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Favorite Town names
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Subject: Favorite Town names From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 10 May 02 - 06:02 AM Not all colorful town names have been neutered. Two of my favorites in the Midwest are Purgatory, Minnesota (got it's name because it was so swampy that when settlers were asked how they got to western Minnesota, they said they had to go through purgatory to get there and the name stuck,)and Eden Prairie, Minnesota. My Uncle Harold lived in Eden Prairie. Only a Midwesterner would envision Eden as being on the prairie instead of a garden. Blue Earth, Minnesota sounds kinda pretty, too. Don't know where it got it's name. There's a black Earth in Wisconsin. How about Half Moon, in New York State? Any favorites? |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: RangerSteve Date: 10 May 02 - 07:27 AM Ong's Hat, NJ. Actually, it was never more than a tavern, and now the tavern is gone. But the town still is listed on the official state road maps. Devils Half Acre in PA, which is only slightly bigger than its name implies. It's early, I'll think of more later. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Scabby Douglas Date: 10 May 02 - 07:51 AM If we're including villages: In Scotland - Lost Throsk - (which I always imagine as sounding rather like a disease that sheep might get) Achiltibuie Cheers Steven
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Murph10566 Date: 10 May 02 - 08:35 AM I always thought this was an interesting juxtaposition: Climax, NY - very near Paradise Hill, NY... Coincidence, or something more darkly sinister ? M. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Paddy Plastique Date: 10 May 02 - 08:39 AM I saw on the back of a truck that there's a place called Angoisse in the Dordogne - France. Could translate as 'Angst' or 'Anguish'. Must be twinned with Purgatory.. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: CarolC Date: 10 May 02 - 08:40 AM I used to live just outside of Accident, Maryland (US). |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Butch at work (cookieless) Date: 10 May 02 - 08:56 AM Bucksnort, Tenn. is my favorite and it has a grwat little diner. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy Date: 10 May 02 - 09:18 AM well, they appear as towns in a few states, but there is a Normal, Illinois and a Saline Illinois, and a headline in a local paper read 'Saline Woman to Wed Normal Man' |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Bobert Date: 10 May 02 - 09:31 AM Now I'm not sure if this is a real town or not but Bob Martin has a song about it being the "toilet seat capitol of the world". Ahhhh, ol' Bobert almost ain't got Spawzer'z chromozones so this one ain't easy, but it's Frog Dick, South Dakota. "Ya' they make 'em out of plastic now... Used to make 'em out of wood... Mama says the new ones... Don't fit the way they should..." |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy Date: 10 May 02 - 09:32 AM every teenage boys favorite is Intercourse (PA that is!) and there is a Harmony PA, so an imagined but entirely possible sports page headline might read A Good Harmony Beats Intercourse |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Mr Happy Date: 10 May 02 - 09:42 AM when driving along a road in kent[uk] i passed signpost on a junction, giving directions to 'Ham' to the right, and 'Sandwich' to the left
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Peg Date: 10 May 02 - 10:02 AM I once saw a postcard of Strange But True Town Names, superimposed over a 48-state map of the USA, and three of the towns near where I grew up were on it! (Horseheads, Painted Post, and Big Flats, all in western New York state). I am fond of Halfmoon, too... peg
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Kim C Date: 10 May 02 - 10:12 AM Bumpass, VA Gnawbone, IN |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy Date: 10 May 02 - 10:23 AM my friend Ken Waldman, Alaska's Fiddling Poet, has a number of pieces he does about his time spent in Eek, Alaska; and I am not all that far from Hicksville, Ohio |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Homeless Date: 10 May 02 - 11:20 AM A couple weeks ago I drove thru Gnaw Bone, IN on the way home from a festival in French Lick, IN. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: mack/misophist Date: 10 May 02 - 11:23 AM My favorite of all time is in Scotland - Unthank. There's been a few times I'd like to do that. Also Dime Box and New Dime Box in Texas. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Leeder Date: 10 May 02 - 11:33 AM There is a Climax, Saskatchewan. The Romaniuk Brothers used to ask, as part of their stage act, "Anybody been to Climax?" I like Moose Factory, Ontario. (A "factory" is a Hudson's Bay Co. trading post, and this one is on the Moose River. But the modern usage conjures up interesting images.) |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Ebbie Date: 10 May 02 - 11:35 AM My very first hometown, in Oregon, was Amity. In Virginia, it was Stuarts Draft. Guest/Bill Kennedy, Robin Hopper, a musician from Chugiak, has a very popular song she calls 'I've Been Everywhere- in Alaska' She has well over 100 Alaska place names in it, including Eek, of course; she says it took her more than two years to memorize the whole thing. Ed Schoenfeld, a local songwriter, wrote one he calls 'I've Been Everywhere- in Douglas'. Douglas is the island neighborhood of Juneau. My favorite town name to pronounce is 'Igegik'. