including Ohio; Indiana; Illinois; Iowa; Missouri; Kansas; Nebraska; and sometimes Michigan; Wisconsin; Minnesota"
When I was a kid my folks kept the cats food in a big bowl in the garage (outdoor cat mostly). One evening our cat was acting strangely, and we saw a possum about the size of a cocker spaniel eating the cat's food. My Dad put a .22 slug in it, and our neighbor skinned it, and took its teeth (1 1/2 inches long!). My Dad took pictures of it because no one would ever believe how big it was! And they didn't either...got the pictures out every time!
Isn't moose another animal name from Native American languages? Same with wapiti, although in the US we don't really use that name. Some others that I can think of as more obvious words like moccasin, succotash, canoe, hammock, persimmon, and of course, pecan.
Very enjoyable. Thanks, Laurence. When I was younger, more often the animal possum was pronounced Opossum. I never hear that pronounciation any more. I would love to see a follow up with John Smith's list. Glad we say Raccoon, because I like the song Rocky Raccoon and it just wouldn't be the same.
Gloria Stroedecke Opossum is the correct official name. Possum is what we usually call them. I grew up not liking possums very much since I lived on a farm and our chickens were often targeted for meals by them. However I live in town now and welcome our neighborhood possum since it keeps the unwanted rodent population down.
If you do the research, the early colonist drank quite a lot, the belief that the water wasn't safe to drink. It is an interesting piece of history, and why America has had some interesting history with alcohol. I hope you do a video on this topic.
I grew up in Ohio in Geauga County. The original spelling was Sheauga and is I am told an Erie Indian word which means “raccoon”. Lake Erie I believe was named after the Erie tribes as well.
Here in Southern California most of the Indian names were renamed by the Spanish settlers. For example the indigenous people had names for Santa Catalina Island, the San Joaquin Hills, and the Santa Ana River which I cannot even pronounce. Even the tribes themselves were renamed - the tribe where I live was originally the named the Tongva but the Spanish renamed it to the Gabrielino, after the San Gabriel Mission which they established in the 1770s and which itself takes its name from the nearby San Gabriel Mountains which had their own Tongva names which have since been hidden or lost and which probably won’t come back if for the fact that these names are so difficult to say or write.
A possum moved into my attic some years ago. Drove me crazy rolling a bottle back and forth at night. I finally drove it out by banging a broomstick against the ceiling every time it moved.
We live in a region that has a lot of Native American place-names. My spouse and I are living in Lackawanna, NY (a suburb of Buffalo) which is adjacent to West Seneca. Just a bit to the north is Tonawanda, NY. And of course we are not far from Niagara Falls.
The word 'caucus' is also Native American. I do believe from the Iroquois, thus Algonquin. It came from their political organization, which was partially adopted by the Founders as part of our political speak as well as representative system along with the Senate (which was Roman based).
I've eaten summer squash and zucchini raw. Most of the time I prefer it cooked. One thing you missed about opossums is that they are the only marsupial animals native to the America's. "Opossum" is the common spelling with the letter "O" being silent/not pronounced.
O'possum. are all over Georgia. In the South some foods, Okra, and other words are African. You might do one on that. Oostanaula River; Oostanaula is a name derived from the Cherokee language meaning "shoally river". Coweta, Coosa, Chattooga, Etowah, Euharlee and Eufaula, and Suwanee are likely of Creek origin, their names taken over and converted to Cherokee. Hominy is corn soaked in lye. Dry it out and grind then up and then cook then to get grits. Lye is an old cleaning product and an old word too. It comes from the Old English léag, which is related to the root for "wash" in our word lather.
@@LostinthePond For sure! And what about cities named after another city in another country? Why is that so? I'm especially interested in lesser-known towns. Like why is Cairo Illinois named such? Although it's a ghost town now, Cairo was the promised land in Mark Twain's book.
There are so many of those, he'd have to go state by state, and it would be in (as he commented above) in 138 parts. At least. In the state of Utah alone there are hundreds (including the state name itself-- which is Ute for Mountain).
Great video on Native words. You mentioned Jamestown. I am going to see Jamestown for the first time in February. After 10 years of research I was finally able to take my family tree back to some of the first settlers in Virginia. I discovered that my immigrant ancestor came over from England in 1649 as an indentured servant and settled in a place called Accomack, Virginia which is about two hours from Jamestown!
One theory of the murky origin of the word "okay" is that it comes from the Choctaw word "okey", with a meaning and pronunciation very close to the widespread modernized English word. The trade language Mobilian jargon was basically pidgin Choctaw, and used over most of the southeastern U.S., and as far east as Texas and Missouri. If this theory is correct, then its introduction by way of a trade language might explain how it came to be in general use without a clear pinpoint origin.
This info is misleading. All mammals are possible rabies carriers. Humans, bats, cats, dogs, cows, deer, goats, moose, fox, ground hog, chipmunk, mice, rats, ......do you really need me to go on? There's a reason your vet offers a rabies vaccine....
Raccoons are also known for being carriers of some nasty bacteria and parasites which are very harmful to people and pets. They can be especially problematic for people with gardens because not only will they eat your garden but also defecate in your garden and contaminate it with these bacteria and parasites.
Many of our states have Native origins such as my home state of Michigan... good idea for next Native American words - how many states are named after Native American words. 😊
Since you mentioned the Mayflower and whiskey (since they were traveling from England I guess it would be whisky), their intent was to travel towards Virginia but owing to the fact that they were running out of beer they decided to take the more direct route to New England. So the reason that they all nearly starved or froze to death their first winter was because they were out of beer.
One might mention the curious case of Alces alces, the largest (by body size) of extant deer. Though known in northern EurAsia as 'Elk" (or variations thereof), early English migrants for some reason favored the Narraganset 'moos' or 'moosu' (bark-stripper), resulting in 'Moose.' The good olde english appellation 'Elk' was repurposed and given to North American representatives of the next largest of the deer species, Cervus canadensis. The Cree/Shawnee (Algonquian) name 'Wapiti' is gaining ground as a way to refer to Cervus canadensis, but 'Elk' still predominates.
