Re: Country names

John Cowan wrote:

>Markus Miekk-oja scripsit:
>
>
>
>>Shouldn't Sweden/Norway have the "elk" instead of the "moose" - I know this
>>is hairsplitting, but the European variety is generally known as an elk. -
>>
>>
>
>The difficulty is that "elk" in North America refers to a different
>animal altogether.  The North American moose/European elk is _Alces alces_,
>whereas the North American elk, sometimes called the wapiti, is
>_Cervus elaphus_.
>
>ObJoke:  A Scotsman visiting Canada was taken by his local relatives to
>see a mouse.  "If that's yer moose," said he, "I dinna want to see yer
>rats!"
>
>
Which does nothing but demand the joke about the Texan being showed a
station [~=AmE ranch] in Australia. The station in question is probably
bigger than most US states, and the homestead marked on the map because
cartographers are afraid of emptiness, even though there are towns in
Victoria and Eastern NSW that remain unmarked. Nevertheless, the Texan
insists that his ranch back in Texas is twice as big! A sheep is shown
to him, but he insists that his sheep at home are twice as big. He's
shown the shearing shead, and he insists that his is larger. A kangaroo
hops past. The tour continues in this fashion for some time. After it's
finished, the Texan admits that he might have been using a bit of
hyperbole, but he cannot believe the size of the rabbits!

(ObKangaroo-and-Joke: What do you get if you cross a kangaroo and a
sheep? Woolly jumpers [=AmE sweater] all over Australia!)

--
Tristan                  <kesuari@...>

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