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: brid widder Date: 10 May 02 - 12:26 PM Keith Donnelly talks about a village in Essex UK called Ugley...and nearby Ugley Green....not too far away, in Hertfordshire there's a Nastie....it had to happen... "Nasty man marries Ugley Green woman" |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Mrrzy Date: 10 May 02 - 12:31 PM Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, I thought was a joke till I got there...! And we have a road called - no kidding- Pinch'm Slyly, or is that a different thread? |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Mr Happy Date: 10 May 02 - 12:33 PM brid and of course there's always the ugley women's institute! |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 10 May 02 - 12:47 PM Jerry Rasmussen speculated about the meaning or origin of "Blue Earth" Minnesota. I'm originally from Minnesota (Rochester), and was told that "Blue Earth" is simple description of local soil (or maybe rock). Pipestone, Minnesota, incidentally, was what you might call "international holy ground" for the Indians, because it was here that was located the quarry for the soft, carvable red rock used to make what we palefaces call "peace pipes", more accurately termed "calumets". This stone is easily carvable as it comes out of the ground, and hardens thereafter, I suppose from exposure to air. This holy area was distinguished by the peace with which people from many different tribes, even blood enemies, maintained when meeting there, and by intertribal understanding of peaceable access, even through hostile territory. And then there's Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. This was named for a famous Indian chief. Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy Date: 10 May 02 - 12:52 PM I have a couple of tablets of writing paper from Sleepy Eye, with the image of the chief. Lovely town, I was there a few years back during an annual? town tag sale, good lunch and friendly people, nearby is one of the Laura Wilder Ingalls homesteads, if memory serves |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Mrs.Duck Date: 10 May 02 - 01:04 PM Actually Happiness the Ugley womens institute is now the Womens institute for Ugley Women which they thought sounds better!!! Of course in Yorkshire we have Idle and the Idle Working Mens Club. In Kent there is a place called Pratts Bottom. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Pete Jennings Date: 10 May 02 - 01:10 PM Wyre Piddle (Worcestershire, England), not far from Wick. Pete
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: TheBigPinkLad Date: 10 May 02 - 01:38 PM My mother-in-law was born in a place called Wideawake, Saskachewan. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Les from Hull Date: 10 May 02 - 01:45 PM I've always liked Spital-in-the-Street (Lincolnshire, England) |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 10 May 02 - 03:28 PM Someone already mentioned Gnaw Bone, Indiana. Gnaw Bone is pretty close to Needmore, Indiana. To be more precise, it is near ONE of the THREE Needmores in Indiana! The one in question is more or less between Columbus and Nashville--Indiana. Then there's another Needmore near Terre Haute, and yet another in the northern part of the state. Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 10 May 02 - 03:49 PM For my family in Wisconsin, nothing beats a week in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin. My parents went up there every summer for years, and I have a nephew who has a cabin up there. The name always tickled me. It pretty much explains what there is to do up there for excitement. "Hey, Maude, want to go out and look at the boulders this weekend? :-)
If you really get bored, you can drive west and spend the day exploring the wonders of Moose Junction in Wisconsin, over near the Missiossippi.`
If you like trees, you might drive east and go to Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin.
Or drive north to Cornucopia, where life is overflowing. Jerry |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Dave the Gnome Date: 10 May 02 - 04:16 PM Near York there is Askham Bryan. If he won't answer the next village is Askham Richard! On my way back from Portsmouth I sometimes pass 'Worlds End' - I'm kind of scared to visit it! Just look though an English gazeteer and I'm sure you will come up with loads of better ones though. Better still have a look at Douglas Adams 'Book of Lif' and you will find some great explanations for the place names!!! Cheers DtG
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Lyle Date: 10 May 02 - 05:00 PM There are two towns in north central Iowa named Manly and Fertile. People were always hoping for a headline, Manly man marries Fertile woman. Lyle |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Shields Folk Date: 10 May 02 - 05:07 PM How about No Place, County Durham? |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Shields Folk Date: 10 May 02 - 05:12 PM A sense of humour is needed to live in Durham especially in a place called Pity Me. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: TheBigPinkLad Date: 10 May 02 - 05:13 PM Some from N.E. England ... Pity Me, Legg's Cross Hill; Snotterton; Appleton Whisk (near Danby Whisk); Someone mentioned Unthank earlier, but I think it's in Cumbria, not Scotland. There's a place in Scotland called 'Rest-and-be-thankful' though ... corker, that one ;o) |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Shields Folk Date: 10 May 02 - 05:14 PM Mind you north of the Tyne you have Benton, Long Benton and even Little Benton! |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: TheBigPinkLad Date: 10 May 02 - 05:20 PM Another from County Durham ... Bitchburn |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Annraoi Date: 10 May 02 - 05:25 PM Australia is full of wonderful sounding names like "Woolongong" "Burumbidgee" etc. Ireland has a wealth of Anglicised versions of Gaelic names which foreigners struggle in vain to pronounce: Portglenone, Ahoghill, Tamneyaskey, Aghafatten, Brackaghlislea etc. Annraoi |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Celtic Soul Date: 10 May 02 - 05:42 PM Intercourse, Pennsylvania. If they ever built a college, they could call it "Good old Fuck U."
