Your second it's should be its. The definition belongs to the word. But to be fair, I typed it correctly, and then just now had to go back and fix the autoincorrection. So that probably happened to you as well.
Or sometimes we taught elementary school for too long. It's only worth doing when the rest of the post is correct and erudite, when an error creates confusion, or when I have a helpful mnemonic to offer. No shaming, especially English learners.
Sadly, no OCD excuse for me. Undiagnosed ADD, probably.
There'd be no shame in being OCD anyway. And I do realize it's pedantic to point out spelling/grammar errors in such an informal setting. But maybe someone will use the correct "pallet" or "its" or "defuse" on a job application or some other important document because they remembered a correction they saw here.
I've read that many people with actual OCD don't appreciate the condition being bandied about as a catch all for others having hangups over trivial things.
It’s an Algonquin cryptid / monster with an insatiable hunger for human flesh and a love of murder. Generally greedy and evil. Also known to smell bad.
Honors our native heritage and says something about our beloved country’s strength of character.
The more I read about it and learned about these stories as a kid from my parents and Elders ... the more I realize that it is also a metaphor or life lesson about who we are as people and humanity as a whole.
Wendigo in many legends was originally just a man or woman like you or me or anyone. They are infected or affected by a mysterious force and changed to become a hunter of people. Many of the legends talk about how Wendigo is basically just out hunting, doing things like a hunter does, tracking, following, hiding, creeping towards their prey ... but the prey are humans, people, families, children, etc. They are intelligent, speak, understand, communicate, can trick people but they can also be tricked, they can also be dumb, silly, wise or completely wild.
The metaphor is that we are all capable or prone to becoming infected with dark forces if we allow them and change us into beings that will take from others and even kill them to enrich ourselves or prolong our lives.
Many believe that Wendigos still live and prey on people all over the world ... but instead of hunting and preying on people in the forests and wilderness ... they live and work in corporations and governments.
Yeah, it’s definitely a powerful metaphor for greed. The image of something constantly starving, never satiated no matter how much it eats, miserable and ravenous and destructive is clearly not something to strive for. I was reading that in some legends Wendigo just grow in proportion to how much they consume, so they never feel less hungry, they just get bigger. Kinda reminds one of how corporations function, with a constant drive to acquire and grow, but they never reach a point of satisfaction, where they’re big enough. They just take and take as much as they’re capable of.
That's the other difference with Windigo legends across North America. I'm Ojibway from northern Ontario and I grew up with my own variety of stories from my family about this creature. But I've heard of other variations from the prairies, from Hudson Bay, northern Quebec, the American midwest and around the Great Lakes region and all the stories are different and unique to their regions. Some similarities and common themes but all different. Then you mix in there the Hollywood marketing and imagery of deer skulls, loose flesh and all that scary stuff.
But I always enjoyed the core metaphoric message that this is a greedy, blood thirsty animal that was once a man and now wants to consume everything and everyone.
Over the past year I have been trying to expose myself to more Anishinaabeg stories and lessons, do you have a list or a resource of Ojibway legends I can read? Thanks!
This is one resource that shares a lot of the culture and traditions from my area. A lot of northern James Bay Cree stuff but mixed with Ojibway ... both cultural groups have a lot in common, especially in this part of the province. Similiar ... but not the same. It's like comparing the Scottish from the English, the Welsh and the Irish ... they're all connected and share similarities but they're all different.
Except Transjordan isn't biblical. It's the region of Palestine that became The Kingdom of Jordan. As opposed to Cisjordan, which is the region that became Israel and the present Palestine.
But I don't think we're allowed to say cis anymore. /s
I know, but when I Googled to confirm the name of the country in Handmaid's Tale, I noticed the real Gilead was in Transjordan, saw a joke opportunity sitting there, and that was the smoothest I could work it in. I'm open to workshopping it.
