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nThenfirst thing that Wikipedia tells us about the African nation ofnGuinea is this: “Not to be confused with Guinea-Bissau, EquatorialnGuinea, or Papua New Guinea.” Wikipedia doesn’t bother to mentionnthat we shouldn’t get Guinea mixed up with Guyana or French Guiana,neither—although I think that they could be confused pretty easily!
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nNotnto mention that gold coins used in Britain in the past were calledn“guineas,” there is are turkey-like birds called guineafowl andnthere are mammals called Guinea pigs! n
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nInnthe past, it was even worse: there was a Dutch Guinea and GermannGuinea in West Africa, and there was a Dutch Guiana and PortuguesenGuiana in South America. Yikes!
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| Guinea pigs are NOT from Guinea! |
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| Guinea hen and her chicks |
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nApparentlynthe term “guinea” came to be known for an area of West Africa, annarea that was split up among the European colonization powers (DutchnGuinea, German Guinea, Portuguese Guinea, French Guinea, and SpanishnGuinea). Since this region was rich in gold, the British coins madenout of gold were called guineas. The wild bird called guineafowl arenfrom West Africa, and the traders who made the triangular trip fromnEngland to Guinea, to South America, and then back to England werenoften called Guinea-men. It was these traders who first introducednthe cute, furry rodents from South America to Europeans, and somehownthey got named Guinea pigs, even though they aren’t from Guinea andnaren’t closely related to pigs!
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nAnSpanish explorer who was one of the first Europeans to travel to thenlarge island of Papua, north of Australia, thought that thendark-skinned people living their resembled the dark-skinned people ofnGuinea, in Africa. So he named the island New Guinea. These days thennative name Papua introduces this misnomer, and we know this nationnas Papua New Guinea.
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nNow,ncompletely separately from all these “Guineas,” there was a SouthnAmerican Indian word meaning “land of many waters” that gavenbirth to the name Guyana. European powers carved up the land callednGuyana among themselves, and the colonies were called British Guyana,nDutch Guyana, French Guiana, and Portuguese Guiana. Now independent,nthe first dropped the “British,” the second changed its name tonSuriname, and the last joined up with the nation of Brazil. (FrenchnGuiana retains its name.)
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nSuchnis language, including proper names: ever changing, sometimesnconfusing, but full of interesting histories….
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Atnany rate…
Atnany rate…n
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nTodaynthe African nation of Guinea celebrates its independence from France,nwon in 1958.
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nAlsonon this date:
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Political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday
Political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday n
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nGreat Books Week
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nMysterySeries Week
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