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: weepiper Date: 10 May 02 - 06:26 PM Talking of placenames that sound like sheep diseases (Scabby Doug mentioned Throsk earlier) I've always held a fond spot in my heart (someone has to) for Scrabster - where the ferry to Orkney leaves from near John O'Groats. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Devilmaster Date: 10 May 02 - 06:51 PM Just a couple from the Great White North: Ecum Secum, NS Conception Bay, NF Moose Jaw, SK Medicine Hat, AB Steve |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Jim Dixon Date: 10 May 02 - 07:18 PM You want funny names? We got funny names in Minnesota: Climax, Fertile (They aren't far apart. Legendary headline: "Fertile Woman Dies in Climax"), Bird Island, Bible College, Borup, Coon Rapids, Embarrass (often the coldest place in the nation. I think they hold the record for the "lower 48"), Motley (I think that's where that crew comes from), Pillager, Savage, Sleepy Eye (named after an Indian). There are a lot of Indian-language names: Ah Gwah Ching, Biwabik, Chaska, Chokio, Kandiyohi, Keewatin, Mahnomen, Mahtomedi, Minnetonka, Nisswa, Okabena, Onamia, Osseo, Owatonna, Shakopee, Wabasha, Wabasso, Waconia, Wadena, Wanamingo, Winnebago, Winona, Zumbrota. All of these are potential pitfalls for TV and radio announcers who move here from another state. Rule of thumb: the emphasis is nearly always on the penultimate syllable. Ona'mia and Shak'opee are the only exceptions in this list. There are some euphonious ones, too. My favorites: Blooming Prairie, Stillwater, Comfrey, Marine on Saint Croix, Pipestone, Red Wing, Redwood Falls, Rollingstone. There is a song about Minnesota town names:CHAPSTICKS, by Lou & Peter Berryman. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 10 May 02 - 07:21 PM Red Wing's a great old town, too... drove through it last fall, coming down the Mississippi River on the Minnesota side. Jerry |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: catspaw49 Date: 10 May 02 - 07:39 PM Up until about 20 years ago there was still a few houses and a post office where folks would occasionally have their mail camcelled just for the postmark. It was on the river west of Chattanooga.....Suck Creek, Tennessee. Bill Kennedy......I thought all towns in NW Ohio are called Hicksville, especially being so close to Indiana and all........ I think Kentucky has some nice ones. Driving across through Hazard (which isn't far from Jean Ritchie's birthplace of Viper) to Pikeville, you pass through some wide spots in the road with the names of Fisty, Dwarf, and Thousand Sticks, before arriving in the "metroplolis" of Mousie. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: BillR Date: 10 May 02 - 07:41 PM In Michigan where I grew up there is both a Hell and a Paradise. There is also a Needmore (to go with the three in Indiana). Another favorite of mine is Show Low, Arizona. -Bill |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Bill D Date: 10 May 02 - 08:56 PM there is a Climax in Colorado, too..they used to have the problem of every college kid that passed by decided to steal the road signs for dorm rooms till they welded them to the posts or something. ..(and down the road is Fairplay...used to be jokes about getting to Climax without going thru Fairplay) and I remember Dr. Phillips, Florida ....and it is fun to say out loud towns from the 4 corners of the USA, Tallahasee, Walla-Walla, Kennebunk and Cuckamonga...with Oshkosh and Hell to hold down the middle. (Who remembers the conductor on the Jack Benny program chanting, "Anaheim, Azuza, and Cuc....a-monga"?)....and I had a kids story book when I was young with a railroad called the "Weehawken, Hoboken and Troy" There is also Monkey's Eyebrow,AZ and a little town in Kansas called "Gas" which I have driven thru many times. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Paul G. Date: 10 May 02 - 09:20 PM I wrote and recorded a song about Crackertown Florida -- actually a minor suburb of Beverly Hills Florida. Then there's another little Florida town named Reddick...no song..yet... pg |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Ian Darby Date: 10 May 02 - 10:16 PM Whetwang in Yorksire and Merrymeet in Cornwall, both for obvious reasons. I also find the village of Norton Thrubwell strangely attractive.... |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Jack.. Date: 10 May 02 - 10:30 PM How about Flushing, Queens..ugh as a side note..St. Johns University..Bent Hall..After it was built the school newspaper read" Bent erection complete"... Vaya con dios J |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: pastorpest Date: 11 May 02 - 12:43 AM Tickle Ass Pass, NF Butter n' Snow, NF A small community in Saskatchewan called Biggar has a road sign reading "New York is big but this is Biggar" |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Haruo Date: 11 May 02 - 12:53 AM Humptulips, Washington, USA — always makes me think it ought to be right across the river from Fuckdaffodils. Not my fault; the name of the town makes me think that way. Liland |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Haruo Date: 11 May 02 - 01:00 AM BillR wrote "In Michigan where I grew up there is both a Hell and a Paradise." This conflicts with what I was taught in Sunday School. I know the dead go to Michigan, but I was taught that the wicked dead went to Ypsilanti and the