Maria - They're French demonyms that have entered the English lexicon with other meanings. (The -ois ending is probably a cognate with the English -ish, as in English, Danish, Swedish, etc.) So the word Illinois comes from the Illini tribe, turquoise comes from Turkey, and vichyssoise comes from the French commune of Vichy. (I only learned the connection between Turkey and turquoise very recently.)
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Something about French...but I'm stumped beyond that.
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In some states they rhyme?
Maria - They're French demonyms that have entered the English lexicon with other meanings. (The -ois ending is probably a cognate with the English -ish, as in English, Danish, Swedish, etc.) So the word Illinois comes from the Illini tribe, turquoise comes from Turkey, and vichyssoise comes from the French commune of Vichy. (I only learned the connection between Turkey and turquoise very recently.)
Cool! This was my favorite one so far. I wish I could have figured it out on my own....
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