Until 1916, New Hampshire had a stream called the Quohquinapassakessamanagnog, but then the cheerless bureaucrats at the Board on Geographic Names in Washington, D.C., arbitrarily changed it to Beaver Creek. In
Bill Bryson Made in America
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In his book "Made in America," Bill Bryson discusses New Hampshire's geographical name Quohquinapassakessamanagnog, highlighting its unique and complex nature. This name was part of the local heritage until 1916 when it was changed.

Bryson points out that the alteration was made by the Board on Geographic Names, which he describes as a group of bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. They replaced the original name with the much simpler Beaver Creek, demonstrating how administrative decisions can erase local history and culture.

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Made in America
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Other quotes in Made in America

That is why, for instance, horses in New England {as in East Anglia} neigh, while those in the middle states of America {and the Midlands of England} whinny.
Bill Bryson Made in America
That is why, for instance, horses in New England {as in East Anglia} neigh, while those in the middle states of America {and the Midlands of England} whinny.
Baseball remains one of the most fertile grounds for inventive wordplay in American life. Among the more notable-and on the face of it more bewildering-recent neologisms are to dial 8 for a home run and Linda Ronstadt for a good fastball. Dial 8 comes from the practice among hotels of requiring customers to dial 8 for a long-distance line. Linda Ronstadt, more complicatedly, is an allusion to her song Blue Bayou, the significance of which becomes less puzzling when you reflect that a good fastball blew by you. Baseball terms presumed to be new often are not.
Bill Bryson Made in America
Baseball remains one of the most fertile grounds for inventive wordplay in American life. Among the more notable-and on the face of it more bewildering-recent neologisms are to dial 8 for a home run and Linda Ronstadt for a good fastball. Dial 8 comes from the practice among hotels of requiring customers to dial 8 for a long-distance line. Linda Ronstadt, more complicatedly, is an allusion to her song Blue Bayou, the significance of which becomes less puzzling when you reflect that a good fastball blew by you. Baseball terms presumed to be new often are not.
E Pluribus Unum, "One from Many," was taken from, of all places, a recipe for salad in an early poem by Virgil.}
Bill Bryson Made in America
E Pluribus Unum, "One from Many," was taken from, of all places, a recipe for salad in an early poem by Virgil.}
As early colonists employed odd spellings, so too they often brought unexpected pronunciations with them. This was particularly the case in Virginia, where the leading families had a special fondness for pronouncing their family names in improbable ways, so that Sclater became Slaughter, Munford became Mumfud, Randolph was Randall, Wyatt was Wait, Devereaux was Deverecks, Callowhill was Carroll, Higginson was Hickerson, Norsworthy was Nazary, and Taliaferro became a somewhat less than self-evident Tolliver.
Bill Bryson Made in America
As early colonists employed odd spellings, so too they often brought unexpected pronunciations with them. This was particularly the case in Virginia, where the leading families had a special fondness for pronouncing their family names in improbable ways, so that Sclater became Slaughter, Munford became Mumfud, Randolph was Randall, Wyatt was Wait, Devereaux was Deverecks, Callowhill was Carroll, Higginson was Hickerson, Norsworthy was Nazary, and Taliaferro became a somewhat less than self-evident Tolliver.
If you have ever wondered why radio and television stations always have call signs beginning with W or K, the answer is that those letters were assigned to American airwaves by an international convention held in London in 1912. The United States was given the call letters A, N, W, and K. A and N were reserved respectively for the army and navy. The other two were given to public broadcasters.
Bill Bryson Made in America
If you have ever wondered why radio and television stations always have call signs beginning with W or K, the answer is that those letters were assigned to American airwaves by an international convention held in London in 1912. The United States was given the call letters A, N, W, and K. A and N were reserved respectively for the army and navy. The other two were given to public broadcasters.
if we wished to find a modern-day model for British and American speech of the late eighteenth century, we could probably do no better than Yosemite Sam.
Bill Bryson Made in America
if we wished to find a modern-day model for British and American speech of the late eighteenth century, we could probably do no better than Yosemite Sam.
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