redeemed to Kalamazoo. Liland |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Haruo Date: 11 May 02 - 01:23 AM Bill Kennedy's mention of Eek, Alaska, gave me two divergent thoughts. One is that my roommate's name is Verne Eke, which people always try to pronounce "Eek" though it's actually "eck", from the Swedish (in which it had a slight vowel sound after the k, dropped in anglicization). And, to avoid thread drift, the other thought was the odd town name Unalaska, Alaska (in the Aleutian Islands). On the other hand in Washington State we have an Onalaska, Washington, which sounds like an intercollegiate dog-racing cheer, to contrast with the University of Washington's "Mush, Huskies!" ("mush" here being Chinook Jargon for "go!", from the French "marche"). And speaking of Chinook Jargon, how about La Push, Washington, the capital of the Quileute Nation. "La Push" is Chinook Jargon for "mouth" (of a river), the "Push" part being from French "bouche". On the other hand, La Conner, Washington, just across from the Swinomish Rez (mostly Skagit people), which looks like it ought to have a similar Chinook Jargon etymology, is actually named for its first postmistress, Mrs. L. A. Conner, wife of the town's founder. Liland |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: mack/misophist Date: 11 May 02 - 01:56 AM Why has no one mentioned Chicken, Alaska; which was going to be called Ptarmigan except that no one could spell it? |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: rea Date: 11 May 02 - 02:37 AM Well, there's Nag's Head, NC - so called cuz bandits would hang a lanter on a nag's head to lure ships in.... And there's Gumstump PA And I like Roaringfork, CO And in durham county, where I grew up, there was an Efland, which I thought was Elfland, until I really read the sign. Oh, and Banner Elk, NC. Yup, North Carolinia, born and bred. :) "M a tarheel. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: rea Date: 11 May 02 - 02:40 AM sorry to double post - but i completely forgot the ones i meant to write down. From Carl Sandburg's Rootabaga story, "How six pigeons came back to hatrack the horse after many accidents and six telegrams," three of the pigeons are named after towns: Chattanooga (mom and grandmom born there!), Chickamauga,and Chatahoochee. not sure on the spelling. y'all should read the stories, tho. the doubled rea. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Haruo Date: 11 May 02 - 02:41 AM Has the globalization (note "z") of American culture reached the point where the extraneous (sic) folks reading this here thread have an idea what CO or AR or NH means? Liland |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Bert Date: 11 May 02 - 03:09 AM Sometimes it's the names you grew up with, that looking back are quite funny. In London there's Turnham Green, Tooting, Barking, Clapham, King's Cross, Wapping, Cockfosters and Upney. My favourite of all time is Much Hadham in Essex. Then there's Mousehole (pronounced Mouzel) in Cornwall and Messing and Mucking, both of which I think are in Essex. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Angie Date: 11 May 02 - 05:01 AM My Mother nearly crashed her car with laughing while on her way to Glastonbury,she passed a sign for the town of 'Bawdrip'....teehee. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Celtic Soul Date: 11 May 02 - 08:32 AM Liland, if I had the wherewithal, I'd look up and link to the thread wherein all the postal code abbreviations for the US were posted. Instead, I'll be a techno-eejit and repost here below. I'd like to point out that there are quite a lot of UK and Canadian abbreviations one can find on threads here as well, and many of us from the US have no idea what they mean either. In my mind, aint nothing but a thang. Alabama = AL, Alaska = AK, Arizona = AZ, Arkansas = AR, California = CA, Colorado = CO, Connecticut = CT, Delaware = DE, Dist. of Columbia = DC, Florida = FL, Georgia = GA, Guam = GU, Hawaii = HI, Idaho = ID, Illinois = IL, Indiana = IN, Iowa = IA, Kansas = KS, Kentucky = KY, Louisiana = LA, Maine = ME, Maryland = MD, Massachusetts = MA, Michigan = MI, Minnesota = MN, Mississippi = MS, Missouri = MO, Montana = MT, Nebraska = NE, Nevada = NV, New Hampshire = NH, New Jersey = NJ, New Mexico = NM, New York = NY, North Carolina = NC, North Dakota = ND, Ohio = OH, Oklahoma = OK, Oregon = OR, Pennsylvania = PA, Puerto Rico = PR, Rhode Island = RI, South Carolina = SC, South Dakota = SD, Tennessee = TN, Texas = TX, Utah = UT, Vermont = VT, Virginia = VA, Virgin Islands = VI, Washington = WA, West Virginia = WV, Wisconsin = WI, Wyoming = WY |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Leeder Date: 11 May 02 - 02:07 PM Not a town, but there's Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump here in Alberta. Dave Barry mentioned it in a column: he was intrigued by the person answering the phone with "Head-Smashed-In, can I help you?" |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Haruo Date: 11 May 02 - 02:45 PM If it's not a town what is it? (Trying to imagine why a buffalo jump would have a phone.) ;-) Liland |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 11 May 02 - 06:03 PM bert mentions Much Hadham, but there's also, a mile or so away, Little Hadham (where there's a pub called The Nag's Head, which seems strangely appropriate...). Together they are referred to (and signposted as) "The Hadhams".
