What's your favourite place name?

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Albuquerque

― Graham, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

COCKFOSTERS!

― Dan Perry, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

And Eritrea and Azerbaijan.

― Graham, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Timbuktoo

― Madchen, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I wonder if there's anywhere in the world called Jumping Frog?

OK, serious answer. Appledore.

― Robin Carmody, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn. I have no idea how you pronounce it.

― Michael Bourke, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Surbiton - sounds like the suburbs of the future, when it's only another grey smudge in South London.

But, I've always wanted to live somewhere with a functional, abbreviated name:
NoHo - North Hollywood, or the wilderness north of Soho in London

SoMa - South of Market, San Francisco

SoWeTo - South West Township.

― K-reg, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

― fritz, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Also, Lake Titticaca.

― Dan Perry, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Dan is a walking Freudian analysis.

[Cue Dan -- 'ANAL-ysis?']

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

STOP STEALING MY LINES, RAGGETT.

― Dan Perry, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Has to be Wetwang in the east riding of Yorkshire.

In the local area we have A Constable Burton, Bishop Monkton and a Patrick Brompton.
A few miles from us is Thornton le Beans which is Bill Bryson's favourite place name.

― Billy Dods, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Signs to Wetwang always used to amuse me when I lived nearby.

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Technoctitlan (spelling probably off)

― maria, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

there are many UK village names that are amusing. such as:

Pratt's Bottom

Six Mile Bottom

Matching Tye

Crackpot

Lower Babraham

Much Hadham

there's probably many others. i think that matching tye is my favourite out of those ones though.

― katie, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Portrush.

― stevo, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Wigwig and Homer!!

― mark s, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Lasagna Gultch Shopping Center

― jason, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oola.

― Michael Bourke, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Also: Wabznasm (sp?) and Manford-Thirtysixborough, not AFAIK genuine village names, but from the "Everything is alright, it's OK, it's *fine*" emergency film (shot roughly in the style of an 80s / early 90s "patriotic" Tory Party Political Broadcast) in The Day Today.

Beaming in from the south-west: Piddletrenthide, Gussage All Saints.

Pretty from the south-east: Lamberhurst, Harrietsham.

The north-west's finest: Ashton-under-Lyne.

― Robin Carmody, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

N.E.England rules this thread. Xamplez within a 20 mile radius of where I sit & type:

Two Ball Lonnen

Quaking Houses

Spital Tongues

Stony Heap

Beat that.

xoxo

― Norman Fay, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Truth or Consequences, NM.

Bump, OR.

Bend, OR.

Berlin, CT. (It's not bur-LIN, it's BUR-lin. Huzzah.)

And, of course, Smallville, IN.

― David Raposa, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I like Indian names for states and rivers, like Massachusetts, Susquehanna and Onondaga. They seem more like what words ought to be.

― Maria, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Arthur Kill Rd.

― Arthur, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Beat that.

Is that in New Hampshire?

― Dan Perry, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Heavens no, Dan, that's in Vermont. You're thinking of the sister town, Rub This.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

DaN P. SeZ:

Beat that.

Is that in New Hampshire?

NNNnnnngggg.....

― Norman Fay, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

....Arrrg groan etc

I just remembered this interenting (well, I thought so, anyway) factlet that I saw on TV years ago, abt place names in N America. It referred to the opening of long-distance railways in either the US or Canada (it was on a long time ago, so I can't quite remember) Apparently towns built along the route of certain railways were named alphabetically -albany, belmont, cawthorn etc etc. Supposedly to this day, along certain stretches of track (or where track once was) the alphabetical naming still persists, tho' w/the odd gap where a town has failed. Absolutely of no concievable use, this knowledge, but somehow interesting and poignant (the missing alphabet letters, that is) IMO.

Anything in yr library referring to that, Ned, or web links, anyone?

xoxo

― NorMaNFaY, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

NNNnnnngggg

Blimey. First one without vowels.

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

interenting? -=INTERESTING=- gaaaah etc

― HE WHO TYPO-ES, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Those dodgy European ones:
Wankdorf in Germany. Surely everyone knows this one? (The Wank is Germany's 2nd highest mountain I kid you not.)
Apparently there's a place called Pervyshagg in Russia. (It was pronounced that way, not sure on the spelling).
Yes, and in the area of Piddletrenthide there are many villages with 'piddle' in their names.

― Bill, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Beaver Creek. Sorry.

― Trevor, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Sorry, I'm partial to the highly imaginative "Upper Slaughter" and "Lower Slaughter" of the Cotswolds.

Though travelling from Manchester to Sheffield, we did get three cars of Americans giggling over Peniston.

― kate, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Is there a town called Me? Cos I've been to Paradise (Pennsylvania)

― Madchen, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Twat.

(small isle N. of Scotland)

― DavidM, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Side road right by me is called 'Happy Land West'. Which ain't bad!