Thank you, but I'm the grump. But I didn't intend it as such. 1.) I was in rare form when posting last night and 2.) I still feel the need to point out that "I can go chapter and verse, muthafucka" on Bible stuff, as if it's something to be proud of. Presumably then I wasn't indoctrinated and ruined for nothing! I know stuff as a result, see!? I've memorized fiction and still occasionally confuse it with history, so fun!
I grew up being taught that America was literally the "Whore of Babylon" from the Book of Revelation.
And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. - Revelation 17:5
It was specifically said to be a prophecy about the United States and once you understood that, the rest of the story just clicked into place! I want to vomit just thinking back to that bullshit.
Serious answer: the Viking settlers named the land "Vinland" long before Columbus was even born. That name is of Germanic origin, same as the English language, and would be appropriate for settlers of Germanic origin (England, Germany, etc.)
Alternatively, a name in the a Native American language would be most appropriate given that they were the original inhabitants of the land.
There is no single native American language. There are over 200 of them, and used to be around 300-400, in 57 different families and over two dozen completely isolated languages (which might not be, but it's hard to find out). And they'd likely be at the very least somewhat mutually culturally insensitive.
So that might be even more difficult than using English, which at least has the benefit of being popular now.
It’s just a matter of what history you accept. Here in Massachusetts, there are several places with monuments to Viking explorers. Since we’re throwing away educational standards, deciding on our own “facts, and ignoring all sorts of disconnects with reality, why not choose what history to accept? If we can end climate change by not being allowed to mention it, surely we can fix history by declaring different facts true
Needs at least two exclamation points on that thing; to properly imply scale. Add an extra one for each of the following territorial acquisitions: Canada and Greenland.
Donald Trump’s Best, Biggest Country in the World, the Biggest, Juiciest Country there is, you know it, folks, No Illegals Allowed, No Fentanyl, All the Guns! And Covfefe!
Formally: Jeb!
Informally: Jebland
Dialectical variant of English: Jeblish
Collective name for the people of Jebland: Jebanese
I’m kidding of course. We all know the process to rename the U.S. would be taken over by the wealthy and we’d wind up named HCH (Human Capital Holdings), LLC, a shell corporation/nation that is jointly owned by Blackrock, Vanguard, and State Street.
Just got an image in my head of a map where it's just Xs dotted across the country titled X sandwiched between Canada and Mexico and the 'gulf of X (gulf of Mexico)'
"Just take interstate X southbound and get of at exit X towards X. If you see X you've give too far."
Well, we’ve got Floridick ready and waiting, so that works, but I’m sorry about the itchiness and rash you’re gonna probably want to treat. We’re more like Canada’s Dirty Diaper these days.
Okay, so there was the roman empire, that's one, Spanish is two England is three, uh then there is the Mongol empire in the somewhere anyways that makes the US big empire #5 so I says Fivetopia
I'm not saying that we either invented slavery or are unique in benefiting from it. We've written a loophole for prisoners to be used as slave labor into our constitution and have the highest number of prisoners of any nation, we have politicians actively trying to create new laws adding more slave labor, and we've tied healthcare to employment and left per-Capita income so low that insinuating that the people who put food on your table are slaves isn't as laughable as it seems.
The reason I suggested the name is that we're the only "advanced" civilization that still directly relies on slave labor. I know that there are examples of other non-third-world countries that consume goods and services from sweatshops, but, as one of the world-leaders in consumerism, we arguably fund and keep alive the demand that necessitates sweatshops.
So, no, we're not unique in our slavery—just in our ability and willingness to sexy it up and slap some paint and labels on it that help us perpetuate it.
No, he did not. But I thought it was funny to say he was an immigrant, and it doubled as bait for people to call out that he wasn't. Hook, line, sinker?
Break up the union and pick the name of the most powerful government that existed within the bounds of every state before the land was occupied by any old-world government.