But, in this part of the world anyay, I think my favourite place name is Shellow Bowells. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Gareth Date: 11 May 02 - 07:09 PM Well there was "Sodem and Ghomorra (SP) in the Ryhmney Valley in South Wales, now bowdlerised to "Pontlotyn", which translates to "Lot's Bridge". And then there's "Bethlehem" in West Wales, a dozen houses, a post office (which does a roaring trade in Christmas Cards each December), and of course a chapel. In the Forest of Dean there is "English Bicknor" and "Welsh Bicknor" seperated by Offa's Dyke. In the Cotswolds, just of the A40 we have "Upper" and "Lower Slaughter", and hard by Tetbury "Troublehouse" Gareth |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Snuffy Date: 11 May 02 - 07:13 PM Not forgetting Chipshop in Devon |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 11 May 02 - 07:44 PM "Cold Christmas" and "Good Easter" near us. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Gray D Date: 11 May 02 - 08:08 PM Gareth, How could you omit "Splott" in Cardiff? The anme describes the place omomatoepaic . . . omomatopaicall . . . onomato . . . perfectly. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Gray D Date: 11 May 02 - 08:11 PM So does the name. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: nosluap57 Date: 12 May 02 - 12:27 AM Zap, North Dakota Gun Barrel City, Texas Wahoo, Nebraska Flin Flon, Manitoba |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Genie Date: 12 May 02 - 01:39 AM Bird Widder, I love that headline! Here in Oregon we have "Boring" and "Greed." Liland, Your mention of Humptulips reminds me of a town sign I always used to see when driving on certain New York state roads: Coxsackie (sp?) And then there's Coalingua, California. Genie |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Haruo Date: 12 May 02 - 03:20 AM In a different vein, I am intrigued somehow by places with names like City of Industry, California and Young America, Minnesota. The first one evokes images of Welcome signs with slogans like CITY OF INDUSTRY "All of Our Parks Are Industrial Parks! (I suppose there are people who would be eager to live in such an industrious township. The second sounds like a place where, when you reach 30, you have to move to Lake Havasu. Liland |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: John MacKenzie Date: 12 May 02 - 05:52 AM Always remember that the Isle of Man, is along way from the Virgin Islands!! Let's not forget that famous pub, The Cock, Welwyn, Herts.[ NB Welwyn is pronounced well-in, for those who do not know] Rum, Eigg, Muck, & Canna......Giok |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,philh (whos cookie won't reset!) Date: 12 May 02 - 06:06 AM there's a village called loose in Kent, they have a female morris side called 'loose women' Phil |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Liz the Squeak Date: 12 May 02 - 06:08 AM It's Nebneth Thrubwell in Somerset, but Dorset has a fair few too! Throop - a cross between thrush and whooping cough? Swyre - another condition sheep get? Puncknowle - pronounced Punnel, but very popular in the punk era of the 1970s. Ryme Intrinsica, Whitchurch Canonicorum, Toller Porcorum and Kingsbury Episcopi have a classic ring to them.... spot which one used to be called Swine... Then there's the entire Piddle Valley, with Piddlehinton (bit rattly), Piddletrenthide, Affpuddle, Tolpuddle and Puddletown, some of which used to be Honeypiddle, Piddletown and Affpiddle. The Piddle is also called the Trent, an old English word for very small river or stream. LTS
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: tooligan Date: 12 May 02 - 11:08 AM I used to live in the Fife, Scotland village called Auchtertool and its neighbouring hamlet of Puddledub |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Genie (no cookies for me today--on a diet) Date: 12 May 02 - 03:18 PM Liz, I think that Ryme Intrinsica could be a sister to Limerick, PA, with its Limerick Generating Station. Puddletown, BTW, is one of Portland, Oregon's nicknames. Genie |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Penny S. Date: 12 May 02 - 05:03 PM There's Ready Token, near Cirencester (aka Cissiter, Cister, Ciren). The people my parents bought from, and the locals with Wessex accents use Ciren (that's a C as in city, with a trace of Z). The people around the RAF station my cousin served at above Stroud used Cister. The people who know how things ought to be pronounced use, or used Cissiter, written Ciceter. There's a Jumpers' Town, near Tunbridge Wells - looks as though it might be one of the odd settlements from the twenties from the map. And I think there's another thread, long back, with Ugley and Loose and so on. Penny
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: RolyH Date: 12 May 02 - 05:54 PM Six Mile Bottom in Cambridgeshire. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Snuffy Date: 12 May 02 - 06:37 PM I've always heard it as Zoiren, Penny |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Gareth Date: 12 May 02 - 07:00 PM Talk about coincidence Gray D (post 08.08.) There I was in a basic working class pub (but good resturant) in the blaenau twixt Rhymney and Tredegar this lunchtime. In comes a 'Yuppie type', obviously well lost, trying to find his way back to the main road, and asked for directions to Cardiff. "Well where in Kair-diff is you heading for?" "Splow" "WHERE ?" says the bar in chorus "Splow, near Cardiff Bay" "Oh! You mean Splott " "We don't call it Splott - its Splow" Instinct cut in, collectivelly directions were given. If the "Plastic E Type Englishman" followed them correctly he shoud be lost, somwhere near Fishgard. Dew - The Yuppification of Splott, well words fail me ! Gareth ( And if ljc can post in dialect then I can Glossary - Kair-diff = South Wales pronounciation of Cardiff. Dew = God. blaenau = hills and high ground, the back of beyond. Plastic E Type Englishman = see Max Boyce's tale of "Our Little Valley", or use yer iomagination. Fishgard = about as far west as you can get in Wales, before you start drinking Guiness !
