> This is a fairly universal experience when asking "what do you call
> this?" with limited shared language. Early french explorers along
> the St. Lawrence River, trying to ask the Huron indians what this
> land was called, gestured in the general direction of the nearby
> village, so were given the Huron word meaning "A group of huts."
> They wrote that word down as "Canada," and it has stuck ever since.
There's an australian Urban Legend that Kangaroo means "I don't know" in some aboriginal language. It makes a good story, but I've heard University Professors who specialise in that sort of thing laugh and politely point out that it's probably not true.
Bear in mind that there are at least hundreds, possibly thousands of aboriginal languages, some of which are dead, so finding the truth could be tricky.
Harry.
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