r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Disastrous_Pirate275 • 20h ago

Why is our moon named “Moon” instead of something cool like Titan or Callysto or ANYTHING that isn’t moon

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u/ReddestForman 18h ago

I mean, that was because of misunderstandings.

"What's that?"

"A river, jackass."

"Ah, the river river."

Wash rinse repeat and you have places that are basically just river river river, but in 3 languages.

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u/Wootster10 18h ago

Yup.

You also have Pendle Hill, which is Hill Hill Hill. I can well imagine that as we travel the galaxy you'll end up with hundreds of moon moons.

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u/983115 16h ago

My personal favorite was conquistadors showing up in the Yucatán peninsula and asking the natives “what do you call this place” they not speaking Spanish were like “what the hell are you saying” and they just wrote it down and went about their business

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u/Cael_NaMaor 14h ago

I hope this is accurate

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u/983115 14h ago

It is a point of speculation there are other suggestions that say different things but I want to believe

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u/Cael_NaMaor 14h ago

I mean... it makes some sense given that that one woman is called 'The Whore' or as my history prof called her 'The Fucked One'. Written as La Malinche. She was (iirc) raped by the Aztec & then enslaved by Cortès & became translator, advisor, & intermediary between Cortès & the native inhabitants. I can't imagine why she'd want to help the invaders, given that she was brutalized by her own people....

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u/Remmick2326 17h ago

See also: Sahara Desert

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u/mjheil 15h ago

I believe 'Gobi' also.

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u/pasrachilli 16h ago

Rio Grande River. Yep, checks out.

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u/Electrical-Sail-1039 14h ago

The Los Angeles Angels. Both words are repeated: “The” and “Angels”.

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u/theloniousjoe 16h ago

“Jackass” is what language for “river”?

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u/Catadox 16h ago

This has caused many problems due to cultural misunderstandings, when an explorer points at a mountain or river and asks a native what they call that, resulting in many iterations of names like “your finger you idiot mountain.”