Sorry if you'e already done Native America place names, but a city very close to me in Michigan is Muskegon. The name "Muskegon" is derived from the Ottawa tribe term "Masquigon," meaning "marshy river or swamp" And, just south of Muskegon is the county of Ottawa
It was originally called pacana, and the experts say the stress was always on the second syllable. So pe-CAHN seems to be closer to the original. I grew up hearing PEE-can.
@5:49 You mention you have never encountered a possum, so here is my possum encounter story. About 13 years ago, in Louisiana, I opened my silverware drawer (why, I don't know, as at the time, my husband and I were exclusively using plastic cutlery) and saw an animal. It hissed at me, and in a tone of mixed fear and horror I exclaimed, "There is a CREATURE in the silverware drawer!" Thre reason I used "creature" was because I was unsure of the species of the animal. My husband heroically trapped the animal in a garbage can and released it a mile away in a nearby city park. I researched the animal online and discovered it was a possum. Three days later, I walked into my kitchen and observed my two cats, Boots and Tabby, meekly watching while another (I presume) possum ate THEIR food from THEIR dish. I immediately fired them from their traditional job of pest controllers. They didn't appear to upset by this. Cats! My husband purchased a humane animal trap, and in that week we captured two more possums in the trap, both of which were released in the near by park.
Caucus is an Algonquin-language word. Many believe incorrectly it is latin, so the plural would be Caucii. The plural form is caucuses. In the USA politics, caucus is used very frequently.
I've noticed that much of your word info is affected by where you live. Here in the Pacific Northwest there are quite a few words influenced by the tribes here. I also noticed similar things when I lived in Arizona. That said I'm really glad to see you did this. Thanks!
You don’t just need to go to the woods to smell skunks. They are in the suburbs and often get run over which makes a big stink. But it is not just when they get run over that you get smell them.
1:52 Squash is underappreciated, mostly because people have taken to steaming it and such. Squash is much better fried, in my opinion. I especially like squash fritters. There are a bunch of variations, depending upon personal preferences. Give it a try sometime.
The back-and-forth of land-occupancy from what we Americans usually call the French and Indian War, and it's preceding trade-war between French and English colonists (especially the fur traders) caused a lot of word confusion. Many places and items in the upper midwest (and I assume southern Canada) have anglicized pronunciations of french, and vice-versa, including approximations of native words.
Great research on this, sir! It's one thing to know a word came from native languages, but you went the extra mile and tracked down the tribes they came from. I learned several things in this video. I didn't know that skunk, possum, chipmunk, raccoon, others were originally native words. Also I didn't know that several of those animals are indigenous to the Americas, and unknown in Europe. One little pronunciation observation: as I recall in the US we are more like to pronounce Powhatan as, "pow-HAT-in" with the emphasis on the middle syllable. But of course, there's no assurance that the actual native pronunciation was that at all. I dare say you could make an entire RUclips channel out of native American names and their etymology. It's a fascinating subject. Such a shame that so many of those languages have become extinct. But a hearty Well done on this video!
@@ShadowACE1998 Oh he knows that already because he is one of the 1% of Chicagoins to have ever actually been south of Joliet to discover the rest of Illinois when he drove to Kentucky for the eclipse.
You could make two or three shows listing the names of cities that got their names from Native Americans. I'll start with Chattanooga, Tallahassee and Miami.
We've had a possum come inside the house for the dry cat food a couple of different times (I live in the country). I used a broom to push them back outside.
Many people have mentioned the word Canoe, but though it is Native American, it's from the native Americans of the Caribbean, the Tainos. It found its way to English via Spanish. Another word like that is Bar-B-Q or Barbecue. It comes from the Taino word Barbacoa. Interestingly enough the word Kayak, though it entered the English language through the Innuits of Alaska/Canada/Greenland (qajak) has a cognate in the Taino language, namely Cayuco. Some claim, that it first entered the Danish language and the Danes brought it to North America where it was adopted into English.
Everytime you mentioned the Algonquin languages, it struck me because I knew I had heard that word before. Eventually I remembered that a book I had listened to named a powerful water spirit Algonquin. It was a good book, but we never actually meet her.
I watch Coronation Street episodes from the 60s and 70s. I remember the episode with Elsie Tanner's wedding reception and pumpkin pie was served. People were not familiar with it.
Just to clarify, this video intentionally didn't include Native-inspired *place names*, as those deserve their own series. Probably in 138 parts.
A 50 part series! 1 for every state.
Wisconsin alone would be 75 of those parts.
Virginia would take up a number of episodes, as well.
There are tonnes in Ohio too.
@@kevinerose Yes, definitely a lot here.
Here's one you might not realize is Native: "Tuxedo". The tuxedo is named after Tuxedo Park, NY where it originated and became popular as a style of men's clothing. But Tuxedo, NY was named after the Algonquian (Munsee) word Tuxedo.
In Algonquian the word is "tucsedo" or "p'tuxseepu", ran refers to "crooked river"
but British people are stereotyped as wearing the tuxedo hmm
Brought up in Orange county NY. I was always very aware of that.
Even that the town of "Tuxedo Park" is an upper class gated community
Actually the Dinner Jacket was popularized by the Prince of Wales and brought to the USA by someone from Tuxedo Park where then become popular and thus on this side of the Pond it is called a Tuxedo...
The tuxedo was invented in 1865 by
Henry Poole & Company, a Savile Row Taylor in London, England. It was ordered by King Edward VII, who was the the Prince of Wales.
@@Curmudgeon2or a dinner suit.
As a Yank transplant to the UK, I was very confused when I came across someone insisting "Turtle" strictly refers to salt water animals, while "terrapin" is for freshwater ones. Turns out my confusion was due to the person being utterly incorrect, as "turtle" includes all the animals we think of with turtle, tortoise, and terrapin. Terrapin is another Algonquin word that somehow crossed the Atlantic and became the british english word for fresh water turtle, despite it not actually having any zoological validity.
