If you began a journey at the Isles of Sea Monsters, headed around the Cape by the Dark Warrior's Village, trekked through the Land of the Wanderers and ended up in Bear Guard Home you might be forgiven for thinking you are lost in some far-flung corner of J R R Tolkein's Middle Earth.
What you will actually have done is set off from the Orkneys, sailed around Duncansby Head, come ashore on the Scottish mainland and then to Birmingham. You would also be touring the Great Land of the Tattooed – Great Britain. That is according to a new world atlas that has renamed cities, rivers, countries and seas to reflect their etymological roots.
The Atlas of True Names is a somewhat unusual take on the world which attempts to illustrate how the places we live in came to be named. Those living in Cameroon, for instance, could claim to come from Land of Shrimps as their west African republic got its modern-day name from camaroes, Portuguese for shrimps. Citizens of Chicago might be a little less happy to learn that the original Native American word behind the Windy City, checagou, actually means stink onion. Those behind the map say they mean no offence to those who live in places with less aesthetically pleasing names. Instead they hope their map will make us all think more about the idea that behind every name is another one.
London, fort on a hill "The map is not a definitive work on the etymological roots of geographical names," said Sean Quigley of Outstanding Map Distributors. "It's more of a stimulus to make us think about why places are called as they are. It is already causing a degree of heated discussion and I am sure that is just the beginning." Technically the etymology of London is unknown. One theory is that it comes from the Celtic words lon dun, which would mean fort on a hill. Great Land of the Tattooed is Great Britain. From both the Greek word prettanoi, which means"tattooed people" and from the Celtic word brit, meaning light coloured or speckled.
The Independent
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The Great Land of the Tattooed
tattooed [to‘tu:d] tetovaný
etymological [etimo‘lodžokl] etymologický; týkající se původu
slova
reveal [ri‘vi:l] odhalit, odkrýt, vyjevit
origin [‘oridžin] původ
journey [‘džo:ni] cesta, jízda
isle [ail] ostrov
monster [‘monsto] příšera, obluda
head around [hed o‘raund] směřovat/zamířit kolem
cape [keip] mys
warrior [‘worio] válečník, bojovník
trek (-kk-) through [trek °ru:] cestovat, pachtit se, trmácet se
wanderer [‘wondoro] tulák, poutník
bear [beo] medvěd
guard [ga:d] obranná pomůcka, chránič
far-flung [fa:‘fla?] vzdálený, odlehlý
corner [‘ko:no] roh, kout
set off from [set of] vyrazit z, vydat se z
sail around [seil o‘raund] plout kolem
ashore [o‘šo:] na souši, na pevnině
mainland [‘meinlond] pevnina
according to [o‘ko:di? tu:] podle
renamed [ri:‘neimd] přejmenovaný
reflect [ri‘flekt] odrážet
root [ru:t] kořen
attempt to [o‘tempt tu:] pokoušet se
shrimp [šrimp] garnát
citizen [‘sitizon] občan, obyvatel
windy (-ie-) [‘windi] větrný
stink [sti?k] zapáchající, smradlavý; páchnout
onion [‘anjon] cibule
offence [o‘fens] urážka
aesthetically [i:s‘°etikli] esteticky
pleasing [‘pli:zi?] potěšující, příjemný, milý
fort [fo:t] pevnost, tvrz
hill [hil] kopec
definitive [di‘finotiv] konečný
outstanding [aut‘stnndi?] neobyčejný, pozoruhodný
stimulus [‘stimjulos] podnět, popud
cause [ko:z] způsobit, vyvolat
degree [di‘gri:] míra, stupeň
heated [‘hi:tid] žhavý, vzrušený, vášnivý
speckled [‘spekld] skvrnitý, strakatý
