A to Z of Words You Will Never Hear Again

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with A to Z of Words You Will Never Hear Again. With over a million words in the full version of the Oxford English Dictionary and more being added all the time, you would think there are many we never use or ever even hear. You would be right but I wonder if you know how right? Of those million words the average person uses perhaps 20,000 when writing and only about 5,000 in everyday speech. So what happened to the others? Well here are a selection and these are not even among the more obscure. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

Azygous - generally only used in an organic sense where the meaning is 'single, not existing in pairs'. It is taken from the Greek azugos meaning ‘unmarried’ and takes a ‘without’ and zygon ‘yoke’ ie that used to tether two draught animals together.

Adnyamathanhan, although we have no tips on how to bring this native language of southern Australia into general conversation.

C is for celeripedean, surely one of the easiest words in this list to use as it simply means ‘fleet of foot’. Parts of the body are always good to learn, but how many of you will have heard of the coracoid, while few will know it is a short projection from the shoulder blade which has no useful function today. To complete the threesome of easy-to-use words beginning with C, the easiest of all to fit in – at least for him. So when she asks “Does my ass look big in this?”, the reply should be “You are positively callipygian” which refers to ‘a person with a shapely ass”.

V is for verjuice, a less useful word than in times past as it describes the acidic juice of crab apples. Of far more use if verbivore, particularly for those reading this, as it means ‘someone who devours words’, and also vesthibitionism, describing a woman who delights in showing off her undergarments.

Z is for znees - a synonym for 'frost'. And despite it being known in several places there seems to be no clear etymology.

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.

Arbury Hall

Ancestral home of the Newdigate family, built on the site of the former Arbury Priory. One of Nuneaton’s most famous ‘sons’, author George Eliot – actually a famous daughter, Mary Anne Evans – was born on one of the estate farms, her father was the estate’s land agent. She used Arbury Hall as the model for Cheverel Manor in Scenes of Clerical Life, it is the setting for Mr Gilfil’s Love Story.

. In more modern times the film Angels and Insects was filmed here; and became the fictional Hoxley Manor in BBC’s The Land Girls.

The Newdigate baronetcy was created on 24 July 1677 and became extinct with the death of the 5th baronet in 1806. The family name is later noted as Newdigate-Newdegate.

The 300 acre estate has a system of private canals. Connected to the Coventry Canal, there are six distinct sections, and a seventh (The Griff Hollows Canal) not connected to the others. The entire system covers 6 miles and has 13 locks – one a Y-shaped feature is the Triple Lock, with two separate entrances leading to different branches. A few visible signs remain on the estate today.

Arbury Park in South Australia is named after Arbury Hall. A 17-room Georgian-style house constructed in 1935 for politician Sir Alexander Downer, close friend of Sir Francis Alexander Newdigate-Newdegate (1862-1936) MP for Tamworth, Nuneaton, and Governor of Tasmania and Western Australia, which is why he chose the name.

South Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘ship’ and now look at ‘south’.

South Sea has had several meanings over the years and obviously so as some parts of the world hadn’t been discovered. From the late 14th century the South Sea was the Mediterranean, and in the early 15th century used for what is now known as the English Channel. Today it is normally used to refer to the Pacific Ocean in the southern hemisphere, as it has since the 1520s.

Go south, as in ‘vanish’ or ‘abscond’, has been in use since the 1920s.

South Africa has been used generally for the southern part of the continent since 1815, and for the nation since 1910.

Southern Cross is a constellation not visible in much of the northern hemisphere. It was named such by the English in 1756.

Nothing was described as Southern Fried, as a cooking style, until 1972.

Southwester when referring to a wind, gale, or storm is seen from 1833, and three years later pronounced as sou’wester to refer to the nautical coat protecting the wearer from any inclement weather.

Southeaster is first found rather earlier, first seen from 1797. This is not to say one was in use for more than three decades before the other, likely they were used concurrently and only seen as being from slightly different ages as there are no surviving records from earlier.