I learned turtles are the kind that swim (fresh or salt water), tortoises are land animals and terrapin is another word for tortoise. It's probably wrong, but that's what I was taught.
@@JEBavidoAre you s Brit?
@@tedgovostis7351 ,no. I'm a Texan.
@@JEBavido Yeah for some reason, at least some Brits call freshwater turtles terrapins here. Some freshwater turtles do use terrapin as part of their common name, but there is no scientific basis for differentiating between the two.
You can't fool me. I know skunks can't be exclusive to the Americas, because Pepe Le Pew is obviously from France, you can tell by his accent. QED.
Also, one that catches a lot of people by surprise is "woodchuck". Everyone assumes it's related to the English word "wood", since after all they do often live in the woods. But in fact that's a coincidence: the word is of native American origin.
Right? Pepe Le Pew is obviously French!
Yeah, but how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
@@SuperDrLisa Quebecois?
Seán Jared
No way, Pepe spoke proper French.
Bentcypress7 A woodchuck could chuck a cord of wood if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
Colonists not only took the native words for some indigenous plants, they also adopted some agricultural practices. The growing in the same row and eating together of the 'three sisters' (corn, beans and squash) is common to this day. The planting together greatly increases the yield and quality of all three and consuming them together is synergistically more nutritious than eating them independently. This was a practice learned from the Iroquois and spread throughout the colonies and later the country.
And although colonists learned some agricultural techniques from Native Americans, Americans unfortunately didn't learn enough and that is why we had situations like the Dust Bowl....
amandag417 The addition of mechanical assistance, lack of knowledge about the perc rate of soil and the underlying aquifer and unprecedented demand for American grain worldwide combined to cause the dust bowl. I guess if they had stuck to sustenance farming, foraging and hunting like the native Americans it wouldn't have happened but that wouldn't have satisfied demand.
Anyway, this is what I get for creating a tangent....another tangent.
Three Sisters. Beans provide nitrogen in the soil for the corn. Squash is a natural pesticide. Corn stalk provides the pole for the bean.
Yes, and you plant them in the same hill or mound of soil, not in rows. Rows are for accommodating machines.
@J Micone
The Iroquois probably did but we plant em in rows.. We use tractors until the corn gets a little higher than a couple inches.
I'm 1/8 Cherokee from the Carolinas . Thanks for speaking about the Native Americans and our languages . Here's a few words in English with native origins . Tomahawk , canoe , kayak , succotash , potato , tobacco , chocolate , avocado . Hominy is ground into finer bits making the southern dish called grits . Pumpkins are a type of squash , the hard skinned squashes are called winter squash , the soft skin types are called summer squash . Succotash today is a stew of vegetables , but long ago contained vegetables and wild game meats . The dish Brunswick Stew is derived from early succotash .
Thanks for that info, very interesting!
Brits may be slightly more familiar with the mediterranean adaptation of grits called polenta.
@@Markle2k Same food with different names . Grits are a common staple in the South and cheap . Polenta is an exotic Italian dish with a high price tag . Go figure . I cooked up a pot of grits with cheese and eggs this morning , shared them with my grandpa . I should have boiled a pot , called them polenta , and made $30 in some fancy restaraunt .
Love, Love, Love grits! With butter! Yum.
Don't forget the word Potluck which is used everywhere in the USA and Canada. Pow wow, Totem, Muskeg, skookum(awesome/powerful) but this word is pretty much only used in WA/BC
i learned from alice cooper that Milwaukee is an Algonquian word that means the "good land"
Dances with Kitty Cats : that's exactly what I thought of when he said Algonquin :)
haha, thats funny. Its a small world aint it? Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors. @@drivers99
Topeka is good place to grow potatoes.
"We're not worthy" of that knowledge!
I was not aware of that.
Raccoons are derided, because they're too goddamn smart. They, like squirrels, are masters of taking advantage of any food stuffs we humans leave unguarded for any reason. Wanna leave that fruit to ripen? Too bad! The raccoons are on it.
Pretty much anything left where they can get it, is theirs. They've been around us so long, and have watched and learned all our tricks. Toronto recently put out a raccoon proof garbage bin only to have raccoons figure out how to break it in less than a month.
I personally think raccoons are great, but we shouldn't coddle them or they'll lose their edge.
I kept cat food in in five gallon bucket with a screw top until I caught two raccoons standing up on either side of the bucket, turning the lid together with obviously coordinated movements.
@@JJoy-bk8yr Wow! That's actually adorable! I'll bet they can take an I.Q. test better than some humans!
Us Torontonians have a mixed feelings relationship with trash pandas. We love them, and are annoyed by them at the same time
Because they play us so well there are now more skunks and racoons living in urban areas than there was when the same areas were wild.
They are derided because they can be vicious animals. Careful with your elderly and children. They are also rabies prone.
Wampum, wapati and succotash are also Native American. Tomato, chocolate, coyote and avocado all come from Native Mexican Náhuatl.
Indeed! Good words for part 2!
Hurricane is a Mayan word. Toboggan is another Algonquin word.
@@TheAtkey cacao is also Mayan. Tobacco comes from Taino.
Don't forget the amazing Potato
Kayak is another great one.
Old joke for Laurence: A couple was driving through a state that had many difficult to pronounce Native names for their towns. At one gas and restroom stop, they also visited a local drive thru before returning to the highway. As the teenaged blonde girl was handing them their order, the husband asked, “Miss, can you please, very slowly, pronounce for me the name of where we are right now?” The girl leaned forward and and clearly enunciated “Burr-Gerr-King!” 😀
Same with Texas town of Mexia. But it is Diary Queen
No skunk in England? Maybe we should send some of our skunks to the Brits as a gift...
operation skunk drop, flying over, dropping skunks onto britain with little parachutes on them.
