Live Stream from the Namib Desert

Re:Live Stream from the Namib Desert by IncreasePosts on Friday October 17, 2025 @01:50PM (#45619669)

The word "Namib" means "place where there is nothing" in Khoekhoegowab, spoken by the people who live right next to the desert and assuredly explored it.

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Re:Live Stream from the Namib Desert by thaumasiotes on Friday October 17, 2025 @06:58PM (#45623118)

Where are you getting the gloss? Wiktionary has a definition "wasteland", but also derives it etymologically from a verb meaning "walk". Is there an element that means "nothing"?

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Re:Live Stream from the Namib Desert by IncreasePosts on Monday October 20, 2025 @01:09PM (#45646356)

I was told it by my driver when I visited the desert during a trip to Angola. Where he got it from? No idea.

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Re:Live Stream from the Namib Desert by reaperducer on Friday October 17, 2025 @07:02PM (#45623165)

Wikipedia states that your interpretation is not 100% certain. It says that there is also believed to mean "vast place," which is not in dispute.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namib#Etymology

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Re:Live Stream from the Namib Desert by inemesitaffia on Saturday October 18, 2025 @11:17AM (#45628040)

So, a vast nothing

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Re:Live Stream from the Namib Desert by yard2010 on Saturday October 18, 2025 @06:20AM (#45626230)

This reminds me of the dead sea, it's far from dead, there are life forms in it. It's called the dead sea in Arabic as well (maybe this is the source of the name? Don't quote me on this one)

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