Southbound originally referred solely to the railways, although not seen until 1872.

Several familiar place names from around the globe have origins speaking of them as being seen as in the south. Australia, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, Hunan (a province of China), Soweto (a community outside Johannesburg), Suffolk, Nanking (city in China),

Even-steven

At university my tutor corrected my 'even-steven' to 'even-Steven'. I objected and pointed to a dictionary. She said she didn't need a dictionary, she knew better. I won't bother with the resulting emails flying back and forth - I wasn't happy, but I was right it is even-steven (and I would never have posted this had I been wrong, obviously).

It did make me wonder whether an etymologist could answer the question and so I did a little digging. It seems there are no less than three explanations and I shall start with the most recent, which dates from 1962. Australians use the phrase 'Even-Stevens', reputedly the name of a racehorse which was so good the best odds you could ever get were evens.

Older is the American version of 'even-Steven', although that must have been borrowed from the United Kingdom as it concerns none other than Jonathan Swift. It is held to be from a character in his Journal to Stella. There is a line stating "Now we are even, quote Steven, when he gave his wife six blows to one." Stella was a real person named Esther Johnson, reputedly his lover and they were buried alongside one another.

And finally the British explanation, where 'steven' is a slang term for money. Hence the phrase tells us the monies were distributed equally.

Which is the correct explanation? Obviously the Australian explanation is too late as the phrase was in use rather earlier. Jonathan Swift is a possibility but, and I've said this often, the first use known in print will almost certainly follow the word and/or phrase being already in use. Which leaves us with the British slang for money and, yet again, this hardly rings true as I could find no other reference to this slang term.

The best clue comes from Jonathan Swift's writings, for that shows the phrase was in use. It probably also shows the term has seen a change of meaning as there is no parity between the six blows given for the one received. Thus, perhaps the original rhyming referred to inequality, rather than the modern use.

An Etymology of Australia's Fauna

Some years ago I heard the story of how Captain James Cook landed in Botany Bay. As another captain, one James T. Kirk, would do when visiting planets around the Alpha Quadrant years later, Cook was able to make himself understood anywhere in the world by speaking English. (You can almost hear him speaking loudly and slowly in his Yorkshire accent saying "Do you understand?") The idea that the indigenous population of Australia, isolated from the rest of the world for perhaps 30,000 years, understood what Cook and his crew were saying seems fanciful, and yet a story I heard some years ago made me wonder whether the punchline was true.

Cook is chatting away to the locals when he spots an animal bounding along in the distance. "What's that?" he asks. The locals look at one another, shrug and tell him "kangaroo", and he makes a note in his diary "Today I saw a kangaroo." Unfortunately the message from the locals was lost in translation for, instead of them telling him what the creature was called, they had merely said "kan ga roo" or 'I don't know." This etymologist, having heard/told the story again recently, decided to see if this story has any basis in fact and the result produced this post, covering not just the kangaroo but many of the unusually-named fauna of the Australian continent.

Koala: is a European reproduction of the indigenous name, which may be koola, kulla or kula, depending upon the source consulted. This comes from the Dharug word gula or gulamany which suggest 'no drink'. Famously the koala gets all its moisture from the eucalyptus leaves on which it feeds and never needs to drink. At least that is the theory, in recent years koalas have been increasingly reported seeing taking a drink of water. Various things have been blamed, such as heatwaves, deforestation, and bushfires.

Platypus: derived from the Greek, the name was given by Europeans and translates literally as 'flat-footed', which seems odd considering few would see this creature's feet as its defining feature. Note the American idea of the plural being platypi (or is it platypii?), does not work as that would need to be a Latin root. Strictly the British idea of platypusses is accepted, but if we stick with the Greek beginnings this would give the plural as platypodes.

Thylacine: is a modern name from the Greek and correctly is Thylacine Cynocephalus 'the dog headed pouched one'.

