Reminds of the old story that I heard (unsure if it’s true or not) about Torpenhow Hill in the UK.
Over centuries… various invaders and conquerors had come to that place and asked what it was called… First it was called Tor later on invaders added the word ‘Pen’ which was their word for Hill… later, more invaders came along and added the suffix ‘How’ which was their word for Hill… and finally… it was named in more modern English as Torpenhow Hill… which literally translates as Hill, Hill, Hill, Hill.
I don;t know if that’s 100% true or not… but it’s an amusing little story and given the oddities of the English language… I’d like to think it was.
Especially given there’s a species of bear out there that’s name is literally translated as Bear, Bear, Bear.
A. D. Mills in his Dictionary of English Place-Names interprets the name as “Ridge of the hill with a rocky peak”, giving its etymology as Old English torr, Celtic *penn, and Old English hoh, each of which mean ‘hill’. Thus, the name Torpenhow Hill could be interpreted as ‘hill-hill-hill Hill’.
It’s kind of true. The last hill seems to be a modern invention, and Torpenhow Hill isn’t listed on any maps. There is a village there called Torpenhow, though, and that is Hillhillhill
Reminds of the old story that I heard (unsure if it’s true or not) about Torpenhow Hill in the UK.
Over centuries… various invaders and conquerors had come to that place and asked what it was called… First it was called Tor later on invaders added the word ‘Pen’ which was their word for Hill… later, more invaders came along and added the suffix ‘How’ which was their word for Hill… and finally… it was named in more modern English as Torpenhow Hill… which literally translates as Hill, Hill, Hill, Hill.
I don;t know if that’s 100% true or not… but it’s an amusing little story and given the oddities of the English language… I’d like to think it was.
Especially given there’s a species of bear out there that’s name is literally translated as Bear, Bear, Bear.
From the Wikipedia page:
I think it’s a hill?
Unfortunately, Tom Scott has already debunked this
Guys I think that place might be on some elevated terrain
It’s kind of true. The last hill seems to be a modern invention, and Torpenhow Hill isn’t listed on any maps. There is a village there called Torpenhow, though, and that is Hillhillhill