Laugu (Lauk)

Four possibilities: 1) Common coot, Fulica atra, breeds in Estonia; 2) Leek (often porrulauk); 3) Blaze (on a horse’s head) or blazed horse; 4) Parting (of the hair). All these are related by the idea of a vertical white slash of color: on the frontal part of the head for coots, with their white ‘frontal shield’ (featherless ‘plate’ of skin from the top of the bill to the forehead, hence “bald as a coot”), and horses, various FU cognates refer to bulls, cows or other blazed animals; and leeks are typified by a white upper region. As to hair, since it could suggest dark hair parting to reveal a pale forehead, it may represent a word dating back to before the stereotypical Scandinavian blond hair became a widely acquired and inherited feature. Although the genetic mutation for blond hair seems to date to about 11000 BP, it might not have become widespread until about 6000 BP. Street named in 1953 but never, apparently, built.

• Deadname