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Peter Damian
This is completely irrelevant, but Somey's remark about Des Moines (where he claims to live) drew me to the article on that legendary city. Like Pimlico (London) it is one of those places you are not sure exists or not. And that brought me to this odd section.

QUOTE
A more recent hypothesis uses a study of Miami-Illinois tribal names to say the word Moingona, one of the names given to the region, comes from word mooyiinkweena, a derogatory name which translates roughly to "the excrement-faces." The name was seemingly given to Marquette and Joliet by a tribal leader to dissuade them from doing business with a neighboring tribe.[10]

However, the creator of this etymology admits it is improbable ("strange" as he puts it), but that is an understatement. It is based on a body of misconceptions that, it must be said, would be unexpected from anyone who professes expertise in the subject. The historical evidence discredits this "excrement face" etymology as anything more than a paronomasia, that is, a play on words that some people find amusing and that is therefore widely repeated.[11]
Somey
QUOTE(Peter Damian @ Thu 7th January 2010, 9:15am) *
This is completely irrelevant, but Somey's remark about Des Moines (where he claims to live) drew me to the article on that legendary city. Like Pimlico (London) it is one of those places you are not sure exists or not. And that brought me to this odd section...

Well, you know how WP'ers are - if it involves excrement (or corporal punishment, for that matter), it has to be in the article! smile.gif

I've been trying to get the City Council to change the name from "Des Moines," which nobody can spell correctly anyway, to "Someytown." There was a fair amount of support for the idea, but they couldn't cost-justify all the changes to the signage. Apparently that stuff can run into some serious money!
CharlotteWebb
QUOTE(Somey @ Thu 7th January 2010, 5:13pm) *

I've been trying to get the City Council to change the name from "Des Moines," which nobody can spell correctly anyway, to "Someytown."

They do things very strange over there don't they?

But where has Moulton been anyway? I think Barry would have serious fun with this concept.
Somey
QUOTE(CharlotteWebb @ Thu 7th January 2010, 12:00pm) *
They do things very strange over there don't they?

Oh, come on. We wear our underwear on the outside just like everybody else. (You know, so they can check.)

Btw, the "excrement-faces" edit was added by Chemica (T-C-L-K-R-D) in March 2008. It's legitimate, but if it were a BLP, or a more sensitive subject in general, such an obscure etymological/historical theory wouldn't really belong in the article - unless they still allowed "trivia" sections maybe.
Trick cyclist
QUOTE(Peter Damian @ Thu 7th January 2010, 3:15pm) *

Like Pimlico (London) it is one of those places you are not sure exists or not.

Pimlico was certainly there last time I was in that place, though maybe its been pulled down to make way for the London Olympics. And of course its the subject of a hilarious film, ""Passport to Pimlico". I know its not evidence but there's a long article at Pimlico (T-H-L-K-D).
Mike H
Des Moines is French, you know. It means "some of these Moines."
Somey
QUOTE(Mike H @ Sat 9th January 2010, 11:02pm) *
Des Moines is French, you know. It means "some of these Moines."

Nos moines sont plus grands que vos moines!
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