Echidna: an interesting name which is most often said to come from the Greek ekhidna meaning 'snake, viper' and said to come from Proto-Indo-European angwhi 'snake, eel'. Whilst the forms may appear very close, to describe an egg-laying mammal (monotreme) with spines akin to a hedgehog as an ophidian seems odd. There have been suggestions that the tongue, used to collect ants and termites, is the 'snake', but this would not be overly easy to recognise from a distance. Another possibility is the Greek ekhinos 'sea urchin;' which is spiny like the hedgehog which it originally was used to describe and was also used to describe 'sharp points'. There is a third idea, for the serpent-nymph of Greek mythology named Echidna was described as 'a beautiful woman in the upper part of the body, but instead of legs and feet she had, from the waist downward, the form of a serpent'. Just how this would be likened to the Australian marsupial, is unclear. Perhaps just throw them all in the hat and pick one.

Quoll: is from an indigenous language, recorded as je-quoll by Joseph Banks, he who accompanied Captain James Cook on his voyage, where it was also recorded as a dhigul, both from the Guugu Yimidhirr language again.

Tasmanian devil: is simple enough, for it is named from the island of Tasmania, itself named after Abel Tasman, the Dutch explorer.

Sugar glider: is simple enough for, as many will know, it is a bit like a flying squirrel in that it glides, and gets it 'sweet' name because it has a predilection for sugary foods.

Wombat: is the European version of the indigenous names of womback or wombar, from the language of the indigenous Darug people, now nearly extinct. Note the collective name for the wombat is a wsidom, and even Sir David Attenborough said the wombat is not known for its intelligence.

Possum: is a shortened form of opossum, itself the Algonquian opassum or 'white dog'.

Dingo: is from the Dharruk language (spoken in the region of Sydney) and means 'tame dog', which is a little odd as the creatures are also known by the Dharruk term warrigal or 'wild dog'.

Dugong: comes from a Visayan word dugung and from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian duyun, all of which do NOT mean, as is so often said, 'the lady of the sea' another description of a mermaid (which also doesn't exist).

Emu: is from the Portuguese ema meaning 'crane, ostrich', and of unknown origins.

Cassowary: is another indigenous name, the Malay kasuari.

Galah: is a parrot named from the Yuwaalaraay language.

Budgerigar: has two possible etymologies: either the Yuwaalaraay word gijrragaa; or the Australian slang boojery 'good' amd gar 'cockatoo'.

Kookaburra: is from the Wiradjuri word guuguubarra which is simply imitative of its call.

Taipan: is derived from the Wik-Mungkan name for an ancestral creator also known as the Rainbow Serpent.

Goanna: is from 'iguana', itself from the Arawakan name for this lizard.

Barramundi: is an indigenous word meaning 'large-scaled river fish'.

Wobbegong: is another name from an indigenous language, this shark resembling a carpet (hence it's a carpet shark) and is a name meaning 'shaggy beard'.

Kangaroo: and finally a look at the creature which started all this. If you thought the "I don't know" story was bad enough, the actual origins are even more confusing. The name comes from the indigenous language known as Guugu Yimidhirr (no, I don't know how to pronounce it either), where gaNurru is said to mean 'large black kangaroo'. Thus if 'kangaroo' means 'large black kangaroo', then 'large black kangaroo' means 'large black kangaroo large black kangaroo' and so on and so forth. Yes, it is confusing and I certainly prefer "I don't know".

Synonym Etymologies X

Continuing the look at synonyms through the eyes of the etymologist, this time it is the letter X and xanth. For once I am unable to offer synonyms, hence I chose 'xanth' as it has several uses. Best known would be as a colour, where it comes from the Greek xanthos 'yellow'.

Dalla xantha is a butterfly native to Colombia.

Xantha is also a girl's name, one most often given to those with blonde hair.

Caladenia xantha is native to Western Australia and has the common name primrose spider orchid.

