Lovely Ol' Zealand

Ha ha! It's not even 12:30 AM yet and I've already gotten two pedantic e-mails! Woo! We're on schedule! :)

In Response to DaveKellett (#60379):

First thing in my rss feed mentioning zealand, which got me thinking "hey, is dave in town, that would be awesome".

Next, I read the comic, and realize the connection between Zealand and new Zealand. It's staring you right in the face, but when the native word for "zealand" is "Sjælland" it's pretty easy to miss the connection.

Hey!

If we were so good at making stuff up, I think we'd do better for our two main bodies of land than 'North Island' and 'South Island'!

Funnily I had a conversation about this a few days ago.... one of my colleagues was annoyed that I ruined his joke by saying "Actually it was named after.....". The rest of the group were disturbed by the fact I knew far too much about New Zealand's history! ;-)

And yes, here in Australia we refuse to take our money seriously... the joke was if cash was to be replaced by plastic cards then we might as well make the cash plastic as well so it could still blend in...

In Response to DaveKellett (#60379):

So Dave, how many have you got in the 24hrs since the strip went up?
Is it ironic that so many 'pedantic' people failed to read your disclaimer saying that you already knew?

I'll admit that I sent him a tweet. I have to say, though, that I get Sheldon via RSS and the News does not come attached to the comic, so I didn't see it until I had already sent the tweet and then clicked through.

I feel like such an idiot though.

In Response to Tricster (#60385):

Okay Tricster, Dave may forgive you this time.... but don't do it again! ;-) (just kidding)

Actually, Dave, I think it's brilliant! :) I've wondered that from time to time myself. I'm one of those people that likes to know random things just because & this helps fill one little gap. (Thanks to Grubsnik, too!)

All us New Zealanders are just happy when people actually remember that WE exist. Like Narwhals... Which don't live in NZ...

Simpel. Zeeland (ok, someone spelled it wrong) is located in Holland (you know from The Netherlands). It is a province here.

I'm the only Dutch guy here?

In Response to WimDeLange (#60392):

Oops, it is in the header that Zeeland exists. Missed that one.

It's just great that people in the US mention us here in little ol' New Zealand! Love the strips :o)

Umm.. in holland(the netherlands)? well i would agre with the other guy that Zealand is Sjælland and the translation is (soul land)anyhow it is not a part of the netherland.. its Denmark!

:D

So let me get this straight, New Zealand was named after Zeeland (2 'E's), which is a province in the Netherlands, but there is apparently also a Zealand which is an island in Denmark?

You think Arthur, with an encyclopedia in his brain, would know this. (Which is not the same as thinking Dave wouldn't know it, because I did read the post.)

In Response to LazerWulf (#60396):

So let me get this straight, New Zealand was named after Zeeland (2 'E's), which is a province in the Netherlands, but there is apparently also a Zealand which is an island in Denmark?

New Zealand was discovered by Abel Tasman, a dutch explorer, who initially named it Staten Landt, but it was renamed by dutch cartographers to Nieuw Zeeland, which was translated into Latin, becoming Nova Zeelandia, which was later anglicised by the british explorer Captain Cook, who discovered NZ 120 years later, made the first circumnavigation, mapped it, and pretty much kickstarted the european colonization.

So yeah, the disparity in the spelling is just down to the anglicising of the name by a british explorer.

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In Response to Buyasta (#60397):

Wait wait wait... So you're telling me New Zealand... was almost Staten Island?? HA!

On behalf of the internets: Sorry we're all so didactic. We're just trying to compensate for our obsession with a flying Pop Tart cat.

In Response to Lalaith (#60403):

Well, you know why (real) Staten Island (aka Richmond County) is called Staten Island, right?

See, Henry Hudson was sailing in his ship, the Half Moon, when he saw something. "Hey!" he cried "'sdat an Island?"

In Response to WimDeLange (#60392):

I'm the only Dutch guy here?

Don't worry, you're not ;)

In Response to kimjang (#60395):

But it's the wrong Zealand :P

New Zealand was named "Nova Zeelandia" after Zeeland, by Dutch cartographers. That's where the name comes from :)

All this talk, and you didn't toss in a cameo by Lew Zealand?

I suppose that Muppets/®Disney would allow it as fair use just this once...

In Response to Grubsnik (#60380):

it's pretty easy to miss the connection.

This is kind of ironic considering there is no connection between the two :P

Is this where I say...

Actually Dave....Walla Walla, WA is getting very well known for it's fantastic wines. :-D

In Response to PaulS (#60386):

Phew, I was worried for a bit. ;)