2828: Isle of Stomach Pain Sep 17, 2024

There is an island in the Mediterranean off the coast of Sardinia called Mal di Ventre, translating literally from Standard Italian as “stomach pains”. There are plenty of places named for miserable reasons, including Australia’s “Lake Disappointment,” but this one was not named in relation to stomachs, at least not on purpose. Looking at the native Sardinian name, “Malu 'Entu” meaning “bad winds” (and not those related to stomach pains), which was mistranslated, but given it has no inhabitants, there was very little need to change the name in Standard Italian.