Thanks for the post! ?

Our ancesters were whimps!

but before centuries of people used it as a combo sewer-garbage can, it might have been deeper and faster.

(See Terry Pratchett's Discworld series for imaginative descriptions of the River Ankh, which bears a lot of resemblance to the Thames.)

The Romans crossed at a ford in the river.

is that they can be confusing.

I'm from Minnesota and it is labled "Land of Cloudy Water". That does not mean the water is murky. The names comes from seeing the reflections of clouds on the surface of the waters of our many lakes.

Wales comes from the Germanic Walh meaning foreigner or stranger. So, Wales isn't the original name.

Cymru is Welsh for Wales and comes from "fellow countrymen"

My favorite Welsh word is YSBYTY! Who would think there'd be three Y's in a word that short!

And they have different sounds!

Which is another reason why it's one of my favorite words!

I think it must be a cognate.

Do you speak Welsh?

I used to know the swears as well, but it's been so long I've forgotten them!

I think Chicago is "Stink Onions."

Interactive map - you can zoom in.
http://twentytwowords.com/united-states-map-with-place-names-replaced-by-original-meanings/

The official version is "wild onion place".

...has a sort of ring to it.

- And it appears that the Koch Bros. are trying to bring the stink back to Chicago....

Koch-owned tar sands waste piles up in Chicago after Detroit cloud

Cool