1910:
Virginia Woolf (l) pretending to be an Abyssinian Prince
“The Dreadnought hoax was a practical joke pulled by Horace de Vere Cole, who tricked the Royal Navy into showing their flagship, HMS Dreadnought, to a supposed delegation of Abyssinian royals.
“The group inspected the fleet. To show their appreciation, they communicated in a gibberish of words drawn from Latin and Greek. An officer familiar with both Cole and Virginia Stephen failed to recognise either.
“During the visit to Dreadnought, the visitors had repeatedly shown amazement or appreciation by exclaiming “Bunga! Bunga!”. In 1915 during the First World War, HMS Dreadnought rammed and sank a German submarine. Among the telegrams of congratulation was one that read “BUNGA BUNGA”.”
Source: @ Tumblr