Talk about invasive species!
@@spacecatboy2962 Maybe Les Nessman can cover the drop for WKRP.
@MrSting17 burgoo is squirrel stew, would you like some recipes
@MrSting17 I would love to come and help rid the British isle of the squirrels. I love squirrel meat. I might be the next st Patrick or his British equivalent I mean.
My grandmother, who lived her whole life in Kentucky, usually referred to a skunk as a pole cat.
I thought polecats wuz weezels.
We named a B&W cat Polecat.
@@archenema6792 They are, but skunks are also members of the weasel family.
Hominy and the process of making it (nixtamization) is vitally important though little known. Many Native American societies depended on maize corn as their main staple crop. When whites took over, this also became the case among Americans, espescially in the South. Unbeknownst to Anglo-Americans at the time, however, maize corn does not provide the biologically necessary nutrient Niacin (vitamin B) unlike the other grains that Europeans were used to depending on. During the Great Depression, when the Southern diet depended to a huge extent on maize corn for everything from beverages to bread, the mysterious disease Palagra swept the region killing and disabling large numbers of children. It turns out the Native tribes had long ago learned of the necessity of treating a small amount of their corn with special solutions to provide a balanced diet and stave of illness. When corn is turned into hominy, it is able to release Niacin into the system. Once people were finally convinced that Palagra was simply a vitamin defficiency, many lives were saved, and hominy became a staple of Southern cooking.
James Woodard
The Massachusetts Pilgrims came to live on a diet of beans and cornbread, both of which they learned from the Wampanoag, and I guess the combination was probably much healthier than just corn alone.
A couple political terms from Native American - caucus (Algonquin) and mugwump (Massachusett). And woodchuck (Narragansett) is another animal, maybe more widely known as the ground hog and less widely known as the whistle pig.
Marvelous! In the Harry Potter books one of the positions attributed to the Dumbledore character is "supreme mugwump". :D
LOL Makes me wonder if J.K. knows the actual meaning of the word.
Chocolate is from the Aztecs, right?
Nahuatl, which was spoken by the Aztecs, among others.
A mugwump is a bird that sits on a fence with his mug on one side and his wump on the other! (My mom taught me that as a child and it still makes me giggle!)
SERIOUSLY! Lawrence, watch The Beverly Hillbillies. It's a treasure-trove of quaint American English!
Will do. Thanks!
Oh loved that TV show. In black and white. Again showing my age! 😉
Wow, that brought back lovely memories. I also loved watching that show in black and white here in the U.K. and definitely long before I had Laurence.
Actually hillbilly English is what 17th and 18th century English without much change it was contained within the appalachian mountains almost unchanged for a couple centuries it's was considered a language isolate!
That show is great! I love how the butt-end of the jokes almost always ended up being the supposedly better-educated, supposedly sophisticated city-folk. That show so easily could have gone into cringe territory, but managed to avoid doing so.
I really like the language videos man. Always a lot of interesting bits in here
Glad to hear it!
Me too Lawrence!
Yes. I really like all the Lost in the Pond videos, but the language ones are far and away my favorite. Wado!
The Raccoon is also known as “Trash Panda”, originating as a joke online. They’re, to use a British word, cheeky. Mischievous and clever, you have to respect their hustle.
@7:40 Trash panda!
(I know, I shouldn't be greedy and just be happy with the SMB3 shoutout!)
Jaguar was a word that came from native south Americans that uk people are familiar with and based on my understanding of the language (I'm mvskoke so it isn't my native language) Americans pronounce it closer to it's original sound than Europeans. Also maze, hurricane etc. There are many words taken from our languages. It's sad because for a long time it was illegal for us to speak our own language, so much of it has been lost. Also please don't use the word squaw, that is not a good word and I was afraid you would say that.
I have a friend who is a Catawba Indian. The Catawba language has been lost, which I think is sad.
@@carlablair9898 languages come and go, its unfortunate, but that's how it goes. "English wont be around forever either." though with the invention of the internet, that saying means less than it used to, as language is spread across the entire planet now
all we can do is study and appreciate them. though there are many cases of ppl actively deciding to bring a language back from extinction, which i think is cool.
@@WGGplant yes! I love these programs that are trying to bring back endangered languages before they become extinct. I am personally studying Cherokee, as my grandmother was Cherokee and I want to learn more about the language and culture of my ancestors. There are a lot of resources now to study these languages completely free. Even Duolingo now has a course for Navajo.
Got a movie for you... you will hear 80% of the native words you just discussed in this video. "The Last of the Mochicans" with Danial Day Lewis... Brilliant Film.... amazing soundtrack. Be Good.
Bloody love that film! AND soundtrack!
It's an even better book.
If you visit NY Glens falls/Lake George is def worth the visit for the F&I war history and Rev war as well.You can see the real Coopers cave that inspired the book.
@@dimesonhiseyes9134 I never thought Cooper was a very good writer. I liked the story, but his prose was very stodgy.
@@ronaldcammarata3422 I'm not familiar with any of his other work. I do remember it being long and drawn out at times it seems. But I did like the story
Native American words, here in Alabama are common. From, Noccalula Falls, Tuscaloosa, Talladega, Wetumpka (and many more) which are all locations of course. My children have found authentic arrow heads made from stone just walking along some of the shorelines of creeks and rivers or hiking in Oak Mountain or Talladega National Forest.
Native American place names could take up their own 30-part video series. So many of them! Even "Chicago" has its roots in Algonquian!
The South in general is like that. Tennessee is full of them too.
I live in Oklahoma. Even the state is a Choctaw word. But alot of the towns names are Native as well
Nancy Kelly - same up here in New Hampshire. Ashuelot, Monadnock, Sunapee, Winnepesauke, Wantastiquet, Wapack, Nubanusit... down in Massachusetts you've got Cohasset, Rehoboth, Nantucket...
Same in New York. There are a lot of Native American named waterways and places, but I believe the same can be said for most of the continental U.S.