(actually, I think Twat is the name of a town in an isle N. of Scotland)

― DavidM, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Lisha Kill

― Pennysong Hanle y, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Non-Stick Frying Pan.

― emil.y, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Lisha Kill! Hah! I love upstate NY old Dutch place names. Catskill is just so great. I love my mum's address, it's so violent - we shall KILL those dirty KRUMS and SLING them from our LANDS!!!

― kate, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

And there's the River Piddle. I'm pretty sure it was "Piddletown" and "Tolpiddle" until they became Puddletown and Tolpuddle to spare the embarrassment of one particular king (maybe George III) who was visiting the area. So it is only this that saved history from a vital foundation stone of the Labour / trade union movement having an incredibly embarrassing sniggery name rather than a quite pretty one.

Isn't there somewhere else in the north-east called Wide Open?

― Robin Carmody, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yes, there is, as well as Tow Law (yr guess is as good as mine) Esh Winning, and (near esh winning) Quebec - a hamlet ov abt 5 houses.

― nfaY, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Byrsons book on the American Language has a whole chapter on fucked up place names. Its a comic masterpiece .

― anthony, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Where upstate does your mom live, Kate? I am curious about my proximity.

― Maria, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hi Kate you botard. What about Valatie ( vuh lay sha). Or Lebanon Valley.

― Pennysong Hanle y, Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

buttfucke, montana

― Geoff, Saturday, 15 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Minnesota: good for silly names.

Brainerd, MN (no brains, no nerds). My mother's house backs on to Minnehaha Creek. St Paul has Cretin High School.

and aND AND! I cannot believe the lack of mention for...

INTERCOURSE, Pennsylvania.

― suzy, Saturday, 15 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Tow Law, Esh Winning and Wideopen all very real. In deepest darkest county Durham in the heart of the old coal mining industries, parts of which are close to Tony Blairs constituency. They're about as different from Tuscany as you could probably get.

Esh Winning is just a few miles from Langley Park which featured on a Prefab Sprout LP.

― Billy Dods, Saturday, 15 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Nagorno-Karabakh

― dave q, Saturday, 15 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"And there's the River Piddle. I'm pretty sure it was "Piddletown" and "Tolpiddle"" I live near villages called Wyre Piddle and Upper Piddle, which caused much merriment when I was a youngster.
Now though, I find very little amuses me.

― DavidM, Saturday, 15 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I like the names:

Toronto
Acton

― jel, Saturday, 15 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Skipping 124 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

I couldn't possibly comment.

― smee (smee), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 10:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Singer is not a place name, it's a train station, named after a factory, which made sewing machines...dumbass!

Towns named after railway stations: C or D?

(there's also a Scottish railway station called IBM - it serves an IBM site, of course)

― caitlin (caitlin), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 11:15 (twenty-one years ago)

My favourite British place name is Rime Intrinseca, which is in Dorset. A close runner up, and only a couple of miles from there is Yetminster, which always looks like a typo to me.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 11:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Devon has a good one: Zeal Monachorum

― caitlin (caitlin), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 11:32 (twenty-one years ago)

(and one of the nearest villages to Zeal Monachorum is Loosebeare, which also sounds nice and evocative, in a vague kind of way)

― caitlin (caitlin), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 11:33 (twenty-one years ago)

(there's also a Scottish railway station called IBM - it serves an IBM site, of course)

I used to work there. It's the last stop before Wemyss Bay - a place name I particularly like although it was ages before I found out it was pronounced 'weems'.

― robster (robster), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 11:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I have to ask - how did you think it was pronounced?

― smee (smee), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 11:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I like the names Lesmahagow and Auchterarder. I have no idea what the places are like.

Some people pronounce Wemyss as "wims" rather than "weems". Nice views but not much to do unless you list caravaning amongst your hobbies.

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 14:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I like Springfield. There's a Springfield in every state (except Alaska and Hawaii).

― aimurchie, Tuesday, 12 October 2004 14:16 (twenty-one years ago)

When I taught freshman english, one of the kids in my class wrote the "make an argument/take a side" essay assignment on which state the Simpsons' Springfield was in. I think he was arguing it was in Kentucky. Or maybe NOT in Kentucky, I've forgotten.

― sgs (sgs), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 14:20 (twenty-one years ago)

HEADCORN

― loggedoutvicar, Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:14 (twenty-one years ago)

my flatmate came to the conclusion that it was in kentucky, i think (apparently there was one comment about it bordering tennessee in the south)

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:26 (twenty-one years ago)

http://tinyurl.com/5p3ej

"Where do you live mate?". "Upper Ramsbottom".

Roffle! etc.

― JimD (JimD), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:26 (twenty-one years ago)

on that same page of the map is Bacup, where they used to make Zip discs

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:27 (twenty-one years ago)

And so is Oswaldtwistle, which is locally pronounced "ozzle-twizzle". That's another favourite. Rawtenstall's good too (it sounds more like Rotten-stall), and Cheesden, and Pendlebury, and Little Lever.

