Bangladesh is Not the Country of Frogs
March 21, 2007

I normally carry small presents for children around in my purse. Today I had some little plastic frogs that Heather sent from the US and some plastic bracelets. At my Bangla class this morning, when I reached into my bag to take out my books, one of the frogs came out. Amina (my Bangla teacher) told me that the Bangla word for "frog" is "bang" (like the sound a gun makes.) She then laughed and said that many foreigners called Bangladesh "Bangladesh" which means "country of frogs"! The correct pronunciation is "BAHNG la desh" (more like "bong", the drum, than "bang", the sound a gun makes.) Bangladesh means country of the Bangla people. "Desh" is the Bangla word for country. People often ask me, "Apnar desh ki?" What is your country? So keep the frogs out of Bangladesh!