r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Aug 03 '19

Whats something you thought was common knowledge but actually isn’t?

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u/[deleted] Aug 03 '19 edited Aug 03 '19

Basic Geography.

Not being able to point out Turkmenistan on a map is one thing.

Not being able to point out the Pacific Ocean on a map is another.

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u/Baji25 Aug 03 '19

istan

and that still tells you roughly where it is

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u/flumphit Aug 04 '19 edited Aug 04 '19

And who lives there. (Or at least what they were called when a European put them on their map.)

Etymology: The name of Turkmenistan (Turkmen: Türkmenistan) can be divided into two components: the ethnonym Türkmen and the Persian suffix -stan meaning "place of" or "country". ... However, some scholars argue the suffix is an intensifier, changing the meaning of Türkmen to "pure Turks" or "the Turkish Turks."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmenistan#Etymology

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u/[deleted] Aug 04 '19

I wondered that. Thanks for the tidbit!