gwaydms

gwaydms t1_iu77o64 wrote

Reply to comment by thajcakla in TIL that when the French first arrived in North America they met the Ojibwe Indians who introduced them to other tribes but used nasty names. The Lakota/Dakota people were called "Nadowessiwag," which became Nadouessioux in French, then Sioux in English. It means "little snake." by marmorset

Two reasons I can think of:

  1. Their Native name may be difficult to pronounce for someone who doesn't speak that language. It might even mean something bad or embarrassing if mistranslated or mispronounced. One Sioux, whose name meant His Very Horses Fear Him, found himself called Man Afraid of His Horse.
  2. The meaning of the name is immediately obvious. They may even use the Native name and the translation. The writing traditions of some Native languages have characters and diacritics that may not be clear to a reader.
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gwaydms t1_iu765ka wrote

Reply to comment by AgentElman in TIL that when the French first arrived in North America they met the Ojibwe Indians who introduced them to other tribes but used nasty names. The Lakota/Dakota people were called "Nadowessiwag," which became Nadouessioux in French, then Sioux in English. It means "little snake." by marmorset

Neighbors are sometimes allies, and sometimes enemies. A lot of uncomplimentary names for tribes were passed down in this way.

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gwaydms t1_itawixk wrote

Reply to comment by jbryce in The Anglo-Saxon migration and the formation of the early English gene pool by eeeking

I read about Dupuytren's contracture. It's most common among older men "of Northern European extraction". Not necessarily "Viking" or any sort of Scandinavian, since the description also includes the areas of continental Europe that Germanic peoples are known to have migrated from in the Early Medieval Period (5th through 7th centuries).

Scandinavians began raiding England beginning in the 8th century, and by the 9th century had nearly conquered England. Alfred the Great established a settlement area called the Danelaw, and Scandinavians finally began to settle England in large numbers.

I hope you're getting effective treatment for your condition. It's not dangerous, but it can't be pleasant.

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gwaydms t1_ir0m6g2 wrote

Reply to comment by Gyalgatine in TIL a German scientist named Alfred Wegener was ridiculed in 1912 for advancing the idea that the continents were adrift. Ridiculed as having “wandering pole plague.” or “Germanic pseudo­-science” and accused Wegener of toying with the evidence to spin himself into “a state of auto-intoxication." by Hot----------Dog

Wegener didn't understand that a crustal plate could contain continental crust, oceanic crust, or both. The continents move as parts of the plates spread and/or subduct.

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gwaydms t1_iqxi1a2 wrote

Reply to comment by MechTheDane in TIL a German scientist named Alfred Wegener was ridiculed in 1912 for advancing the idea that the continents were adrift. Ridiculed as having “wandering pole plague.” or “Germanic pseudo­-science” and accused Wegener of toying with the evidence to spin himself into “a state of auto-intoxication." by Hot----------Dog

>He wasn’t able to explain WHY it was happening though.

Wegener apparently thought continents plowed through the ocean floor.

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