2 Replies to “English Is Weird”

  1. A few of these make more sense when you think about them. The dishware "china" is called that in English speaking countries because it was often first encountered from imports from the country China. Similarly, the mandarin orange gets the name because the fruit originated in the same region as the language. The same is true with the lima bean, which originated in Lima, Peru. We refer to dirt and soil as "earth" in reference to the name of the planet. We refer to the Defense building as "the Pentagon" because it is shaped like a pentagon. August the month and august the word have the same origin, it's just that August the month refers to Augustus Caesar, and Augustus still meaning venerated. Both "Orient" and orient have the same origin, the verb in French originally meant to arrange to face east.

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