[78-L] How your city got its name, wuz Re: Albert Ketelbey question ^

David Lennick dlennick at sympatico.ca
Fri Aug 28 21:25:06 PDT 2009


Steven C. Barr wrote:
>>
> No...the truth is even stranger! Apparently, after the Canadian Post Office 
> had, for
> reasons unknown, rejected "Skae's Corners" as a name for a post office, 
> Moody
> Farewell asked his native friends what THEY called the place! At the time, 
> they
> were standing about where to-day's King Street crossed Oshawa Creek...so the
> "Indians" replied "oshawa," which can be translated as "where we have to
> get out (of our canoes) and walk!"
> 
> So...the HQ of GM Canada wound up in a village whose name translates as
> "Where we get out and walk!!"
> 
> One never knows...?!
> 
> ...stevenc 

He misheard..they were really saying "Aw, s**t, walk."  The mental image of 
natives having to get out of their canoes and portage them across King Street 
somehow is a little jarring..

dl




More information about the 78-L mailing list