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Ian Darby Date: 12 May 02 - 07:32 PM There's a book called 'The Meaning of Liff', I think its by Richard Adams (God bless 'im) and one of his mates. It's all about imaginary meanings for U.K. place names. 'Norton Thrubwell' is given as the feeling of satisfaction experienced when driving off on a new motorbike, and a 'Stebbing' is apparently the correct name for an unwanted erection. 'Whetwang'; A moist penis. Try and get hold of this book....
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 12 May 02 - 07:40 PM Here it is online anyway - "The Meaning of Liff" |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Ian Darby Date: 12 May 02 - 08:17 PM Mc Grath, Thanks mate, I lent my copy out ages ago, never got it back. What a great bloke, you're my best mate etc.... |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Haruo Date: 13 May 02 - 03:20 AM William Auld, arguably the greatest living Esperanto poet (as well as the translator of The Lord of the Rings) lives in Dollar, Scotland. I've often wondered if it's a monetary unit the place was named, or what? (I know you British folk used to have a lot of odd monetary units. For all I know "Jack fell down and broke his crown" means he was the richer by two half-crowns.) Liland |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: KingBrilliant Date: 13 May 02 - 05:13 AM I was born in Maidenhead, Berks (uk) Kris |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Nigel Parsons Date: 13 May 02 - 05:14 AM Liland: Breaking his crown (in the terms you use) would make him neither richer nor poorer. A Crown was a 5 shilling piece(5*12 i.e. 60 old pence), and a half crown was 2 shillings and 6 pence (i.e.30 old pence). 4 crowns made 20 shillings, which was a pound. Nigel |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: gnomad Date: 13 May 02 - 06:42 AM Hardly towns, but there is a hamlet in Lincolnshire called Mavis Enderby, one in E.Yorks called Land of Nod, and my personal favourite, a village down in the Welsh marches called Upton Snodsbury. Eat yer hearts out Kirbygrindalythe and Muker. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Geordie Date: 13 May 02 - 10:35 AM There are some very melodic ones in Nova Scotia..Sissiboo, Mushaboom, Tidnish, Tatamagouche, Tipover Lake, Head of St. Margaret, Chimney Corner,Conquerall Bank, Musquash and my favourite..Lower Economy, which ought to be the Capital City. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 13 May 02 - 10:53 AM I dunno, you Brits seem to have a major edge on us Amuricans when it comes to town names. How about some names that roll off your tongue... In Illinois, Keokuk and Kankakee (I used Kankakee in a song, just because I like the way it feels, saying it.) Or Boscobel and Baraboo, in Wisconsin? I always liked the sound of Waxahatchie, too. I don't remember what state it's in, but Paul Richards, a baseball pitcher who became a General Manager in the big leagues was from Waxahatchie. He was ambidextrous and pitched and won both games of a double header in the minors, pitching right handed in one game, and left handed in the other. Baseball players sometimes had colorful names based on the town they came from. My favorite was Vinegar Bend Mizelle. Jerry |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Dave Bryant Date: 13 May 02 - 11:02 AM Mrs Duck has already mentioned PRATTS BOTTOM which is just down the road from me (between Bromley and Sevenoaks). There's also a TITSEY HILL down towards Westerham. A (not very bright) lass that we knew came from a village near Rochester. People would often rib her by asking her where she lived. When she answered "HOO", they would answer "You of course - where do you live ?". This could go round several times before she'd realise that it was a wind-up. I used to drive regularly along a road that had a sign to "Styants Bottom" - if I ever find out who altered that sign......... |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST Date: 13 May 02 - 12:13 PM Polly's Joke...Cornwall |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Trevor Date: 13 May 02 - 12:19 PM I live in Ratlinghope. Just down the road is Pillocksgreen. The signpost that I like, near Much Wenlock, is to Wigwig and Homer. Also, there's a sign on the A5 near Nesscliffe, to Felton Butler and Wilcote Marsh, who just have to be Agatha Christie villains! |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: ard mhacha Date: 13 May 02 - 01:19 PM Our local Town scrounger`s two favourite Towns, Crook [Durham] and Barrow[Lancashire]. Ard Mhacha. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Haruo Date: 13 May 02 - 04:30 PM How about counties? In Washington we have Wahkiakum and Skamania (a mental disorder?), and of course Walla Walla. And à propos of "Keokuk and Kankakee" we have the various places named in Carlton Fitchett's Ode to Puget Sound (memo to self: gotta change that title tag); approximate pronunciations are Tulalip - tuh LAY lipLiland |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Tinker Date: 13 May 02 - 08:04 PM In Western Massachusetts one can find the town of Ware. Which inevidably (sp??) leads to countless locational questions. Tinker |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: toribw Date: 13 May 02 - 08:29 PM In Texas, there are Comfort, Utopia, Ozona; California has Rough and Ready. Jerry, Waxahatchie is in Texas, near Dallas. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: toribw Date: 13 May 02 - 08:29 PM In Texas, there are Comfort, Utopia, Ozona; California has Rough and Ready. Jerry, Waxahatchie is in Texas, near Dallas. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,BEENTHERE Date: 13 May 02 - 09:01 PM RE: .... near ONE of the THREE Needmores in Indiana! The one in question is more or less between Columbus and Nashville--Indiana. Then there's another Needmore near Terre Haute, and yet another in the northern part of the state. an old trick used by map makers is to put a town or creek of of the same name in different parts of the state for copyright purposes!