The north is great for place names.

― JimD (JimD), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:33 (twenty-one years ago)

pleasington is good too. pleasing, if you would.

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Yetts o'Muckhart

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, just a couple of sqaures away from the last map:

http://tinyurl.com/52p7r

Diggle! Which is where I used to go for my weekly Morris Dancing practice when I were a lad, believe it or not. Mossley's where I grew up.

― JimD (JimD), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Waikouaiti

― rainy (rainy), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 00:16 (twenty-one years ago)

On a tour of the South we came across the rather unfortunately named "Blacks Run"

― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 00:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Barnawatha.

― papa november (papa november), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 00:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Old Sodsbury

― Wooden (Wooden), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 01:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Atholl is pretty good. As is Ware.

― aimurchie, Wednesday, 13 October 2004 01:52 (twenty-one years ago)

three years pass...

OMG, how did I not know before that the capital of Bahrain is called Manama.

― Hurting 2, Saturday, 8 December 2007 02:22 (eighteen years ago)

Yalumlum

― Heave Ho, Saturday, 8 December 2007 02:41 (eighteen years ago)

COCKFOSTERS!

The first thing that came to mind was the first answer on this thread!

Place name once seen on a Chilean road sign: Peor es nada (Better than nothing).

― jim, Saturday, 8 December 2007 03:26 (eighteen years ago)

Warsaw

― CaptainLorax, Saturday, 8 December 2007 03:49 (eighteen years ago)

Sequim

― gabbneb, Saturday, 8 December 2007 04:00 (eighteen years ago)

MAN-A-MA! MAN-A-MA-OH-OH-OH-AH-AH!

― Hurting 2, Saturday, 8 December 2007 04:02 (eighteen years ago)

Big Bone Lick, KY for the win

― Euler, Saturday, 8 December 2007 04:04 (eighteen years ago)

The city of BATMAN, Turkey !!!

― JTS, Saturday, 8 December 2007 14:55 (eighteen years ago)

Westward Ho!

Gotta love a place with an exclamation mark in its name.

― Noodle Vague, Saturday, 8 December 2007 14:57 (eighteen years ago)

Manama is like: Mon as in money,AA mah

― Heave Ho, Saturday, 8 December 2007 15:13 (eighteen years ago)

there's a restaurant here called Grumpy Dicks

― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Saturday, 8 December 2007 15:16 (eighteen years ago)

oconomowoc ot$

― Oilyrags, Saturday, 8 December 2007 15:17 (eighteen years ago)

Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard

― Heave Ho, Sunday, 9 December 2007 00:41 (eighteen years ago)

McLeod Ganj
Crocodilopolis

Best names to roll round the mouth - Vanuatu & Guatemala, but to really milk Guatemala you need to go American and turn the t to d.

― ogmor, Sunday, 9 December 2007 03:32 (eighteen years ago)

Squibnocket, Martha's Vineyard.

― gr8080, Sunday, 9 December 2007 03:34 (eighteen years ago)

three years pass...

The city of BATMAN, Turkey !!!

― JTS, Saturday, 8 December 2007 14:55 (3 years ago)

I just found this while idly surfing a world atlas on the bog. Awesome.

― acoleuthic, Saturday, 29 January 2011 19:30 (fourteen years ago)

http://www.qwantz.com/comics/comic2-1361.png

― totally small truffles (Abbbottt), Sunday, 30 January 2011 03:08 (fourteen years ago)

COCKFOSTERS reigns supreme

― VegemiteGrrrl, Sunday, 30 January 2011 03:13 (fourteen years ago)

Butt, Montana

― beer, beer, beer (Pillbox), Sunday, 30 January 2011 03:32 (fourteen years ago)

I just random articled my way to Orroroo, South Australia.

― Antoine Bugleboy (Merdeyeux), Sunday, 30 January 2011 03:33 (fourteen years ago)

three years pass...

Beeston Bump

― ogmor, Tuesday, 26 August 2014 19:53 (eleven years ago)

Blubberhouses

― ogmor, Tuesday, 26 August 2014 19:54 (eleven years ago)

Mevagissey.

Not least because it comes out something like "Mega-vizzy" when I try to say it.

― Shugazi (Branwell with an N), Tuesday, 26 August 2014 19:59 (eleven years ago)

Me vag is see

― a spectrum is taunting ur OP (wins), Tuesday, 26 August 2014 20:17 (eleven years ago)

Wetwang

― Daphnis Celesta, Tuesday, 26 August 2014 21:14 (eleven years ago)

stranraer

― saer, Tuesday, 26 August 2014 21:16 (eleven years ago)

Humptulips, WA.

― Tomás Piñon (Ryan), Tuesday, 26 August 2014 21:21 (eleven years ago)

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