Xantha is the home planet of Kurrgo, a character in the Marvel Comics series featuring the Fantastic Four.

Falsilunatia xantha is a species of predatory sea snail.

Xantha was a Greek and Bulgarian diesel ship designed to carry livestock, but has subsequently been renamed Solyst and later Sea Maid.

Christina Collins

If you have not heard the story of Christina Collins, find a copy of my Bloody British Histories: Stafford and read the story of the woman who never made it to the rendezvous with her husband, but was murdered on the canal en route.

Four were on that boat - two were hanged, the cabin boy was never charged, but one, William Ellis, was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. However, he was saved by a last-minute reprieve which saw his death sentence commuted to transportation. What happened to him?

We know he departed our shores on 6th April 1841 - sentenced to be transported for 10 years. He travelled aboard the Layton. This was Layton's last voyage of the five it made when transporting convicts to Australia, all but one to Van Diemen's Land. Departing on 13th June 1827, 17th June 1829 (to New South Wales), 26th August 1835, 9th July 1839, and 6th April 1841, the vessel took 1,131 prisoners halfway around the world, 235 of whom were sentenced to life.

Layton arrived in Australia on 1st September 1841 at Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) with 249 other convicts. What happened to him then is unknown, which is revealing in itself as we would expect to find some record had he died in Australia or been released.

If well behaved, the convict could be given a ticket of leave, granting some freedom. At the end of the convict's sentence, seven years in most cases, the convict was issued with a Certificate of Freedom. He was then free to become a settler or to return to England. Convicts who misbehaved, however, were often sent to a place of secondary punishment like Port Arthur, Tasmania or Norfolk Island, where they would suffer additional punishment and solitary confinement.

Selection of National Mottos

Whilst researching a section of a book last year, I came across a motto for a certain nation. It made me wonder what other nations claimed their nation stood for. Most proclaimed strength, unity, liberty, piety, and other apparently desirable attributes. There were also those which did not have a motto, at least not an official one. What remained follows and, as will quickly become apparent, added because I found them humorous to some extent.
Albania: You, Albania, give me the honour, give me the name Albanian.
Aruba: Always progressing

Australia does not have an official motto, but unofficially: She'll be right mate.
Belize: Under the shade I flourish.
Botswana: Rain
Lebanon: We are all for the country, the sublime, and the flag.
Luxembourg: We wish to remain what we are.
Moldova: Our language is a treasure.

Netherlands: I will maintain.
Puerto Rico: John is his name.
Seychelles: The end crowns the work.
Spain: Further beyond.
Swaziland: We are the fortress.

Australian Territories

To define the names of the eight territories of Australia seems a little pointless, for they are obvious. Of course, this is because they were named very recently, albeit from words often coined very much earlier. Yet these are worthwhile looking at for, unlike most names which simply developed, these were chosen.

Western Australia - obviously the westernmost part of Australia, but why 'west'? It transpires this an abbreviation of the Proto-Indo-European compound wes-pero meaning 'evening'. Australia is an abbreviation of the Latin Terra Australis meaning simply 'southern land'.

Southern Australia - from the Proto-Germanic sunthaz or quite literally 'sun side'. For the origins of Australia see Western Australia above.

Northern Territory - 'north' comes from Proto-Indo-European ner meaning 'left' as that is where north lies when facing the rising sun. Note the same word is the root of Sanskrit narakah 'hell'. Territory is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ters 'to dry' and orium a suffix denoting place. Together this produced the Latin territorium meaning 'a place from which people are warned off'.

Australian Capital Territory - Named as such for it is home to Canberra, itself a greatly Anglicised version of an indigenous name. Tales of this being named Canberry because of the number of native Australian Cranberry bushes growing around here seems fanciful, at best. Possibly this represents an old Ngunnawal word meaning 'meeting place', although other sources point to the two mountains which dominate the skyline and thus the river running between them is the nganbira or 'hollow between a woman's breasts'. For the origins of Territory see Northern Territory above and for the origins of Australia see Western Australia, also above.