How about that word we all seem to use when jumpin off something - like a diving board, aeroplane or whatever - GERONIMO!
Actually not a word but a name of an Apache chief.
and it derived from Spanish, it's the name Jerome.
@@corinnekinzinger5494 In turn derived from Greek and Latin Hieronymus, "named for the holy." Geronimo was used by American paratroopers, apparently to provide a brief pause before pulling the ripcord.
I lived in an area of Clifton, NJ, called 'Skunk Hollow' and we certainly had a lot of those mostly friendly creatures. Raccoons are very talented at getting stuff out of garbage cans. They love the suburbs and they used to knock over our garbage cans if we had chicken bones in the garbage.
Racoons are the most bothersome while camping. They're very good at getting into coolers, picnic baskets, etc. Even latched coolers. One night I was falling asleep and heard a noise, went out with my flashlight just in time to see a giant trash panda dragging a 1L tupperware container of GORP into the woods. I really wanted that GORP. :(
Yeah, we have a Skunk Hollow street in TN! And Pig Lane. Of course most people call the former Skunk Haller. 😅
If I had an animal band, raccoons would play bass I think.
@@Belboz99 sure that wasn't a black bear?
Bears in the Sierras are very skilled at getting at people food, even if you sling it up in a tree, they send the cubs out on the branch.
Jerome Mc Kenna What part of Clifton is that? I lived off of Lexington next to Mahar back in the 1980's.
Small world, I’m currently in Clifton now
Thank you for mentioning 'hominy'!!! I love hominy with butter, a great comfort food.
The opossum is also a marsupial.
You mean like kangaroos, koalas, and Tasmanian devils?
Yep.
There's also a possum in Australia. Similar, but not related. Just another marsupial to them.
South America had a number of marsupials, bit after being connected to North America, the placental invaders made most of them go extinct. The opossums came north and were successful, since they can and will eat anything.
Except a captive possum I knew, called Frodo, who would only eat his broccoli if it was mixed in with fruity yogurt 😀 True story
In Australia the marsupial in question is always called possum, never opossum, which is preferred by American zoologists. Why the Ozzies chose that word is puzzling, but no more so than American use of buzzard, elk, robin, turkey, etc. ad nauseam.
Opossums like and eat lots of insects, especially TICKS. They will however eat just about anything.
Possums are quite common where I live in the deep south, and I have had occassion to handle them. They do play dead, but they will also bite and pee on you. When you see a possum "run", you will realize why they play dead. Their "run" is more like a scoot, and it is funny to watch. There is probably no possum predator that they can outrun. Cheers, Russ
Have that walks around the backyard every night.
As long as they like gobbling up ticks, they're cool in my book. Screw, those little bloodsucking vectors.
Possums have gotten a bad rap. Not only do they eat pests including ticks, they don't carry rabies. They'd much rather be left alone than get into it with anyone. In fact, they rarely bite.
They'd do much better if they began to use crosswalks, tho.
I live in Washington state (West coast) and Possums cut through the yard often. Occasionally if the dogs are out they just race across the top of the wooden back fence. It is about 6 feet high so they feel safe and just hiss at the dogs. My granny ate them and squirrels often as a child. About as revolting as those Texas guys who ate BBQ rats, gag! (of course in a pinch maybe... big pinch that is)
In the PNW we have potlatch and kayak, for example
What's potlatch?
Shell H (pronounced pot-luck) It was/is a gift-giving feast, which you can read up on more accurately than I can portray. In the colloquial use, it refers to a feast where all invited parties bring part of the meal
Lost in the Pond probably hasn't heard that one because he's mostly lived in the Midwest where we call that a potluck. It's probably another iteration of potlatch. Thanks for the reply/info. :)
chi wa We pronounce it potluck, but spelling probably changed on it’s way over to you
Language is so interesting!
I just want you to know that I’m recovering from an illness that has been long term. I’m doing about 75% better after 9 months of suffering, but one of the things that has been so helpful to getting my mind off of it has been this channel. Your humor, love, and whit are enchanting, and guest visits from your wife make the channel even more fun. The videos have been great fun when I otherwise can’t do much to have fun and have even accompanied me as I drift off to sleep. I don’t know why I’m commenting this on a 2 year old video but, here I am. God bless you.
Lol and side note, I’m pretty sure the mayflower had no booze as the passengers were puritans and believed in abstinence from alcohol and basically anything fun.
You don't like pumpkin pie? Back across the pond with you!
lol, I was thinking the same - it's one of my favorites!
I'm a yank and I don't like pumkin pie and I hate apple pie too.
Actually he misspoke here. In the pumpkin pie vs sweet potato pie, I think he preferred the pumpkin pie. Since pumpkin is a type of squash, when he said he tried it in a pie as an alternative to pumpkin pie, he was mixing up "squash" with "sweet potato."
In Rhode Island we have the Narragansett word "quahog" used to refer to a type of hard-shell clam. I don't know how widely the word is used, but fans of "Family Guy" will recognize it as the name of the fictional hometown of the Griffins.
Laurence, you and Alexis de Toqueville are my 2 fave non-native observers of this country. The advantage here is that we can ask you questions! thanks as usual--this is particularly fascinating.
Here in Vermont we have Tamarack trees.Onr of my favorite north woods trees.Also toboggan,tomahawk.
I never would have thought of eating raw squash and I had no idea that it didn't exist in Europe or the UK. I know I've heard British people use the word "gourd" before, so I just assumed squash was a thing in the UK.
We probably do have it in the UK, but the word squash usually refers to a drink.
@@LostinthePond Which in the United States would be probably called "concentrated fruit juice" or "fruit juice concentrate."
@@LostinthePond Maybe you should do a taste test: Lemon Squash versus Orange Squash versus whiskey.
We eat a salad with raw zucchini and yellow summer squash I just put it in the pasta salad with the other veggies tomatoes, carrots, spinach, whatever is on sale or good at the farmers market!
