• rumschlumpel@feddit.org
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    2 months ago

    If “Bologna” is “baloney”, should “Cologne” be “caloney” or “calonay”? Or colony, it’s a cognate of the roman place name “Colonia Agrippina”.

      • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
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        2 months ago

        USians have decided so, and they’re certainly not going to start using the Italian pronunciation! If they were that smart, they’d already do it (it’s not hard to say ‘Bolonya’).

    • ReginaPhalange@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I defend with “Colonia Agrippina” only if the enemy knows both Capo Ferro and Thibault. Of course they rarely realize I’m not left handed.

    • Zwiebel@feddit.org
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      2 months ago

      Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium or CCAA was the name. Today it’s Köln tho so good luck with that :p

      • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
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        2 months ago

        Trying to describe vowels of other languages accurately in English is kind of a lost cause. “Bolonya” is a hell of a lot closer than “baloney”.