How do Turkish call Turkey, the bird ?

Interesting question, eh? Believe it or not, they call it Hindi! In the Turkish language, Hindi means Indian. So, a bird popularly named after their country is called an Indian in their own country. Be mindful that this bird is not native to either Turkey or India. Leave the countries aside now – they are not from the same continents.

Despite its abundantly clear origins, America, the world primarily attributes it as Indian. These names got the geography wrong by about half a world’s hemisphere. Take, for example, Turks call it Hindi; the French call it Poulet d’inde (Indian chicken); in Latin, they call it Gall dindi (Indian chicken); Israelites call it Tarnegol hodu (Indian chicken) Russian as Indiuk, Polish: Indyk.

Some of these names even go to the extent of naming after an Indian city, Calicut of Kerala. The Dutch call it Kalkoen, Indonesia: as Ayam kalkun, Danes call it Kalkun, Swedish as Kalkon, German as Kalkuun and Finnish as Kalakuna.

Fantastic! Any thoughts on the reasons behind these nomenclatures?

It’s less likely merchants from Calicut went to the Atlantic Ocean to pick these ugly birds from central America and supply them to these European nations. Why so much confusion. At the least, Indonesians should have known better. They must have seen it being imported from the Pacific rim rather than the Indian Ocean.

Is this because Europeans called it a bird from Native American Indians? It is less likely, as some of these names go to a specific city or port.

Is it because the bird looks as ugly and strange as us Indians? Maybe?

I assure you that this is not where the confusion ends. Egyptians call it Greek, while Greek and Scots call it French! Malaysians call it Dutch, while Portuguese call it Peru (finally, the one American country accused). Arabs interestingly call it either Indian or Roman, depending on their mood. Good stuff.

While here, did you know English is probably the only language to call a pineapple a pineapple? Rest if the world calls it ananas. I grew up calling it ananas in all languages I spoke, including my mother tongue.!

Strange world, eh?