In my neck of the woods, there are multiple Embarrass Rivers (and even a Zumbro that’s a corruption of “Rivière des Embarras”). The common explanation for all of them is that they were so named by French fur traders as a way of saying, “Boy, it’s hard to get a canoe down this river will all that stuff in the way.”
Leave a comment
Search us!
Search The Word Detective and our family of websites:
This is the easiest way to find a column on a particular word or phrase.
To search for a specific phrase, put it between quotation marks. (note: JavaScript must be turned on in your browser to view results.)
Ask a Question!
Puzzled by Posh?
Confounded by Cattycorner?
Baffled by Balderdash?
Flummoxed by Flabbergast?
Perplexed by Pandemonium?
Nonplussed by... Nonplussed?
Annoyed by Alliteration?
Simon:
May 23rd, 2013 at 12:00 pm
In my neck of the woods, there are multiple Embarrass Rivers (and even a Zumbro that’s a corruption of “Rivière des Embarras”). The common explanation for all of them is that they were so named by French fur traders as a way of saying, “Boy, it’s hard to get a canoe down this river will all that stuff in the way.”