What's your favourite place name?

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Albuquerque

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

COCKFOSTERS!

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

And Eritrea and Azerbaijan.

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

Timbuktoo

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

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-two years ago) link

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

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

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-two years ago) link

Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

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

Also, Lake Titticaca.

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

Dan is a walking Freudian analysis.

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

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

STOP STEALING MY LINES, RAGGETT.

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

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-two years ago) link

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

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

Technoctitlan (spelling probably off)

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

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-two years ago) link

Portrush.

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

Wigwig and Homer!!

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

Lasagna Gultch Shopping Center

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

Oola.

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

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-two years ago) link

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-two years ago) link

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-two years ago) link

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-two years ago) link

Arthur Kill Rd.

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

Beat that.

Is that in New Hampshire?

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

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-two years ago) link

DaN P. SeZ:

Beat that.

Is that in New Hampshire?

NNNnnnngggg.....

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

....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-two years ago) link

NNNnnnngggg

Blimey. First one without vowels.

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

interenting? -=INTERESTING=- gaaaah etc

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

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-two years ago) link

Beaver Creek. Sorry.

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

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-two years ago) link

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

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

Twat.

(small isle N. of Scotland)

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

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-two years ago) link

Lisha Kill

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

Non-Stick Frying Pan.

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

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-two years ago) link

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-two years ago) link

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-two years ago) link

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-two years ago) link

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

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

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

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

buttfucke, montana

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

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-two years ago) link

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-two years ago) link

Nagorno-Karabakh

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

"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-two years ago) link

I like the names:

Toronto
Acton

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

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 (nineteen years ago) link

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 (nineteen years ago) link

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 (nineteen years ago) link

Devon has a good one: Zeal Monachorum

― caitlin (caitlin), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 11:32 (nineteen years ago) link

(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 (nineteen years ago) link

(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 (nineteen years ago) link

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

― smee (smee), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 11:50 (nineteen years ago) link

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 (nineteen years ago) link

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

― aimurchie, Tuesday, 12 October 2004 14:16 (nineteen years ago) link

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 (nineteen years ago) link

HEADCORN

― loggedoutvicar, Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:14 (nineteen years ago) link

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 (nineteen years ago) link

http://tinyurl.com/5p3ej

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

Roffle! etc.

― JimD (JimD), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:26 (nineteen years ago) link

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 (nineteen years ago) link

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 (nineteen years ago) link

pleasington is good too. pleasing, if you would.

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:37 (nineteen years ago) link

Yetts o'Muckhart

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:40 (nineteen years ago) link

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 (nineteen years ago) link

Waikouaiti

― rainy (rainy), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 00:16 (nineteen years ago) link

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

― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 00:30 (nineteen years ago) link

Barnawatha.

― papa november (papa november), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 00:32 (nineteen years ago) link

Old Sodsbury

― Wooden (Wooden), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 01:23 (nineteen years ago) link

Atholl is pretty good. As is Ware.

― aimurchie, Wednesday, 13 October 2004 01:52 (nineteen years ago) link

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 (sixteen years ago) link

Yalumlum

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

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 (sixteen years ago) link

Warsaw

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

Sequim

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

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

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

Big Bone Lick, KY for the win

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

The city of BATMAN, Turkey !!!

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

Westward Ho!

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

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

Manama is like: Mon as in money,AA mah

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

there's a restaurant here called Grumpy Dicks

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

oconomowoc ot$

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

Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard

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

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 (sixteen years ago) link

Squibnocket, Martha's Vineyard.

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

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 (thirteen years ago) link

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

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

COCKFOSTERS reigns supreme

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

Butt, Montana

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

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

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

three years pass...

Beeston Bump

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

Blubberhouses

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

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 (nine years ago) link

Me vag is see

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

Wetwang

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

stranraer

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

Humptulips, WA.

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

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