There's actually debate over whether America was actually named after Amerigo Vespucci. My understanding is that it was likely just a coincidence that his name is so similar to America. As I understand it, it was actually named after a tribe of native Americans. But native Americans don't pass the Republican scale of whiteness, so they'll probably try to rename America anyways. I'm calling it now: they're going to rename it to Trumpia
Turtle Island
Hey now, I'm feeling attacked!
To the top with you
Trade names with the Gulf and become the United States of Mexico.
A not-insignificant amount of the USA was Mexico, at one time.
That’s just Mexico’s actual name
Yup
There's nothing united about it, other than maybe hatred towards minorities
dissents
There are
dozensthousands of us!New New Mexico and Old New Mexico
United States of Gulf & Mexico America
Stolidus
Your first it's is correct. It is Latin.
Your second it's should be its. The definition belongs to the word. But to be fair, I typed it correctly, and then just now had to go back and fix the autoincorrection. So that probably happened to you as well.
https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/25/76120
Or sometimes we taught elementary school for too long. It's only worth doing when the rest of the post is correct and erudite, when an error creates confusion, or when I have a helpful mnemonic to offer. No shaming, especially English learners. Sadly, no OCD excuse for me. Undiagnosed ADD, probably.
You are the first person who didn't blow up at this. I'm impressed.
There'd be no shame in being OCD anyway. And I do realize it's pedantic to point out spelling/grammar errors in such an informal setting. But maybe someone will use the correct "pallet" or "its" or "defuse" on a job application or some other important document because they remembered a correction they saw here.
I've read that many people with actual OCD don't appreciate the condition being bandied about as a catch all for others having hangups over trivial things.
Whatever the Cherokee word for "stolen land" is.
Or, you know, the thousands of other languages that existed.
Sorry, distilling everything indigenous down to the Cherokee is a pet peeve of mine.
https://indigamerica.blogspot.com/
Truly the English specialty: stealing stuff from other people.
What's the only reason the pyramids are still in Egypt? They're too big to fit in the British museum.
Too big to fit English ships you mean ;)
Spain owned more
They did, then Britain came along and pulled a deepseek on them :)
It was America at the time
They had a whole revolutionary war over Britain blocking their expansion
Wendigo
It’s an Algonquin cryptid / monster with an insatiable hunger for human flesh and a love of murder. Generally greedy and evil. Also known to smell bad.
Honors our native heritage and says something about our beloved country’s strength of character.
The more I read about it and learned about these stories as a kid from my parents and Elders ... the more I realize that it is also a metaphor or life lesson about who we are as people and humanity as a whole.
Wendigo in many legends was originally just a man or woman like you or me or anyone. They are infected or affected by a mysterious force and changed to become a hunter of people. Many of the legends talk about how Wendigo is basically just out hunting, doing things like a hunter does, tracking, following, hiding, creeping towards their prey ... but the prey are humans, people, families, children, etc. They are intelligent, speak, understand, communicate, can trick people but they can also be tricked, they can also be dumb, silly, wise or completely wild.
The metaphor is that we are all capable or prone to becoming infected with dark forces if we allow them and change us into beings that will take from others and even kill them to enrich ourselves or prolong our lives.
Many believe that Wendigos still live and prey on people all over the world ... but instead of hunting and preying on people in the forests and wilderness ... they live and work in corporations and governments.
Yeah, it’s definitely a powerful metaphor for greed. The image of something constantly starving, never satiated no matter how much it eats, miserable and ravenous and destructive is clearly not something to strive for. I was reading that in some legends Wendigo just grow in proportion to how much they consume, so they never feel less hungry, they just get bigger. Kinda reminds one of how corporations function, with a constant drive to acquire and grow, but they never reach a point of satisfaction, where they’re big enough. They just take and take as much as they’re capable of.
That's the other difference with Windigo legends across North America. I'm Ojibway from northern Ontario and I grew up with my own variety of stories from my family about this creature. But I've heard of other variations from the prairies, from Hudson Bay, northern Quebec, the American midwest and around the Great Lakes region and all the stories are different and unique to their regions. Some similarities and common themes but all different. Then you mix in there the Hollywood marketing and imagery of deer skulls, loose flesh and all that scary stuff.
