If you live in the Upper Midwest then Sioux, Sault, & Soo are familiar and pronounced the same: Sue. You eventually learn to distinguish what each one refers to, and why you'd use that spelling here but not there.
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Sioux are a Native American and First Nations people. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many dialects. ...
The Sioux was a named passenger train of the Milwaukee Road that operated between Chicago, Madison, Wisconsin, and Rapid City, South Dakota, via Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin and northern Iowa. The train operated coaches, diners and sleeping cars though most of its history.
Sioux Falls, Sioux City, the Fighting Sioux, and the controversy over that name as a school team....
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Ok, so...Sault? We're familiar with it as Sault St Marie in Michigan, and also in the name of the railroad that served Genola, Pierz and Center Valley--the St Paul, Minneapolis and Sault St Marie, where it was abbreviated as Ste:
Here's the definition from the Oxford Dictionary
SAULT (plural saults)
A waterfall; a rapid.
(obsolete) Assault.
A leap or jump, especially one made by a horse.
Hmm! So Sault St Marie was a waterfall? Sure! It was the original connection between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, a 20 foot drop that's been transformed into locks by the Army Corps of Engineers.
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OK! We're getting there!
Then, what is SOO?
Soo is the lazy way of spelling/saying Sioux or Sault, especially when you're not sure which spelling would apply.
The Sooline overpass, the SoolineTrail....
And, of course, we have Sue, the cousin and SUE, John Hesch's Great Grandaughter.
Taa-daa!
Hi,I believe the abbreviated "Ste" you refer to is actually the shortening of "Sainte" (female saint) in French, such that it is Sault Ste-Marie and not "Ste. St. Marie" We have a Sault St Marie in Canada too. ;)
ReplyDeleteCan confirm! Its Sault Ste.(Sainte) Marie
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