Africa

Second - skund

1) skund
The shortest possible Icelandic name for second is 'skund'. The words scores on many fronts.
1) It is short
2) It sounds like the international word and Icelandic 'stund' and is declined like the latter word.
3) It refers to the verb "skunda" (hurry). Indeed, a "second" is the time-frame often refered to when someone is in a hurry.

2) Other possibilities:
tifskeið or tifstund (tick-period), stundarkorn (hour-particle, moment)

Neon - ljóft

Neon (ljóft, ljós + loft), the gas which is a component of 'air' (loft), used in lighting (ljós). If the neologism ljörvi (laser) is acceptable as an acronym of ljós (light) and 'örvi (derived from the verb örva, stimulate), the so should be ljóft. It aso sound a bit like the adjective ljúfur (in the meaning of geðfelldur (agreeable, pleasing). Neon-light is indeed an pleasant sight.
The noble gases are commonly used in lighting because of their lack of chemical reactivity. Neon was the first in its group to be used for this purpose and its name with respect to lighting has been extended to other noble gases. Argon- or krypton-filled light-tubes are called 'neonlights' as well. It's slightly comparable to the chemical term 'salt', which originally denoted sodium chloride before its meaning was extended to 'any ionic compound, made from a metal cation and a non-metal anion'. In the same way we can extend the meaning of 'ljóft' to that of 'noble gas'.

SHOGUN - SAMURAI

The term 'arfamarskálkur' is also possible, but 'marskálkur' is a germanism.

Atom - afn

One day in 1996 I was wondering about what meaning could be attached to 'afn' (derived from 'efni', matter). This derivation didn't exist yet and I thought might be useful as the Icelandic equivalent for the English term 'quark'. Later I thought it might suit as a suffix in names of chemical elements. After a long time of pondering I came to the conclusion that it would be the most suitable designation of an atom. The problem with the existing 'frumeind' is that it forms three syllables in compounds, where the more robust 'atóm' remains unchanged. Atóm will always be prefered in compounds. Only a short monosyllabic word like 'afn' can replace it.

The word scores on all fronts:

1) It is monosylabic and doesn't get any longer in compounds as is the case of 'frumeind'. A more robust word is unthinkable.
2) It sounds a bit like the stem of 'ögn' (AGN), which makes it sound like a particle name.
3) It is sound-similar to 'atom' when pronounced in English while it is a purely native construction. (compare: radar -ratsjá).
4) It is derived from 'efni' (matter). An atom is the smallest particle in chemical sense (chemistry = EFNAfræði, literally 'matter-craft').

compounds:
atomic age: afnöld
atomic bomb: afnsprengja
atomic clock: afnstundsjá
atomic force microscope: afnkraftsjá atomic mass: afnmagn
atomic physics: afneðlisfræði, afnfræði
atomic theory: afnkenning atomic weight: afnþungi nucleus: afnkjarn

Atlantic ocean - frónhaf

Why can't we name the Atlantic ocean after Iceland? This has nothing to do with far-going hubris. Icelanders are the only native people who inhabit the largest part of new land formed on the MID-Atlantic Ridge. Yes, they are the only ones among the native Atlantic people (Guanches, Faroese, Icelanders, that's all I guess) who live right in the middle. How much more Atlantic can one get? The term 'Frónhaf' is shorter than Atlantshaf and it's transparent too! After all, there is only one sea known to encompass iceland, isn't it! YEEES, BINGO!

examples:
Atlatintic states: Frónhafsríkin
Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Frónhafshryggur, Jörmungandshryggur
NATO: Frónhafsbandalagið

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