@@LostinthePond Lawrence, what's in that drink,?
Not to mention Nations (Like Canada) States, Cities , Towns, Rivers, Streams, Lakes, State Parks, National Parks. Have Native-American names !
“Canoe” is the native loanword American school teachers use as an example of such, at least when I was a kid. So probably the most well known of the native loanwords.
Pronunciation of Grrman improves after a few whiskies
Ha!
youve been to wv i find it hard to believe youve not encountered a possum lol
In GB English 'squash' is also non-alcoholic drink made from fruit juice and sugar [or sweetener in reduced calorie versions]. it is usually diluted before consumption. The drink is aka fruit crush or cordial.
Love this guys accent and I love the show. Very Sharp.
If you have any fascination with native American contributions to modern society... Look up the book called Indian givers.
Yes... It may not sound right... But once you read it then you will realize the irony.
The follow-up book is also a great read.
Have yourselves a great day.
Hominy is shortened from "Hominy-Grits-with butter-and-salt-and- pepper-and-maybe-cheese".
Or Shrimp
Squash - I have eaten them both raw and cooked. Pumpkins are in the squash family. One of my favorites it the acorn squash. Cut it in half, scrape out the seeds, fill the hollow with butter, then bake it in the oven for about 1/2 hour. turn it over then bake for another 1/2 hour. Turn it over, sprinkle with salt and pepper, than bake again for 1/2 hour. I forget the baking temperature but if I remember right about 350F. I did this for a friend, and she said it was the best she had ever tasted. How to tell it's ready, if you can put a fork through the outer skin with little resistance, it's done.
Skunks - I have encountered 2 skunks at close range. One I was on the steps of my apartment and the skunk came out from under the steps. I quickly stepped back and shut the door. The skunk sprayed my door. The other I saw coming in my direction while in the smoking area where I work. I chose to abandon my table in order to stay out of his way.
Opossums - I have had 2 of those visit me in my house. One of those I fed on my kitchen table. Fascinating animals. Although wild, and not socialized at all, one of them did let me touch it.
Chipmunks - Also known as ground squirrels, While they can climb trees, they generally don't. I have had them sit on my legs begging for food which they would take from my hand. This was in a state park where people would feed them on a regular basis. Outside of a special situation like that, they will run away if you try to approach them.
Raccoons - One of my uncles had one as a pet. They are highly intelligent, and curious about the world around them. They can also cause a lot of destruction in a hurry due to their very nature. They can open simple latches on cage doors. Generally, don't mess with them, they will go on the attack if the perceive you as a threat.
Hominy is a food produced from dried maize kernels that have been treated with an alkali, in a process called nixtamalization. "Lye hominy" is a type of hominy made with lye
Hurricane, barbecue, canoe, and hammock are native also. Arrowak in origin. They are from carribean islands and Florida
On the subject of skunks: you usually only ever encounter them on a summer night when they’ve had the misfortune of becoming road pizza (there’s some slang for ya) and you can smell them for miles.
I've seen them many times when walking in the evening. I've had them run up to me too.
Including...the names of Midwestern cities like "Milwaukee"...."Chicago". And how about some Wisconsin towns: Oconomowoc...Wawatosa...Sauk..Menominee.
Chicago isn't in the Midwest.
Midwest is historically defined at "west of the Mississippi river."
Look it up for yourself.
@@cjpietropinto9293 I did...
"midwestern
1
adj of a region of the United States generally including Ohio; Indiana; Illinois; Iowa; Missouri; Kansas; Nebraska; and sometimes Michigan; Wisconsin; Minnesota"
George Carlin's favorite, from New Jersey: Piscataway.
@@cjpietropinto9293 I'm from Pittsburgh. It was once consider the far West, now it's considered the most western Eastern city.
Omaha, Nebraska
Sioux City in south Dakota
When I was a kid my folks kept the cats food in a big bowl in the garage (outdoor cat mostly). One evening our cat was acting strangely, and we saw a possum about the size of a cocker spaniel eating the cat's food. My Dad put a .22 slug in it, and our neighbor skinned it, and took its teeth (1 1/2 inches long!). My Dad took pictures of it because no one would ever believe how big it was! And they didn't either...got the pictures out every time!
Isn't moose another animal name from Native American languages? Same with wapiti, although in the US we don't really use that name.
Some others that I can think of as more obvious words like moccasin, succotash, canoe, hammock, persimmon, and of course, pecan.
Sylvester the Cat was the original advocate for Algonquin bilingualism.
Very enjoyable. Thanks, Laurence. When I was younger, more often the animal possum was pronounced Opossum. I never hear that pronounciation any more. I would love to see a follow up with John Smith's list. Glad we say Raccoon, because I like the song Rocky Raccoon and it just wouldn't be the same.
Rocky Raccoon - very underrated Beatles song!
Gloria Stroedecke Opossum is the correct official name. Possum is what we usually call them. I grew up not liking possums very much since I lived on a farm and our chickens were often targeted for meals by them. However I live in town now and welcome our neighborhood possum since it keeps the unwanted rodent population down.
@@LostinthePond -The song that gets stuck in my head, every time I hear it.
Listen closely to Rocky Raccoon. It’s Paul doing his best American accent, really funny!
If you do the research, the early colonist drank quite a lot, the belief that the water wasn't safe to drink. It is an interesting piece of history, and why America has had some interesting history with alcohol. I hope you do a video on this topic.
I think it would be interesting to compare the drinking practices of America with England.
America - to my knowledge, the only nation founded in a local tavern.
@@NoobsofFredo And the idea for a new country was probably written on a beer coaster with a quill pen .
@@victorwaddell6530 lolol, not sure coasters were used much then!
The practice came straight from Europe.
I grew up in Ohio in Geauga County. The original spelling was Sheauga and is I am told an Erie Indian word which means “raccoon”. Lake Erie I believe was named after the Erie tribes as well.
I'm in Cuyahoga(crooked river)County,Ohio(beautiful river).
