Our Book of the Month for December is Found in Translation: The Unexpected Origins of Place Names by Duncan Madden. This book unravels the tangled threads of history and etymology to uncover the strange, intriguing and enlightening stories that have shaped the names of countries and places around the world.
In this extract we look at the etymology behind ‘Argentina’:
Continue reading Extract: Found in TranslationNew etymological guide Around the World in 80 Words by Paul Anthony Jones takes the reader on a circumnavigation of the English language, tracing the meanings and histories of eighty words derived from world place names. To whet your globetrotting appetite, here are ten of the book’s most fascinating entries …
Continue reading 10 place names that ended up in the dictionary
Easter Island (also known as Rapa Nui and Isla de Pascua) is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world. The nearest continental land mass is over 3,700 kilometres away.
The Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen landed on the Island on Easter Sunday in 1722 and gave it its European name. Continue reading Happy Easter Island
Armed with a street atlas, we’ve walked and cycled around London to bring you the most Christmassy street names. Continue reading London’s Christmas themed street names