New South Wales - a word seen since Proto-Indo-European newo and thus has hardly changed in form or meaning for thousands of years. For the origins of south see South Australia above, while Wales is an Old English word, where wahl meant 'foreigner' or, more correctly, 'not Saxon'.

Queensland - named in 1859 after former monarch Queen Victoria.

Victoria - exactly as for Queensland above.

Tasmania - is named after the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, the first European to sight the island, doing so on November 24th 1642, although he called it Van Diemen's Land after the then Dutch governor-general of the East Indies. Abel's surname comes from a Germanic term meaning 'of great faith'.

What do we know of the names of regional names used by those living here for millennia prior to the arrival of the Europeans? Nothing, as while they had names for places they did not name vast areas as they simply did not need to.

Colonial Slang

Dialect terms vary greatly across England, words used in the north and east would be completely unknown in the south and west. What is more the English spoken in Scotland and Ireland has even more variations. Hence I wondered what terms had crept in English among the former British colonies, in particular the slang terms. There were hundreds, but having removed those referring to body parts, sex and those of more obvious meaning, I ended up with the following list.

Australian: Back of Bourke (a very long way away)

Australian: Bush oyster (nasal mucus)

Australian: Franger (condom)

Australian: Mystery bag (a sausage)

Australian: Zack (sixpence - actually 5 cents)

Canadian: Toque (a warm knitted cap)

Canadian: Cowtown (how the locals know Calgary, Alberta)

Canadian: Pablum (vitamin deficiencies) and named from a propietary baby food.

Canadian: Gastown (a region of Vancouver) named after Gassy Jack Deighton and refers to the area devoted to the arts, media, technology and tourism.

Canadian: Skookum (excellent)

New Zealand: Carked (death, not necessarily a person)

New Zealand: Choice (thanks a lot)

New Zealand: Hungus (someone who likes food a lot)

New Zealand: Squizz (a glace)

New Zealand: Dairy (expensive)

South African: Babbelas (a hangover) comes from the Zulu word ibhabhalazi.

South African: Braai (barbecue)

South African: Fundi (expert) comes from the Nguni tribe's language.

South African: Jislaaik (an expression of surprise)

South African: Shongololo (a millipede) and from the Zulu word ukushonga which means 'to roll up'.

If anyone wants to drop me a line and suggest others, feel free.

Australian Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. This time we look at Australia which, at least as far as place names is concerned, is very new. Several are named after people, others transferred, and thus some of the explanations are more histories than etymologies.

Sydney is not the capital city but is the largest city, indeed over 20% of Australia's entire population live here. The settlement was officially named on 7th February 1788, recognising the role played by Thomas Townsend in establishing this place. Note it was not named after him directly, but took that of his title. Lord Sydney. This is not actually from a place, as would be the case with most titles, and the history behind it is a little unusual. When offered the title he originally opted for Baron Sidney, itself to honour Algernon Sidney, a member of the family who is better remembered for his opposition to tyranical monarchy. However he feared other members of the family would try to show they had greater claim on this title and so he then went for the village of Sydneham in Kent, very close to his home town, until he opted for the alternative spelling of Algernon's surname.

Melbourne is also taken from a title, Lord Melbourne being the prime minister of Great Britain when the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Richard Bourke, named the newly-founded colony in August 1835. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, took the title on the death of his father who had adopted the name of a Derbyshire village having a name meaning 'mill stream'. Today the British Melbourne has a population of little more than 5,000 despite having been in existence for over a thousand years. The Australian version, yet to celebrate 200 years, boasts 18.9% of the nation's population with a head count of almost 4.1/2 million in 2014.

