Etymology #1

flamingo, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

I love words, and I learned the origin of one today that I found fascinating. It seems that in the 15th century the Spanish and Portuguese speaking inhabitants of the Iberian peninsula took to associating with their European neighbors of Flanders the characteristic of a rudy complexion. The word for the Flemish in both languages was Flamingo, and when they encountered these glowing pink birds during their exploration of the America's and Africa, they mockingly refered to them as "flamingos" after the red cheeked citizens of Brugge and Antwerpen, and it stuck. Pretty cool, eh?