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May 31, 2006
So you wanna make English the national language?
Okay, then I suggest starting with the re-naming of several states. It wouldn't be fitting, after all, for The United States to have English as the only official language and still have so many states themselves named in other languages. By my calculations, below are the ones what need an update.
Alabama (Creek/Choctaw)
Alaska (Aleut)
Arizona (disputed, but not English)
Arkansas (French)
California (Spanish)
Colorado (Spanish)
Connecticut (Mohegan)
Florida (Spanish)
Hawaii (Hawaiian)
Idaho (it's made up!)
Illinois (French)
Iowa (Siouan)
Kansas (Siouan)
Kentucky (Iroquois?)
Massachusetts (Algonquian)
Michigan (French/Ojibwe)
Minnesota (Dakota/Siouan)
Mississippi (Ojibwe?)
Missouri (Algonquian)
Montana (Spanish)
Nebraska (Oto)
Nevada (Spanish)
New Mexico (Spanish/Aztec)
North Dakota (Dakota/Siouan)
Ohio (Iroquois)
Oklahoma (Choctaw)
Oregon (disputed, but not English)
South Dakota (Dakota/Siouan)
Tennessee (Cherokee)
Texas (Caddo)
Utah (Ute)
Vermont (French)
Wisconsin (French/Ojibwe)
Wyoming (Algonquian)
The Carolinas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, and [the District of] Columbia are iffy, due to their Latinesque treatments. Maine is sort of named for a French province (Mayne), even though its primary meaning is "main[land]." Rhode Island is an English term, but is named after a Greek locale. The Delaware River and Native American tribe were supposedly named for Sir Thomas West, Baron De La Warr. Not sure what that last part is.
So, what does that leave us? Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Washington: now those are some right and proper English names. The rest will have to go; or, we can leave well enough alone and let verbal communication evolve as it ever has.
Politics is Personal | By joe lance | 01:05 PM