But I always enjoyed the core metaphoric message that this is a greedy, blood thirsty animal that was once a man and now wants to consume everything and everyone.
Over the past year I have been trying to expose myself to more Anishinaabeg stories and lessons, do you have a list or a resource of Ojibway legends I can read? Thanks!
This is one resource that shares a lot of the culture and traditions from my area. A lot of northern James Bay Cree stuff but mixed with Ojibway ... both cultural groups have a lot in common, especially in this part of the province. Similiar ... but not the same. It's like comparing the Scottish from the English, the Welsh and the Irish ... they're all connected and share similarities but they're all different.
https://occc.ca/
Now I need to go watch "Prey", again.
Mountain Dew presents: Freedom Country - Brought to you by United Healthcare.
Way too credible
Given the religious fervor throughout its history, how about naming it after an ancient biblical region?
Transjordan?
Wait. Shit, that won't work, even Jordan's gone woke. Maybe something else in the region?
OH! How about Gilead!?
Except Transjordan isn't biblical. It's the region of Palestine that became The Kingdom of Jordan. As opposed to Cisjordan, which is the region that became Israel and the present Palestine.
But I don't think we're allowed to say cis anymore. /s
I know, but when I Googled to confirm the name of the country in Handmaid's Tale, I noticed the real Gilead was in Transjordan, saw a joke opportunity sitting there, and that was the smoothest I could work it in. I'm open to workshopping it.
No, the joke was funny. I'm just a grump!
Thank you, but I'm the grump. But I didn't intend it as such. 1.) I was in rare form when posting last night and 2.) I still feel the need to point out that "I can go chapter and verse, muthafucka" on Bible stuff, as if it's something to be proud of. Presumably then I wasn't indoctrinated and ruined for nothing! I know stuff as a result, see!? I've memorized fiction and still occasionally confuse it with history, so fun!
Sodom. From the story of Sodom & Gommorah, but I would choose the name based on a passage from Ezekiel.
"This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy."
I grew up being taught that America was literally the "Whore of Babylon" from the Book of Revelation.
It was specifically said to be a prophecy about the United States and once you understood that, the rest of the story just clicked into place! I want to vomit just thinking back to that bullshit.
Yep, in classical biblical literature it's understood that the "sin of Sodom" was lack of social justice.
It's the Christian interpretation that made it primarily a sex thing.
The world isn't ready for Mega BC
+2 for Yeehaw Reich
+1 for Methlehem
... but it also reminds of my personal favourite ... Alamabadan
United States of Lee (after General Robert Lee)
New motto
All For Me and None For Thee
Hey now - why go with Lee when you could go with Forrest and celebrate the first leader of the KKK.
Also, much better statutes.
Never fight uphill, me boys!
Rename it to Mexico. Then the whole gulf of mexico situation is fixed.
A vast amount of it used to be Mexico.
Dumbfuckistan
Dumbfuckistan
Staties McStatyface
Oooh a contest to name the country, most votes wins!
I'll set up the 1-900 number, just $10 to submit your vote.
Dumbfuckistan
Serious answer: the Viking settlers named the land "Vinland" long before Columbus was even born. That name is of Germanic origin, same as the English language, and would be appropriate for settlers of Germanic origin (England, Germany, etc.)
Alternatively, a name in
thea Native American language would be most appropriate given that they were the original inhabitants of the land.There is no single native American language. There are over 200 of them, and used to be around 300-400, in 57 different families and over two dozen completely isolated languages (which might not be, but it's hard to find out). And they'd likely be at the very least somewhat mutually culturally insensitive.
So that might be even more difficult than using English, which at least has the benefit of being popular now.
