Thinking about English   01

Notice the difference: in Chinese the sign says "horse club"; in English it's "jockey club".  Does anyone know the reason for  this difference?

Q:  哪匹馬會講英語嗎？ (What horse speaks English?)     A:  奧巴馬 (Obama)
In English we say "watermelon", but in Chinese we say   西瓜 "West melon"
because this melon came from "the West". 

Watermelons were first grown in Egypt and then spread to other countries. In the 10th century, they made their way to China. China is now the largest producer of watermelons, growing more than all the rest of the world combined.
In English we say "China", but in Chinese we say 中國 "Middle Kingdom" because China used to think of itself as the middle of the world.....just like England did....which is why countries to the East of England were called "The Near East",  "The Middle East" or "The Far East".

The name "China"  comes from  Cin, a Persian name for China popularized in Europe by Marco Polo