Christel Headington I totally forgot about that one!! Wonder what indigenous tribe that word belongs to?? And yes that river has s really crooked
Here in Southern California most of the Indian names were renamed by the Spanish settlers. For example the indigenous people had names for Santa Catalina Island, the San Joaquin Hills, and the Santa Ana River which I cannot even pronounce. Even the tribes themselves were renamed - the tribe where I live was originally the named the Tongva but the Spanish renamed it to the Gabrielino, after the San Gabriel Mission which they established in the 1770s and which itself takes its name from the nearby San Gabriel Mountains which had their own Tongva names which have since been hidden or lost and which probably won’t come back if for the fact that these names are so difficult to say or write.
I'm from a town called Palatka in Florida. It means crossing over or cow crossing. Its a Seminole term
A possum moved into my attic some years ago. Drove me crazy rolling a bottle back and forth at night. I finally drove it out by banging a broomstick against the ceiling every time it moved.
I wish that would have worked with the bat colony I hosted for a year or 2!
Hence the Suburb of Chicago called Algonquin.
We live in a region that has a lot of Native American place-names. My spouse and I are living in Lackawanna, NY (a suburb of Buffalo) which is adjacent to West Seneca. Just a bit to the north is Tonawanda, NY. And of course we are not far from Niagara Falls.
Lawrence, have you ever been to a pow wow?
The word 'caucus' is also Native American. I do believe from the Iroquois, thus Algonquin. It came from their political organization, which was partially adopted by the Founders as part of our political speak as well as representative system along with the Senate (which was Roman based).
I've eaten summer squash and zucchini raw. Most of the time I prefer it cooked.
One thing you missed about opossums is that they are the only marsupial animals native to the America's.
"Opossum" is the common spelling with the letter "O" being silent/not pronounced.
Very interesting research. Thank you!
O'possum. are all over Georgia. In the South some foods, Okra, and other words are African. You might do one on that. Oostanaula River; Oostanaula is a name derived from the Cherokee language meaning "shoally river". Coweta, Coosa, Chattooga, Etowah, Euharlee and Eufaula, and Suwanee are likely of Creek origin, their names taken over and converted to Cherokee. Hominy is corn soaked in lye. Dry it out and grind then up and then cook then to get grits. Lye is an old cleaning product and an old word too. It comes from the Old English léag, which is related to the root for "wash" in our word lather.
Maybe a list of states or cities with Native American names?
Plenty of material to work with there!
@@LostinthePond For sure! And what about cities named after another city in another country? Why is that so? I'm especially interested in lesser-known towns. Like why is Cairo Illinois named such? Although it's a ghost town now, Cairo was the promised land in Mark Twain's book.
There are so many of those, he'd have to go state by state, and it would be in (as he commented above) in 138 parts. At least. In the state of Utah alone there are hundreds (including the state name itself-- which is Ute for Mountain).
Far too many for one video. Massachusetts alone would give you a goodly number. Connecticut, also.
@@diarradunlap9337 A series then perhaps? He's done them before. 😁
Love these, geoguesser videos are great! This channel rocks
Great video on Native words. You mentioned Jamestown. I am going to see Jamestown for the first time in February. After 10 years of research I was finally able to take my family tree back to some of the first settlers in Virginia. I discovered that my immigrant ancestor came over from England in 1649 as an indentured servant and settled in a place called Accomack, Virginia which is about two hours from Jamestown!
Pretty fun. I enjoy your vids.
One theory of the murky origin of the word "okay" is that it comes from the Choctaw word "okey", with a meaning and pronunciation very close to the widespread modernized English word. The trade language Mobilian jargon was basically pidgin Choctaw, and used over most of the southeastern U.S., and as far east as Texas and Missouri. If this theory is correct, then its introduction by way of a trade language might explain how it came to be in general use without a clear pinpoint origin.
I always feel smarter after a LITP video. Love these!
skookum - borrowed from the tribes in the Pacific Northwest. Means "big" or "great".
from Chinook jargon. Also means strong/powerful.
If you have never had spaghetti squash. Cur in half lengthwise, put butter on it and bake. Wonderful!
My mother's fathers side of the family branch, has an ancestor, that was on Cp Smith , to Roanoke Island.
What's bad about raccoon and skunks is they carry rabies. There are also a lot of Native American words from the SW tribes too.
Denys Tull Also, armadillos can carry leprosy. 😳 So crazypants.
Also raccoons will rip the heads off live poultry
Hope Goodwin
But those chickens can be very condescending toward the raccoons.
This info is misleading.
All mammals are possible rabies carriers.
Humans, bats, cats, dogs, cows, deer, goats, moose, fox, ground hog, chipmunk, mice, rats, ......do you really need me to go on?
There's a reason your vet offers a rabies vaccine....
Raccoons are also known for being carriers of some nasty bacteria and parasites which are very harmful to people and pets. They can be especially problematic for people with gardens because not only will they eat your garden but also defecate in your garden and contaminate it with these bacteria and parasites.
Many of our states have Native origins such as my home state of Michigan... good idea for next Native American words - how many states are named after Native American words. 😊
Since you mentioned the Mayflower and whiskey (since they were traveling from England I guess it would be whisky), their intent was to travel towards Virginia but owing to the fact that they were running out of beer they decided to take the more direct route to New England. So the reason that they all nearly starved or froze to death their first winter was because they were out of beer.
One might mention the curious case of Alces alces, the largest (by body size) of extant deer. Though known in northern EurAsia as 'Elk" (or variations thereof), early English migrants for some reason favored the Narraganset 'moos' or 'moosu' (bark-stripper), resulting in 'Moose.'
The good olde english appellation 'Elk' was repurposed and given to North American representatives of the next largest of the deer species, Cervus canadensis. The Cree/Shawnee (Algonquian) name 'Wapiti' is gaining ground as a way to refer to Cervus canadensis, but 'Elk' still predominates.
