Simply the opposite day, a middle-aged woman approached me within the grocery store, close to the natural vegetable part. “Aren’t you that beat author on 10000birds? The one who can’t take an honest chicken image even when his life is determined by it?”. I needed to admit “That’s me, certainly, thanks very a lot”, whereas scanning the aisles for a doable escape route. “There’s one thing that all the time bothers me at Christmas and I wish to ask you. Why are Turkeys known as Turkeys? Do they arrive from Turkey?”.
Why certainly? Turkeys don’t hail from Turkey (English, Kurdish and sure, Turkish), Peru (Portuguese) nor India (French, Polish, Belarussian). Though by no means introduced up in grocery store dialog, the Spanish name the Turkey pavo – peacock. Geographically simply as mistaken, and positively not price an honorary doctorate in ornithology… Now, some individuals want to make us consider all of society’s flaws hail from the Age of Discovery and the next colonisation by European powers. Within the Turkey‘s case, they might be proper.
These explorers had been undeniably courageous, but additionally ruthless, spiritual fanatics, rife with illness and hungry for riches (these days they might run for workplace). They weren’t truly superb at navigation (the “discovery“ of many locations occurred accidentally) they usually effectively and really had been biology dimwits. Add these details to a largely ignorant inhabitants, drunk as a result of one couldn’t drink the water, and confusion is sort of assured. So, right here’s the situation. Two ships arrive at a dock in Lisbon, London or Le Havre, a galleon crusing in from the Levant and a three-master originating from the Americas (known as Indies earlier than Vespucci took the credit score). One ship has massive and scrumptious birds on board – what would you name them…? The French would get the origin proper however the entire continent has been misnamed, zero factors. The Londoners don’t even know which ship the birds got here from and go for Turkey – named after essentially the most highly effective nation within the Levant. And who is aware of what the Portuguese had been smoking to give you peru?!
Solely the sober continental northern Europeans innovated: kalkoen, kalkun, or Truthahn. Sadly, English audio system continued misnaming birds for hundreds of years, with a fetishy choice for robins. It took the Anglo-Saxon world a very long time to get some avenue cred in biology once more…
All footage from the big and great 10000birds archive. No matter your festive purpose to return along with your loved ones to eat a big chicken: comfortable holidays!
Autor Peter