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 13 May 02 - 09:36 PM toribw: Thanks for the reminder. Never been there, but I always liked the sound of the name. Jerry |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: richlmo Date: 13 May 02 - 11:51 PM In 30 minutes or so I can drive to Rock Rest, Wind-Blow, Old Hundred, Big Lick, Black Ankle, Roughedge or Finger. I could just as easily visit Shiloh, Houston, Palestine or even Cairo. I'll admit none of these are what you could call towns, but each has a state sign letting you know when you get there.( When you leave is usually on the other side of the post!) . I'm sure there is a very interesting history to go along with all of the names. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Haruo Date: 14 May 02 - 01:18 AM Is Rough and Ready, California, one place, or are Rough, California, and Ready, California, two places? (toribw?) Liland |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,toribw at work Date: 14 May 02 - 03:29 PM Liland, it's one town: Rough and Ready. Doncha just love that? It was actually an independent nation for about three months from April - July of 1850. The residents seceded because of taxes on mining claims and lack of law enforcement. Apparently the citizens dissolved their tiny republic just in time for Fourth of July celebrations. Mining wrecked a lot of things (and people) in California, but it also left a rich and sometimes bizarre history.
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy Date: 14 May 02 - 03:44 PM 'but it also left a rich and sometimes bizarre history.' including the above mentioned somewhere Coalinga. It is not as written previously Coalingua, though that would be odder, but it was a coal supply station for the railroad, otherwise known as Coaling station 'A', shortened to Coalinga. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Herga Kitty Date: 14 May 02 - 04:04 PM Shame on you Bert and McGrath - Much Hadham is in Herts not Essex. I've only skimmed through, but I didn't spot any mention of "The Wallops" (as in Nether Wallop and Middle Wallop. Kitty |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: TheBigPinkLad Date: 14 May 02 - 04:07 PM There's Hawes (rhymes with chores) in North Yorkshire ... but the women get upset if you go out on stage and shout "Good Evening Hawes!" |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Kim C Date: 15 May 02 - 03:30 PM How could I forget Soddy Daisy, right here in Tennessee ? And Bell Buckle, home of the famous Webb School, a co-ed boarding school. Those of you who know Southern Indiana might have passed by Stone Head. There's actually a house with a stone head on a pedestal. Mister, who's from up thataway, told me the story of it once but I don't remember it right off. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: DonD Date: 15 May 02 - 11:10 PM There used to be a town - village - crossroads not thirty or forty miles from New York City called 'Tilly Foster' but it seems to have disappeared. And I was born in The Bronx (never just Bronx) although the modern practice is to address mail to Bronx, NY; no one would ever say it wothout the The. And I'm looking out my window in Yonkers (What are Yonkers?) across the Bronx River at Tuckahoe, which I thought was a pretty distinctive name for a village until I discovered that there are seven other Tuckahoes in the US incliding another one right here in the state of NY! |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,ozmacca Date: 15 May 02 - 11:24 PM Here in DownUnderland we have more than our fair share of odd names - as I think someone else may have remarked, many of these are from near 'nuff renditions of native words. But how can anybody take some of my local S.E. Queensland place names seriously? Burpengary - Beerwah - Beerburrum - Bribie - |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,meadowmuskrat Date: 15 May 02 - 11:31 PM New Jersey has Hackensack, Hohokus, and Hoboken within a few miles of each other, and I once released a squirrel in Nutley,which I thoughtwas a very considerate thing for me to do. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Haruo Date: 16 May 02 - 12:38 AM Since this is well over a hundred posts now (this should be #110, possibly even higher) I have started a Volume II. Please post further Favorite Town Names there. Thanks, Liland |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Genie Date: 16 May 02 - 02:25 AM Liland, I'm posting to the original thread only because this post is in direct response to posts in that thread. 