No, the last name, Fleming, means, "from Flanders", which is in Belgium. I did get called "flamingo" a couple times when I was little though.Originally Posted by Joesitz
No, the last name, Fleming, means, "from Flanders", which is in Belgium. I did get called "flamingo" a couple times when I was little though.
Well, now I really have to check out this puzzle, LOL.
Here is what I discovered about the origin of this word. One theory is that "Fleming" (or rather it's Spanish equivalent "Flamenco") was a word that was first applied to the Andalusian gypsies in the thirtheenth and fourteenth centuries. There is some speculation that it derives from an Arabic (Moorish) word meaning "fugative peasant."
The dance, then, just means "music in the style of the gypsies of Andalusia."
Somehow or other this word came later to be applied to the nordic people of Flanders and came into the Dutch language as "Flemish" and "Fleming."
(This is not the only theory -- there is also a less colorful one in which the Dutch word developed independently of the Spanish one.)
Likewise, there seem to be two competing theories about why that name was applied to the pink bird. If you go with the Andalusian theory, it is because the gypsies were ruddy-skinned people, so they called this red bird a "gypsy." (Sort of like a cardinal (the red bird) is so called because it is the color of the robes worn by those church officials.)
If you go for the Dutch origin, then the theory is that the Dutch people of Flanders are fair-skinned (pink), compared to the darker-skinned Romance people, so a pink bird was a "Dutchman" from Flanders.
(I love this stuff!)
Last edited by Mathman; 08-06-2006 at 08:43 AM.
Im a gypsy??? LOL!
Not only was it his mother, David and Lauren didn't know about it, either, or so I'm assured by my coach, who used to train with them when he was competing. Not quite the same thing (and Tanith's situation was different, too, as she wasn't asking for a special dispensation, but rather had gotten into a bureaucratic shuffle.)
Mathman - I go with my spanish teacher (from Spain) who translates flamenco to being Flemish. There is a historical politcal connection between Spain and the Netherlands with Belgium coming into question.
Apparently, anything in Spain at that time which wasn't Spanish was 'flamenco' including the gypsy dance. The gypsies didn't give it that name, the Spanish did.
Now where does this put our beloved Peggy? Is she Flemish or Gypsy?
Joe
Phlegming? Neither Flemish or Gypsy. She's just congested.
yes, yes and maybe
Not nice, but it's your choice to write or ignore.
Joe
HEY! That's MY name, please don't make fun of it...
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