When the vikings travelled west and discovered news lands, they also encountered a people who used a lot of vinegar on their food. Hence they called the new-found-land "Vingard" or "Vinland"
Um, I think you may be wrong here. If you can cite a source, please do so, but I think the traditional meaning is generally accepted to be "vinland" (gard being another name for place or stead) to be "land of wine"[0]. At the time, grape vines probably grew there (the climate was warmer).
As far as the etymology of the English "vinegar", according to Random House dictionary[1] is: "1250–1300; ME vinegre < OF, equiv. to vin wine + egre, aigre sour". That is, from Old french, not from Norse.
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Um, I think you may be wrong here. If you can cite a source, please do so, but I think the traditional meaning is generally accepted to be "vinland" (gard being another name for place or stead) to be "land of wine"[0]. At the time, grape vines probably grew there (the climate was warmer).
As far as the etymology of the English "vinegar", according to Random House dictionary[1] is: "1250–1300; ME vinegre < OF, equiv. to vin wine + egre, aigre sour". That is, from Old french, not from Norse.
[0] http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/vinland/home/indexen.html
[1] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vinegar
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