Every December the people of Japan select a kanji character that best sums up the social and political zeitgeist of the previous 12 months. After a year dominated by the regional nuclear crisis, there was perhaps only one serious candidate for word of the year 2017: north.

The single character, pronounced kita in Japanese, encapsulates the country’s unease over North Korea’s advances in developing a nuclear arsenal, according to the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, which organizes the annual poll.

Previous kanji of the year have similarly reflected conflicting sentiments among the Japanese public. In 2016 they went for kin – a celebration of Japan’s 16 gold medals at the Rio Olympics, but a reminder too of the resignation of Tokyo’s governor, Yoichi Masuzoe, over an expenses scandal.

A politician’s name — especially one that makes a witty nickname — can have a disproportionate effect on their legacy and reputation. It’s not vacuousness; our brains are wired to recall rhyme and humor more readily than a politician’s actual legacy.

If a elected representative’s name lends itself to a rhyming pun, an ironic distortion or a catchy insult, they’ll primarily be remembered for the event that coined the nickname.

Although well-known for being the first female British prime minister and her long and formidable tenure in office, Margaret Thatcher is often remembered for something she did before any of this even happened, during her former role as education minister. She revoked free milk for school kids, the perceived measly meanness characterized by the rhyme: “Thatcher, Thatcher, milk snatcher!” Former US president Lyndon B Johnson suffered similar death by nomenclature. Americans’ habit of referring to their presidents by their initials led to a catchy takedown of Johnson’s Vietnam war policy: “Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?”

Some politicians change their name to make them more palatable to the electorate. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk anglicized the pronunciation of her surname (these days it’s pronounced “pala-shay”) for similar reasons to US vice-president Spiro Agnew, who changed his name from Spiro Theodore Anagnostopoulos.

Want to know more about politicians’ names? Click through to this article at ABCNews to find out much more!

When tourists arrive in Esperance, they make a beeline for the Pink Lake the Western Australian south coast town is famous for. The problem? It’s not pink anymore.

Conservation experts believe the fate of Pink Lake was sealed years ago when a highway and rail line cut off the natural flow of water into the salt lake system. Super saline conditions are needed to support the green algae that accumulates the beta-carotene pigment, the same pigment that colours carrots, which turned the lake pink. “With the loss of the channel, these salts aren’t flushing through into Pink Lake, and as a result Pink Lake doesn’t turn pink any more,” State Government conservation officer Steven Butler said. Salt mining on the lake, which has long since shut down, was also a factor.

Tourism Esperance chairman Wayne Halliday said the organisation was lobbying the Western Australian Department of Lands to remove any reference to Pink Lake on official documents and replace it with the original name. “We are currently seeking to have the Pink Lake, just the lake name, reverted back to its original gazetted name of Lake Spencer,” Mr Halliday said.

Read about possible solutions to this colorful issue at ABCNews!

An asteroid that visited us from interstellar space is one of the most elongated cosmic objects known to science, a study has shown. Discovered on 19 October 2017, the object’s speed and trajectory strongly suggested it originated in a planetary system around another star. Astronomers have been scrambling to observe the unique space rock, known as ‘Oumuamua (pronounced oh MOO-uh MOO-uh), before it fades from view.

The asteroid’s name, ‘Oumuamua, means “a messenger from afar arriving first” in Hawaiian. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) also approved an official scientific designation for ‘Oumuamua: 1I/2017 U1.

‘Oumuamua was first spotted on Oct. 19, by astronomers using the Pan-STARRS1 telescope in Hawaii. The smallish object was first classified as a comet but then regarded as an asteroid, after further observations revealed no evidence of a coma (the fuzzy cloud of gas and dust that surrounds a comet’s core).

Find out more about this amazing asteroid in this BBC News article!

 

House prices on streets with silly names are significantly lower than houses on nearby streets, a study by Victorian school students has found. High school girls at Sacred Heart College (SHC) in Geelong, a city in Melbourne, Australia, conducted the research with guidance from the school’s head of science, Adam Cole.

The students identified 27 streets in Victoria with silly names, including Butt Street, Wanke Road and Fanny Street. (American readers: “fanny” has a different meaning in the UK and Australia/NZ than it does in the US!)  They found that property prices in streets with silly names were about 20 per cent lower than properties in the normally-named roads. As the report notes, that amounts to a $140,000 saving on a median-priced Melbourne house.

Read this article at ABC News to find out more – and if Australians would take advantage of the savings!

What were the most popular names for girls in England during the 16th century? This was one of the questions examined by Scott Smith-Bannister in his book Names and Naming Patterns in England 1538-1700.

A large section of Smith-Bannister’s research was to follow the records of baptisms found in 40 parish registers spread throughout England. By following their records from 1538 to 1700, the author was able to get a sample of 122,710 names. Here is a sample from his lists:

Years: 1538-49

1. Joan
2. Elizabeth
3. Agnes
4. Alice
5. Anne
6. Margaret
7. Mary
8. Jane
9. Margery
10. Edith

Click through to this post at Medievelists.net to see the rest of the results!

One Olive Garden–loving couple has decided to give their new daughter a name bearing a striking resemblance to the restaurant, both confusing and delighting the Internet at the same time: Olivia Garton.

Both Jordan and Justin grew up eating at Olive Garden, but it wasn’t until shortly after their wedding in 2015 that their enthusiasm turned into outright love. After purchasing a $100 never-ending pasta pass, the Arkansas couple ate their fill at Olive Garden every day for weeks. “We committed to eating there every day for six or seven weeks to get our money’s worth,” Justin told ABC News. “It saved us several hundred dollars when we really needed it.”

They decided to go with Olivia instead, claiming that they “immediately” felt like it was perfect for their little girl. “We were able to make the joke, but a little more subtle, and it’s still a pretty name,” said Justin. “It was definitely an easy decision.”

Click through to this article at CafeMom to see how the internet reacted!

The Minister of Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, inadvertently started an onomastic earthquake this year when he suggested that South Africa’s name be official changed to Azania.  According to the Minister, the toponymic makeover would be a fitting reflection of the significant cultural and political changes the country has undergone since the ending of Apartheid.  While some have applauded the suggestion, others have criticized that the geographic rebranding is not only unnecessary but would be prohibitively expensive.  More details about the onomastic debate can be found in this article at the Independent Online.