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| | Issue of November 17, 2003 |
 | | There is, as it happens, an English word "gort," which turns out to be a variant of "gorce," which in turn is an obsolete term for "whirlpool," or "eddy or stop in a river." The root of "gorce" is the Latin "gurgit," also meaning "whirlpool" (and the root of "regurgitate"). |
 | | One in particular seems likely, John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, Sixth Viscount Gort, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for heroism in France in World War I and led the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk during WW II. |
 | | The connection between Viscount Gort and Winnipeg, if any, is a bit unclear to me, but his fame as a military leader probably accounts for the hotel's moniker. |
| www.word-detective.com /111703.html (6635 words) |
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