Brisbane was officially named after the Brisbane River on which it stands. The river itself is named after is named after the Governor of New South Wales from 1821 to 1825, one Sir Thomas Brisbane. Apart from his political career, the Scotland-born Major General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane was also a keen astronomer and built the first observatory in Australia.

Perth is the first place not to be named after a person, but comes from another city. Perth in Scotalnd has a population of some 50,000 today, the Western Australian capital city has over 2 million inhabitants. The Scots version is named from a Pictish word meaning simply 'wood' or maybe the smaller 'copse'.

Adelaide is the only other city in Australia to have a population in excess of one million. As any trivia buff will know it was named after the queen consort of King William IV, Queen Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen.

Tweed Heads takes the name of the Tweed River on which it stands, this purported to be named after its Scottish counterpart and there seems little chance of it being anything else. The Scots version comes from the Gaelic thuaidh meaning 'north'.

Newcastle was transferred from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, itself clearly speaking of a rebuilt fortification. The reason for the choice is easy to see when considering earlier names for the settlement - we can ignore Kingstown as the place was aonly known as such briefly - the original name was Coal River, and Newcastle is famous as having been the great port for coal.

Maitland takes us back to places named after people. Here the city is held to have been inspired by Sir George Maitland, Under Secretary for the Colonies and MP for Whitchurch, Hampshire.

Canberra is the first example of an indigenous place name, although the present version has been greatly Anglicised. The tales of this being named Canberry because of the number of the native Australian Cranberry bushes growing around here seems fanciful, at best. Possibly this is indeed an Anglicised version of the old Ngunnawal word meaning 'meeting place', although other sources point to the two mountains which dominate the skyline and thus the river running between them is the nganbira or 'hollow between a woman's breasts'.

Queanbeyan is a second from an indigenous word, although here there is no doubting this is from quinbean meaning 'clear waters'.

Wollongong is another indigenous name but one where the meaning is disputed. Various suggestions have included 'seas of the south', 'great feast of fish', 'hard ground near water', song of the sea', 'sound of the waves', 'many snakes', and 'five islands'.

Hobart was named after Lord Hobart, the Colonial Secretary. Initially it was styled Hobart Town or sometimes Hobarton.

Geelong, founded in 1827, took an indigenous name of Jillong, itself thought to mean 'land' or possibly 'cliffs'.

Cairns was named after the Governor of Queensland at the time, one William Wellington Cairns.

Darwin was named after Charles Darwin, although when HMS Beagle sailed into the harbour on September 9th 1839 the famous naturalist had not been on board for three years.

Ballarat was named by Scottish squatter Archibald Yuille, he establishing his sheep run here in 1837 and taking the local name of balla arat or 'resting place'.

Bendigo was named after the Bendigo Creek, both first mentioned during the Victorian Gold Rush on November 1851. Bendigo has a population of a little over 91,000 individuals and is named after Bendigo's Hut, where a shepherd of that name once lived. This was not his real name but a nickname, itself coming from the Nottingham bare-knuckle prize-fighter William Abendego Thompson, usually billed as Bendigo Thompson. The shepherd is purported to have earned the nickname as he was something of a pugilist himself and is recorded as also being referred to as 'the fighting sailor'.

Wagga Wagga is a reminder of how the native language has no plural form as such but simply repeates the word to show there is more than one. As the Wiradjuri word wagga means 'crow', the name of Wagga Wagga would mean 'place of many crows'. However the basic defintion is disputed and alternative meanings for wagga include 'reeling' and 'dance, slide, grind'.

The Nations of Oceania – Etymologically Speaking

Following on from previous weeks here we tie up the loose ends by examining the last of the continents. A comparatively modern term, only coined in the early nineteenth century, Oceania comes from a Greek word for ‘ocean’, an unusual name for a continent. Just what it comprises depends upon the record consulted but, for our purposes, it is everything in and around the Pacific basin not considered a part of Asia, North America, or South America.

