The Riddle: There’s a place where there are two queens and four kings. There’s also a handful of celebrities, but everyone is a star in their own right.
Aboriginals have a small majority. Of the rest five are Hispanic. Six are plain English and another six are truly English, but dressed up in a classic Latino (but not Hispanic) style. Two are pure French and one could be described as Franglais. One is originally from India and there’s also a Greek.
To see the original riddle with lots of clues go to Riddle
To see the answer ... scroll down.
The answer is the United States of America.
There’s a place where there are two queens …- Virginia (and West
Virginia): Elizabeth 1, the virgin queen
- Maryland: Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of
King Charles 1
and four kings.
- George III: Georgia
- Charles I: North and South Carolina
- Duke of York later James II: New York
- Louisiana: Louis XIV, King of France
There’s also a handful of celebrities, - Delaware after
Lord Delaware
- Washington after George Washington
- Pennsylvania after
William Penn
but everyone is a star in their own right.
Each state
is represented by one of 50 stars on the Stars and Stripes banner.
Aboriginals have a small majority.
28 state names are attributed
to native American names
Of the rest five are Hispanic. - Colorado
(coloured or red after the Colorado River)
- Florida (flowery)
- Montana
(mountainous)
- Nevada (snowy)
- California (various theories)
Six are plain English
- Maine
- Maryland
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Washington
and
another six are truly English, but dressed up in a classic Latino (but not
Hispanic) style. - Georgia feminine (classical) Latinised version of George
- North Carolina after Charles I
- South Carolina after Charles I
- Pennsylvania after William Penn
- West Virginia after Elizabeth I
- East Virginia after Elizabeth I
Two are pure French - Vermont (green mountain)
- Louisiana (after
King Louis XIV of France)
and one could be described as Franglais.
Delaware after Lord Delaware – who was English but the name is originally Old
French meaning "of the war". (French = Français English=Anglais
AngloFrench=franglais).
One is originally from India
Indiana is
named after Indians, a term derived from Columbus’s misnomer: the Indies for the
Caribbean Islands. This was based on his mistaken belief that he had reached somewhere in Asia
east of the Indus river in India.
and there’s also a Greek.
Rhode
Island from the Greek island of Rhodes.
| Notes: This riddle is purely for fun. I realise that the origin of some state names like Arizona is in question. It does require knowledge, imagination and lateral thinking. Congratulations to those who worked it out. www.twitter.com/RobertCurrey |
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