Vinland is Newfoundland, I'm afraid! It's not generally thought that the Norse made it as far south in the Americas as the modern day contiguous USA
It’s just a matter of what history you accept. Here in Massachusetts, there are several places with monuments to Viking explorers. Since we’re throwing away educational standards, deciding on our own “facts, and ignoring all sorts of disconnects with reality, why not choose what history to accept? If we can end climate change by not being allowed to mention it, surely we can fix history by declaring different facts true
"OKLAHOMA", but in all caps because it's big now.
Needs at least two exclamation points on that thing; to properly imply scale. Add an extra one for each of the following territorial acquisitions: Canada and Greenland.
Coming soon, to a map near you: OKLAHOMA!!!!
Sounds a lot like Finland doesn't it? I believe if our name is on it then it's ours!
Nope. Third, apparently, and counting.
The pirates of yore were based on an old fraternity from the 1300s and before, that called this land - no lie - Merica.
what in gods name are you blathering about?
The Adjacent States of Denial
South Canada
South Canada.
Donald Trump’s Best, Biggest Country in the World, the Biggest, Juiciest Country there is, you know it, folks, No Illegals Allowed, No Fentanyl, All the Guns! And Covfefe!
Idiocracy
North Mexico
Formally: Jeb!
Informally: Jebland
Dialectical variant of English: Jeblish
Collective name for the people of Jebland: Jebanese
I’m kidding of course. We all know the process to rename the U.S. would be taken over by the wealthy and we’d wind up named HCH (Human Capital Holdings), LLC, a shell corporation/nation that is jointly owned by Blackrock, Vanguard, and State Street.
Jeb means "fuck" in some languages.
Even better
Please clap.
“Vinland” is what the Vikings who discovered the land named it. Not a bad name.
Were I to name it today I’d pick some foreign language version of “The Land of Pulling Up the Ladder” or “The Land of Crabs in a Bucket”.
how about turkish, Yukarıya Çekilen Merdivenlerin Ülkesi (Land Of Pulling Up The Ladder)
Hank D. Hamburgers Electric Freedom Gun-Republic
RepublucllcBrought to you by Carl’s Jr.
The Land of the Flee while you still can
The incorporated states of Northern America ltd.
Clown Country
The United States of Moronica
no offense to actual morons intended
None taken.
The United States Inc. since that's all we are anyway....
United Corp.
I'm not even sure United applies anymore. I change my answer to The States Corp.
American States of Maga
And yes, it is infinitely recursive.
The vikings were there first (after the native Americans), so I'd go with Greater Norway.
Worser Norway.
Would be Lesser in this context and refers to size
I guess, but with tongue in cheek I thought worser worked betterer.
Based on norway is bad already, it must be worse.
Jk hello from a Swede 😁
Forvestlandet
X
I'm partial to "Sideræl", myself.
Just got an image in my head of a map where it's just Xs dotted across the country titled X sandwiched between Canada and Mexico and the 'gulf of X (gulf of Mexico)'
"Just take interstate X southbound and get of at exit X towards X. If you see X you've give too far."
yes please
TwatWaffle McDunceland
As Amerigo is the Italianized version of the German 'Emmerich', i'd call it like that.
Bonus is that there is a very unassuming German border town called thusly.
The States of Northern Mexico
Divided States of Affairs
United States of Native America
United Tribes of America
Han Dynasty would be funny, not least because it doesn’t solve the problem
There’s also the Prince joke “Land formally known as USA”
It's "formerly." Whether or not he wore a suit didn't change his legal name back from the symbol
Fuckwitistan might be prudent after the russian takeover.
George Soros' United Commune of Mexifornia
The United States of Whatever
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz7_3n7xyDg
I'm pretty sure that video just got posted recently in the new YouTubeClassics community.
“Yucatán”
Which means “the end of your finger” because the Spanish asked some folks what they were pointing at and they didn’t understand the question
Turtle Island
https://greenwichhistory.org/whats-in-a-name-americas-first-name/
The only correct answer.