Sorry if you'e already done Native America place names, but a city very close to me in Michigan is Muskegon. The name "Muskegon" is derived from the Ottawa tribe term "Masquigon," meaning "marshy river or swamp" And, just south of Muskegon is the county of Ottawa
Pecan is a Native American word.
Yes, but it's not pronounced (pee-can) it's pe k:an.
Here we go.
@@rachelmiller9280 Pronounced that way by some, but not all people. As you already knew.
@@ronaldcammarata3422 Well there's a proper way then there is your way and it's called Fucknuttery.
It was originally called pacana, and the experts say the stress was always on the second syllable. So pe-CAHN seems to be closer to the original. I grew up hearing PEE-can.
I love baked squash
You have an animal in UK called polecat which are in the same family as Skunks .
I thought "chipmunk" was a shortening of "chipping monkey", based on its sounds and behavior...
Love all your vids, Lawrence. Shaw said it best that we, the British and the Americans, are separated by a common language. Cheers.
@5:49 You mention you have never encountered a possum, so here is my possum encounter story. About 13 years ago, in Louisiana, I opened my silverware drawer (why, I don't know, as at the time, my husband and I were exclusively using plastic cutlery) and saw an animal. It hissed at me, and in a tone of mixed fear and horror I exclaimed, "There is a CREATURE in the silverware drawer!" Thre reason I used "creature" was because I was unsure of the species of the animal. My husband heroically trapped the animal in a garbage can and released it a mile away in a nearby city park. I researched the animal online and discovered it was a possum. Three days later, I walked into my kitchen and observed my two cats, Boots and Tabby, meekly watching while another (I presume) possum ate THEIR food from THEIR dish. I immediately fired them from their traditional job of pest controllers. They didn't appear to upset by this. Cats! My husband purchased a humane animal trap, and in that week we captured two more possums in the trap, both of which were released in the near by park.
Caucus is an Algonquin-language word. Many believe incorrectly it is latin, so the plural would be Caucii. The plural form is caucuses. In the USA politics, caucus is used very frequently.
Here's a fun fact, there is a town, a few miles from here(Stillwater, OK), called Hominy.
@Herbert Norkus I'm not familiar, I'll peep it.
Laurence(?) I am learning so much about the American language from a Brit!
I've noticed that much of your word info is affected by where you live. Here in the Pacific Northwest there are quite a few words influenced by the tribes here. I also noticed similar things when I lived in Arizona. That said I'm really glad to see you did this. Thanks!
I know, Laurence's "American" stuff is always so Midwestern.
You don’t just need to go to the woods to smell skunks. They are in the suburbs and often get run over which makes a big stink. But it is not just when they get run over that you get smell them.
1:52 Squash is underappreciated, mostly because people have taken to steaming it and such. Squash is much better fried, in my opinion. I especially like squash fritters. There are a bunch of variations, depending upon personal preferences. Give it a try sometime.
Maise,corn , potatoe ,tomato, okra foods galore
I think okra is of African origin . Tasty in gumbo , fried , or pickled .
Bobby Hood
The English still use the word maize to refer to corn.
The back-and-forth of land-occupancy from what we Americans usually call the French and Indian War, and it's preceding trade-war between French and English colonists (especially the fur traders) caused a lot of word confusion. Many places and items in the upper midwest (and I assume southern Canada) have anglicized pronunciations of french, and vice-versa, including approximations of native words.
Great research on this, sir! It's one thing to know a word came from native languages, but you went the extra mile and tracked down the tribes they came from. I learned several things in this video. I didn't know that skunk, possum, chipmunk, raccoon, others were originally native words. Also I didn't know that several of those animals are indigenous to the Americas, and unknown in Europe. One little pronunciation observation: as I recall in the US we are more like to pronounce Powhatan as, "pow-HAT-in" with the emphasis on the middle syllable. But of course, there's no assurance that the actual native pronunciation was that at all.
I dare say you could make an entire RUclips channel out of native American names and their etymology. It's a fascinating subject. Such a shame that so many of those languages have become extinct.
But a hearty Well done on this video!
When is the Utah video coming out?
I'm shooting for by the end of January!
Be patient bro. He lives in Chi-Town. He has to realize there is a whole state called Illinois that isn't Chicago first. LOL
@@ShadowACE1998 Oh he knows that already because he is one of the 1% of Chicagoins to have ever actually been south of Joliet to discover the rest of Illinois when he drove to Kentucky for the eclipse.
You could make two or three shows listing the names of cities that got their names from Native Americans. I'll start with Chattanooga, Tallahassee and Miami.
We've had a possum come inside the house for the dry cat food a couple of different times (I live in the country). I used a broom to push them back outside.
I am a member of a tribe that is an Algonquian tribe forced south to Oklahoma.
My tribe is the Sac & Fox tribe.
I am trying to learn the language
Geronimo! What people yell when jumping in for a swim. LOL That is where I thought you were going, silly me.
*Me, I want a hula hoop*
Many people have mentioned the word Canoe, but though it is Native American, it's from the native Americans of the Caribbean, the Tainos. It found its way to English via Spanish.
Another word like that is Bar-B-Q or Barbecue. It comes from the Taino word Barbacoa.
Interestingly enough the word Kayak, though it entered the English language through the Innuits of Alaska/Canada/Greenland (qajak) has a cognate in the Taino language, namely Cayuco. Some claim, that it first entered the Danish language and the Danes brought it to North America where it was adopted into English.
Laurence, with your hair like that, the glasses and the beard, you look like a younger Eric Clapton! 🥰 (It’s a good thing!)
Everytime you mentioned the Algonquin languages, it struck me because I knew I had heard that word before. Eventually I remembered that a book I had listened to named a powerful water spirit Algonquin. It was a good book, but we never actually meet her.
I have seen a few possums in New England , but I think they are just now immigrating here from the South
I watch Coronation Street episodes from the 60s and 70s. I remember the episode with Elsie Tanner's wedding reception and pumpkin pie was served. People were not familiar with it.