Australia – A country originally known as Terra Australis Incognita or ‘unknown southern land’, this strange name because, perhaps uniquely, it appeared on a 2nd century map some 1,500 years before it was first sighted by Europeans.

Fiji – a name of uncertain meaning but one where the origins are well known. The island group is named from the main island, correctly known as Viti Levu and referred to by the inhabitants discovered by Captain James Cook as simply Viti. It was not the Fijians but the Tongans who knew the place as Fisi, in turn Anglicised as Fiji.

Kiribati – first sighted by Europeans in 1788 and later named by the French after the captain of that earlier vessel. That original captain was Thomas Gilbert, hence the Iles Gilbert or Gilbert Islands. The local name is Tungaru, thought to be after a former chieftain. Yet in a highly unusual turn of events the populace decided to use this local pronunciation of Gilberts, ie Kiribati, to show the group now encompasses other islands originally outside of their group. One of the islands in the group, sighted on Christmas Day and thus named Christmas Island, underwent the identical change and is known by the apparent Gilbertese name of Kiritimati, again the local pronunciation of the European name.

Marshall Islands – In the same year as Gilbert spied the Gilbert Islands, Captain John Marshall explored and mapped what are now known as the Marshall Islands. Not that these islands were unknown in the late eighteenth century, indeed they were first recorded by Europeans as early as 1529 when seen by Spanish navigator Alvarez de Saavedra.

Micronesia – the name of Micronesia, like the name of the continent, is derived from the Greek where micros ‘small’ nesos ‘island’ with ia ‘territory’.

Nauru – the first European to visit the island were the crew of Captain John Fearn’s vessel on a whale hunting voyage in 1798. He referred to this as the Pleasant Island and the name stuck until the twentieth century. The local and current name seems to come from the local language where anaoero means ‘I go to the beach’ and a reference to the twelve tribes which inhabited the place having a culture entirely based on fishing and coconuts.

New Zealand – although associated with Captain James Cook, New Zealand was first sighted by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman who called them the Staaten Islands. This means ‘the land of the States’, ie the states of the Netherlands. However Dutch authorities were not impressed and changed the name the following year to Nieuw Zeeland ‘new sea land’ and inspired by the Dutch province of Zeeland. Terrains of the two places could not be more different – the Dutch Zeeland is as flat as it can be which the New Zealand is a mountainous volcanic region.

Palau – this name has come to English through a German version of the Spanish name. Just what this means depends upon which local words is the origin. Two very similar words, with very different meanings, have been suggested – hence this is either beluu or ‘village’ or if aibebelau is a reference to creation mythology.

Papua New Guinea – two former areas united in the modern name. The region of Papua is from a local term but of unknown origin and meaning. The ‘new’ of New Guinea came from Ortiz de Rez, a Portuguese explorer who consider the inhabitants similar in appearance to those he met in Guinea, West Africa.

Samoa – French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville named them the Navigator Islands in 1768. However the local name has always been Samoa, a reference to the large, now extinct, flightless birds which once inhabited the islands around here and named as ‘the place of moa’.

Solomon Islands – discovered and named in 1567 by Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mandana de Neyra. Having met the natives and the gold ornaments they wore, he jumped to the conclusion this must be the legendary land of Ophir where, according to the Bible in Kings 1 chapter 9 verse 28, the gold was brought to King Solomon. It does instantly beg the question as to why he did not simply call them the Ophir Islands.

Tonga – in the many dialects and related tongues of Polynesia the word tonga means simply ‘south’, an apt description of these, the southernmost group of these islands.

Tuvalu –a group of nine islands settled by migrating humans some 3,000 years ago. Yet only eight were ever inhabited, hence the local tongue refers to them as ‘eight standing together’, a reference to the separate communities united by constant travel and trade by canoe.

Vanuatu – a local name derived from vanua ‘land’ or perhaps ‘home’ with tu ‘stand’, a reference to this new nation’s independence.

As previously the capital cities of each nation will be examined next time.