Comments on: Oh. So that's why they call it that.

By: Homeopathic Scotch on the Rocks | Stuffed Drunk and Merry

Homeopathic Scotch on the Rocks | Stuffed Drunk and Merry — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 04:42:49 +0000

[...] submitted by “Rasputin” Bad Astronomy Previous Topic: I Internet Care Next Topic: Get Fit Like a [...]

By: Matt B.

Matt B. — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 16:38:21 +0000

Wow, the southeast coast hit the weather lottery.

By: Levi in NY

Levi in NY — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:20:03 +0000

“Finland” means “land of the Finns”. As to why they are called Finns, nobody is certain, but for some reason they were given that name by ancient Germanic tribes. It could possibly be a derivative of “finthan” which meant “to find, wander”, referring to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle still practiced by the Sámi people in the north of the country.

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 02:26:03 +0000

@46. Joseph G : So, that also explains why the Swiss are so cheesy?

@38. MadScientist : Nice one -LOL.

@ 43. Levi in NY : Interesting & informative – thanks for that.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:15:49 +0000

#40 Have you driven a fjord lately? Maybe that should read ‘sailed’

By: Joseph G

Joseph G — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 23:51:19 +0000

@45: Heh. Which is also why Scotland has lots of Scotch

/wait a minnit…

By: Keith Bowden

Keith Bowden — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 18:18:01 +0000

So. Why is Finland so named? (cue Jaws theme…)

By: Joseph G

Joseph G — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:20:27 +0000

@26 Phil Plait: Great, now I’ve got another entry on my list of places I really want to go but can’t afford to in this lifetime. At least I have plenty of time to learn Icelandic

@43 Levi: You just etymologically blew my mind!

By: Levi in NY

Levi in NY — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:47:57 +0000

@Jote: Actually, the Spanish word “Islandia” doesn’t come from “Island”, it comes from the Icelandic name for Iceland, which is “Ísland”, plus the suffix “-ia” which is just a generic suffix for countries.

And interestingly, the English word “island” is completely unrelated to the word “isle” or to the Spanish word “isla”, which come from the Latin word “insula” (as in “insulate”, “insular”, “peninsula”, etc.). It is actually a Germanic word derived from Old English “īġland” (the Ġ was pronounced like a Y). The silent S was added in the Middle Ages by philologists who mistakenly thought the word was a derivative of “insula”. The Icelandic name “Ísland” just means “Ice-land” (“ís” meaning “ice”).

By: Jonatan Gislason

Jonatan Gislason — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:58:19 +0000

31. WJM Says:
April 4th, 2011 at 12:01 am
So why isn’t it called Snowland?

Becaus it acctualy dosen´t snow here that much!! mostly in the northern part of the contry but here around the south coast and the east and west there isn´t snow theo whole winter