Geysir Parka

I am pretty sure just about every Icelander knows that the name their forefathers gave to the waterspout out in Hauksdal, Geysir, has become the name for similar phenomena all over the world. And that is a thing to be proud of. The Greenlandic Inuit can make a similar claim about the word parka (although its English spelling is thanks to the Nenets of Russia pronunciation of the Greenlandic word). Now of course, the original use of the word did not mean a gore tex windbreaker, but still I think the Greenlanders are wise enough to realize that there is a certain honor in giving the world a useful idea and concept, one which continues to find new applications.

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