User:PUC/Terms misleading as to the place of origin of their referents
< User:PUC
- Created per Wiktionary:Beer parlour/2021/July § Proposal for Category:Misnomers by language
- Should we speak of toponyms, sense 2?
- Feel free to edit it / add to it
- See fr:Catégorie:Idiotismes avec démonymes en français, fr:Catégorie:Idiotismes avec toponymes en français
Misnomers
[edit]| Terms | Literal translation into English (if term not English) | English translation (if term not English) | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic دِيك الْحَبَش (dīk al-ḥabaš), دِيك هِنْدِيّ (dīk hindiyy), دِيك رُومِيّ (dīk rūmiyy) | Ethiopian, Indian or Byzantine cock | turkey | |
| Arabic سُنْبُل رُومِيّ (sunbul rūmiyy) | Byzantine spikenard | valerian | valerian is distributed all over Eurasia |
| Arabic مَقْدُونِس إِفْرَنْجِيّ (maqdūnis ʔifranjiyy) | Frankish parsley | chervil | It can also be found in Asia, it is just used more in Europe |
| Arabic فِلْفِل إِفْرَنْجِيّ (filfil ʔifranjiyy) | Frankish pepper | allspice | This plant is Jamaican |
| Dutch kalkoen | Calicut [hen] | turkey | |
| Dutch Russisch ei, German Russisch Ei | Russian egg | ||
| Dutch Engelse ziekte | English disease | rickets | |
| English turkey | |||
| English Armenian cucumber | |||
| English French fries | Belgium, French and Spain all claim the invention of deep-fried potato batons | ||
| English guinea pig | a double misnomer: this animal is not a pig, nor does it come from Guinea | ||
| English Venice treacle | |||
| English Venice turpentine, Cyprus turpentine, Strasburg turpentine. Canada turpentine, Bordeaux turpentine, French turpentine, Dutch drops | while some may have a factual basis, they are more likely completely arbitrary | ||
| English Dutch elm | This hybrid occurs naturally in a vast swath across Europe from France to Ukraine | ||
| English Jew's harp | Not of Jewish origin | ||
| French cochon d’Inde | pig from India | guinea pig | a double misnomer: this animal is not a pig, nor does it come from India |
| French filet américain, Dutch filet americain | American fillet | Belgian steak tartare | |
| French chiffre arabe | Arabic numeral | Arabic numeral | possibly from India, but perhaps not a misnomer |
| German Judenkirsche and most German plant names that start with Jude (“Jew”) | |||
| Italian granoturco, German türkischer Weizen etc. | Turkish wheat | maize | maize is from the Americas |
| Turkish mısır and fuller forms | Egypt(ian wheat) | maize | maize is from the Americas |
| Turkish hindi | Indian [hen] | turkey | |
| Chinese 星洲炒米 (Xīngzhōu chǎomǐ) | Singaporean stir-fried noodles |
Contradictory names
[edit]| One language | Another language | English | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| French omelette norvégienne (literally “Norwegian omelette”) | baked Alaska | ||
| French montagnes russes (literally “Russian mountains”) | Russian америка́нские го́рки (amerikánskije górki, literally “American mountains”) | rollercoaster | |
| French filer à l’anglaise (literally “to leave the English way”) | take French leave | ||
| French clé anglaise (literally “English key”) | Greek γαλλικό κλειδί (gallikó kleidí, literally “French key”) | monkey wrench | |
| French téléphone arabe (literally “Arabic telephone”) | Chinese whispers | ||
| French capote anglaise (literally “English overcoat, English bonnet”) | French letter |
"Toponyms" in general
[edit]| Terms | Literal translation into English (if term not English) | English translation (if term not English) | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| French cigarette russe | |||
| French roulette russe | Russian roulette | ||
| French poupée russe | Russian doll | ||
| French frigo américain | |||
| French poing américain | brass knuckles | ||
| French été indien | Indian summer | ||
| French branlette espagnole | tit fuck | ||
| French douche écossaise | |||
| French crème anglaise | custard | ||
| German Franzosen (obsolete), etc., see bejel, also under syphilis | endemic syphilis, bejel | ||
| German Pariser | condom |