The word Jumbo, in English meaning large, comes from the Swahili for thing or head man. The name reached England and English because it was the name clever circus man Barnum gave to an elephant. an African elephant. a big eared elephant. The word means thing, or headman and was chosen because big elephants in Africa can be eleven feet tall.
Reading Wikipedia, I learned that Jumbo the elephant was capured after poachers had killed its mother. It was transported north and across the Mediterranean sea to Italy, onwards overland up to France, then across the Channel to the UK.
It was held in London Zoo, where it was enormously popular. It gave rides to the public, notably Queen Victoria's children.
The animal then became aggressive and dangerous. It banged walls tring to break out and broke both its tusks but grew another pair.
Well, I never. So elephants can regrow tusks, the way that sharks regrow teeth. I hope one day we will be able to regrow teeth - and bones! (I am in a wheelchair, temporarily I hope, with a hairline crack in my spine which is honeycombed from osteoporosis, the break probably caused by pushing something heavy sideways.)
My husband said, ' The poor animal was probably aggrrssive because it was trapped in a small space and grew frustrated.'
I replied, 'But animals on safari attack jeeps. Elphants in safari parks are not enclosed in small spaces like zoos.'
My husband replied, 'Agreed, But the tourists are invading the animal's territory so the animals are defending their family, like any male defends its family..'
Me - oops - a worrying, yet enlightening thought - is that why we have attacks on immigrants, seen as invaders, and armies fighting? But we are not animals. Humans have language, diplomats and trade and should be able to manage situations.
Anyway, an inteeresting digression, but let's go back to the elephant story.
The big elephant in London zoo, trying to break out, was considered dangerous, liable to escape, and offered for sale to the Americans. More than 100,000 children wrote protesting (obviously encouraged by parents, teachers, public opinion they heard, whoever, whatever.)
Nevertheless, the sale went ahead. Jumbo the elephant was bought by Barnum, who exhibited animals and ran a circus. Jumbo was shown in New York and attracted crowds so successfully that Barnum recoverd his money in only three weeks.
From Jumbo we get the alliterative and memorable phrase Jumbo Jet.
Useful Websites
See my earlier, recent post on the Swahili language.
Wikipedia African Elephants
Barnum
https://betterplaneteducation.org.uk/factsheets/elephant-african-overview?\
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