Fascistan
Ignorancia
Corpoland
Gun-ited Steaks
RetroPolice, like metropolis but it's a reactionary police state
The birth place of Jesus
That's so Utah.
Vespucciland
Annual bidding by major corporations for the opportunity to rename the country each year, stadium style.
Let's go United States of Waste Management
Metastasized States of Meta
Ozempia
oligarchistan
Northern Lands of g.u.l.f. (= greedy unelected lying fascists)
Brawndoland
President Camacho would be a marked improvement.
Wackoland
Muskland. Quickly so we can start a fight.
Red, white and blue land obviously.
Still the same guy, but the Firesign Theater suggested decades ago that the country be called Vespucciland.
And yeah, we name everything else after people's last names.
i think the cult would call him 'one of the good ones'
Returned to Spain? Traitor!
Annex of Denmark
We have dibs. But I think we'd welcome another Whisky War ;-)
Denmark 2: American Boogaloo
Pants of Canada
Well, we’ve got Floridick ready and waiting, so that works, but I’m sorry about the itchiness and rash you’re gonna probably want to treat. We’re more like Canada’s Dirty Diaper these days.
Well pants is British for underwear, so it still works!
The Bada Bing Republic
Bonerland
Hmm, idiocracy fits I guess. Seems to describe our country well enough.
Whatever the natives decide on tbh. Turtle island is popular but applies to the continent not the country
The United States of AmericaKleptostan brought to you by Carl's Jr
Did Amerigo Vespucci migrate to North America or did he just pass through?
Shitstain
Trumpland. Trumptopia. United states of Trump. Trumplvania. The new republic of Trump.
Just testing the "no wrong answers"
You missed Trumpistan
The DraftKingsTM United States of Trump
United mcstatesface
Eagleland
I played far too much Earthbound.
Okay, so there was the roman empire, that's one, Spanish is two England is three, uh then there is the Mongol empire in the somewhere anyways that makes the US big empire #5 so I says Fivetopia
Oops.
Disneyland.
Slaves-R-Us
Actually, that's Africa. Africa is the birthplace of slavery. Also, unfortunately, every major civilization was built on the backs of slaves.
I'm not saying that we either invented slavery or are unique in benefiting from it. We've written a loophole for prisoners to be used as slave labor into our constitution and have the highest number of prisoners of any nation, we have politicians actively trying to create new laws adding more slave labor, and we've tied healthcare to employment and left per-Capita income so low that insinuating that the people who put food on your table are slaves isn't as laughable as it seems.
The reason I suggested the name is that we're the only "advanced" civilization that still directly relies on slave labor. I know that there are examples of other non-third-world countries that consume goods and services from sweatshops, but, as one of the world-leaders in consumerism, we arguably fund and keep alive the demand that necessitates sweatshops.
So, no, we're not unique in our slavery—just in our ability and willingness to sexy it up and slap some paint and labels on it that help us perpetuate it.
Mississippiland
Fartland.
Hell.
Columbo. Marybe Columbo's wife.
Christland
Eduardo
The Golden Whored
El Gabacho
No, he did not. But I thought it was funny to say he was an immigrant, and it doubled as bait for people to call out that he wasn't. Hook, line, sinker?
North Mexico
The Chips and Cheese Deluxe Society
United States
United States of America (temporary). America as a country isn't making it much longer anyway so no need to think about it too much.
Rome Secundus
Welcome to Costco I love you.
Break up the union and pick the name of the most powerful government that existed within the bounds of every state before the land was occupied by any old-world government.
Xico
There's actually debate over whether America was actually named after Amerigo Vespucci. My understanding is that it was likely just a coincidence that his name is so similar to America. As I understand it, it was actually named after a tribe of native Americans. But native Americans don't pass the Republican scale of whiteness, so they'll probably try to rename America anyways. I'm calling it now: they're going to rename it to Trumpia