Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Or Sahara desert, Soviet union, ATM machine, CD disc, chai tea...

Think my favorite is The Los Angeles Angels - the the angels angels



I don't understand why Sahara and Soviet Union are on this list?


It's a bit of a reach: "sahara" in Arabic means "deserts", and soviet means council or board.


https://www.etymonline.com/word/sahara

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_(council)#Etymology

Much like Los Angeles, if you translate the words back to their original language they become redundant.


That's wrong then. The word "soviet" means "council".. To the extent that its etymology connects to "togetherness" it just refers to the group of people coming together to make decisions.

The "union" refers to the union of the socialist republics. You can easily have "soviets" without a union, and you can obviously have a union without soviets.

Source: born in the USSR


Good to know, thanks for sharing.

Based on what it said the direct translation was I had thought it was weird, but I figured the Wikipedia page would know more than I.




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: