I’m shocked and outraged I tell you, there may be some Native Americans who could possibly be offended by this and if they aren’t I'm going to find some and tell them they should be and then I'm going to DEMAND that all these writers be SACKED.
'Native American surely' - not if you're in Canada, where it's 'First Nations', please!
I'll let you have that one, though, as the phrase seems to have come to us via New England; I suspect its popularity here has a great deal to do with Peyton Place, in which it plays a significant part.
As a medievalist by inclination, I prefer the term 'St Lukes Little Summer' - although technically this one belongs to St Michael (29th Sept), the patron saint of quality underwear.
@Macheath I'm afraid the Peyton Place aspect goes right over my head, being only 5 when the show stopped airing.
@QG I was always aware it was a Red Indian thing, But I was surprised when looking at Wikipedia that 2 of the origins actually supposed it to be a 'bad thing' and forecast Indian raids
You and me both, Cat, being of a similar vintage; however, I've heard that its popularity here was such that it is largely to blame for the vast number of forty-something Alisons and Allisons in the UK (five in my village alone) named after the heroine.
How do we get away with calling Red Indians 'Native Americans' anyway? Don't they have their own name(s) for 'America', i.e. thousands of them, one for every language?
I once a long time ago read a sci-fi story, part of which was that where ever mankind landed in space and they asked the people what they called their planet, their universal translator always translated it as 'Earth' which led to a lot of confusion.
Based on an exhaustive investigation, well, a quick glance then, round Africa, the popular historical tendency is towards something that translates as 'The Place of the People.'
'Native American surely' - not if you're in Canada, where it's 'First Nations', please!
ReplyDeleteI'll let you have that one, though, as the phrase seems to have come to us via New England; I suspect its popularity here has a great deal to do with Peyton Place, in which it plays a significant part.
As a medievalist by inclination, I prefer the term 'St Lukes Little Summer' - although technically this one belongs to St Michael (29th Sept), the patron saint of quality underwear.
I'd always assumed it was Indian as in the sub-continent, but rooting around on wikipedia suggested otherwise and showed you were right.
ReplyDelete@Macheath I'm afraid the Peyton Place aspect goes right over my head, being only 5 when the show stopped airing.
ReplyDelete@QG I was always aware it was a Red Indian thing,
But I was surprised when looking at Wikipedia that 2 of the origins actually supposed it to be a 'bad thing' and forecast Indian raids
You and me both, Cat, being of a similar vintage; however, I've heard that its popularity here was such that it is largely to blame for the vast number of forty-something Alisons and Allisons in the UK (five in my village alone) named after the heroine.
ReplyDeleteWhat QG says.
ReplyDeleteHow do we get away with calling Red Indians 'Native Americans' anyway? Don't they have their own name(s) for 'America', i.e. thousands of them, one for every language?
Very true Mark
ReplyDeleteI once a long time ago read a sci-fi story, part of which was that where ever mankind landed in space and they asked the people what they called their planet, their universal translator always translated it as 'Earth' which led to a lot of confusion.
Based on an exhaustive investigation, well, a quick glance then, round Africa, the popular historical tendency is towards something that translates as 'The Place of the People.'
ReplyDeleteIndeed, the Maori word, Māori, actually means nothing more than "normal, ordinary".
ReplyDeleteTo add to the trivia.
ReplyDeleteThe Navajo name for themselves is 'Diné' which just means 'The People'