The Fascinating History and Geography of Words
Paradoxical names in different languages and cultures
Our perception of the world and words is deeply influenced by our perspective. This originates in where we are or where we come from. But equally, cultural and linguistic hegemony could lead to words and names being used in counter-intuitive ways. Take for example, the Middle East, a region whose name indicates its European provenance.
But do English-speakers in the Eastern world bat an eyelid when we use this term considering it’s neither in the East nor in the middle from our perspective. We should instead use a more neutral term like West Asia.
You would understand my confusion when a friendly Caucasian Canadian, on hearing that I had moved to Vancouver from India, shared his love for “East Indian” dishes like dosa. My immediate half-affronted reaction was “Dosas are not East Indian, they are South Indian”. And he, Canadian to the core, apologised profusely hoping that he hadn’t offended me.
Later I realised that in this part of the world, people from the Indian subcontinent are referred to as East Indians. I don’t quite know why they don’t just say South Asian.
There are several fascinating names of dishes and objects that refer to their presumed place of origin depending on the language in which they are named. Take the humble French fries for example. In France, these golden sticks of fried potato are considered to be Belgian.
Another curious dish is Russian salad or salade russe in French. A popular salad in the former Soviet world, it is a number of diced vegetables like potatoes, carrots, onions and peas with hard-boiled eggs in a mayonnaise-like sauce. When my friends and I mentioned this dish to a Russian-Uzbek friend in France, she told us that in Russia, it’s called “salat Olivye” or Olivier salad! In fact, it was invented by a Franco-Belgian chef called Lucien Olivier in Moscow. It later travelled to France, a destination where a number Russian aristocrats lived and from there it reached other shores. Interestingly, in countries like Romania where the Soviets were considered invaders, it is called salată de bœuf because it has cubes of boiled beef.
Sticking with the Russian theme, in a French lesson with a student, we were discussing vocabulary related to carnivals and fairs and he asked me how to say rollercoaster. He was amused when I called it montagnes russes and to clarify, asked me if it really meant Russian mountains. His question piqued my curiosity as I had never questioned the name myself so I immediately proceeded to digging out the etymology. Apparently, luge competitions were organised in snow-covered hills around Saint Petersburg and in the 1700s, a company called Les Montagnes russes built and maintained the tracks and vehicles in Paris. Funnily, in Russian they are called amerikanskiye gorki which translates to American mountains!
Moving on to birds and animals, the turkey, a Mexican bird was apparently confused with guineafowl by the English when they arrived in America. Additionally, these birds were brought into Europe and England by merchants known as Turkey merchants from the aforementioned Middle East via Instanbul, then Constantinople, hence the name. For the French however, the bird was from India thus called dinde or “from India”. This origin story is shared by the Russians who call it indyushka as well as the Polish and Ukrainians who call it indyk. Ironically, in Turkey too, the bird is called hindi once again a reference to its purported Indian origin. The Portuguese had other ideas, they call it peru!
Another mystery is the guinea pig — neither a pig nor from Guinea. Some say the animal was brought to England through Guinea while others think the English confused Guinea with Guyana on the same continent as the habitat of this little South American rodent.
This time too the French had other ideas. If the English mixed up Guyana and Guinea, the French like most Europeans at the time, believed that they had arrived in India when they reached the shores of the so-called New World. They called it cochon d’Inde.
The only thing in common between the French and English is the pig part, a reference to the grunting sound the animal makes.
Let’s end the list with the theme of food again, this time with the delicious French croissant. French? Yes, croissants, like their chocolate-filled cousins pains au chocolat are considered to be quintessentially French but the French themselves called these buttery breakfast items viennoiseries. The dish has rather heroic origins.
When the formidable Ottomans advancing westard past Hungary laid siege on Vienna, they were unable to take the city. Legend has it that the Viennese made a crescent-shaped pastry to mock the symbol of the religion and identity of the Turks carried on their flags. It is believed that Vienna-born Marie-Antoinette introduced the croissant to France which was refined by French chefs to give it its puffy character that makes it so delectable.
The English on the other hand, relish Danish pastries which also made their way to Denmark from Vienna.
I am always enthralled by these etymological stories with language, history and geography crisscrossing in such a captivating manner.
If you have similar stories to share please leave a comment below this one.
Hi, I am Prajwal Madhav. I hope you enjoy my posts. If you want to learn French with me, feel free to contact me.