'Catters, if you're posting something really new, please post to Lilan's new thread. Genie Jerry Rasmussen, Y' know, Steve Goodman (who was a senior at U of Ill. when I was in my first year of grad school) also mentioned Kankakee -- in City Of New Orleans. Are you thinking of Keokuk, Iowa? Quincy, Ilinois, Keokuk, Iowa, and Hannibal, Missouri are referred to as "the tri-city area." There's also Kokomo (is that in Illinois or where?), which is the title town for at least 2 songs, probably for the same reason you used Kankakee. Liland, You beat me to the punch on Puyallup , Sequim and Skookumchuk. But you forgot Duwamish. Bill Kennedy Thanks for correcting my spelling of Coalinga--I realized it was wrong almost as soon as I posted it-- and for the history of the town name. It IS pronounced "co-uh-LING-uh," isnt' it? meadowmuskrat, You left out my favorite New Jersey town name--Piscataway. (I have a story I dreamed up about how THAT town got its name!) Genie |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Haruo Date: 16 May 02 - 02:47 AM I didn't forget Duwamish, Genie, but there are two strikes against it: (1) it's not a town [river, Indian tribe—Federal nonrecognition notwithstanding, but not town] although its variant "Duwamps" was briefly considered for the town now known as Seattle, way back when, and (2) Carlton Fitchett didn't put it in his song (which I referenced also in an effort to musicalize the thread). (For those not familiar with the area, the Duwamish River flows into Elliott Bay, Puget Sound, Pacific Ocean, at Seattle; the Duwamish are one of two Indian villages [Suquamish being the other] of whom Chief Seattle was a leader, and the Duwamish people have never been recognized as an Indian tribe by the federal government [until the latter days of the Clinton administration, but the Bushies immediately rescinded it] because the feds think they are the same as the Suquamish. Or maybe they don't think so, maybe they just think it's cheaper that way.)Liland |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Penny S. Date: 19 May 02 - 06:23 AM Snuffy, I'm always careful in representing accent, and what I've heard has mostly been less strong than Zoiren, but certainly going that way. I chicken out when referring to the place, and use it in full. And on dialect, I was in a dress shop in Ciren, a middling sort of dress shop of the sort that is going to close soon for lack of business, but the owner isn't going to lose a lot out of it, when the elder of the other two customers, a mother and daughter, announced loudly and clearly in received standard English - they were the sort who say Cisseter - that they would certainly be coming back when it was time to do the daughter's wardrobe. "Do the wardrobe" - to me this involves screwdrivers, drills, sandpaper, paint, that sort of thing - not dress shops. Then I realised. These were people who bought ALL their clothes at once, each year. These were the people who provided all the high quality goodies I get from the Ciren charity shops. They were NOT LIKE ME! Aliens. I suddenly realised what class meant, and where I, as a teacher with an OU degree, belonged in the system. I thought I was middle class. But they thought they were. Yikes. Thread creep. Sorry. I'll nip over to the other thread. Penny |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,So how do you pronounce Unalaska? Date: 31 May 06 - 02:39 AM So how do you pronounce Unalaska? Is it YOOnalaska? Un-Alaska(rhyming with bun? OOnalaska? Or some other way? |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Pete Sumner Date: 31 May 06 - 08:40 PM What about Mavis Enderby in LINCOLNSHIRE.... |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Richard Bridge Date: 31 May 06 - 09:20 PM Nettlebed Upper Dicker And the international favourite - Phuket. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,fumblefingers Date: 31 May 06 - 11:56 PM I've always favored Dildo, in Newfoundland. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Peace Date: 31 May 06 - 11:58 PM Unalaska. Pronunciation. oo-nuh-LAS-kah |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: The PA Date: 01 Jun 06 - 10:49 AM Sorry did not read all the contributions, but my nomination is the next village us ours. Lickey End! Sorry, but it really exists, Junction 1 of the M42 UK, for those non-believers ! |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Wesley S Date: 01 Jun 06 - 11:05 AM Cut and Shoot Texas |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: ToulouseCruise Date: 01 Jun 06 - 11:15 AM Along with the communities of Conception Bay and Dildo, Newfoundland (Canada), this island province also has... Come-By-Chance Heart's Desire Heart's Content Paradise Little Hearts Ease Pecker's Point Spread Eagle Blow Me Down Gayside Also, in the province New Brunswick (also Canada), the Guinness Book of World Records gives the community name of "Lower North Branch Little Southwest Miramichi River" some sort of record, but I can't remember what it is. Brian |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Fibula Mattock Date: 01 Jun 06 - 11:57 AM Muff. It has a diving club too. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: MartinRyan Date: 01 Jun 06 - 03:28 PM Twomilepothouse Regards |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Rasener Date: 01 Jun 06 - 04:00 PM Birmingham UK I like the Muff one, and makes me think of Muff Winwood. Why oh why did he call himself Muff. :-) |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST Date: 01 Jun 06 - 04:10 PM Beats me. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Allen in Oz Date: 01 Jun 06 - 10:30 PM Bongongolong Terramugamine Wee Waa Coonabarabran Cootamundra Woolomooloo |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Valmai Goodyear Date: 02 Jun 06 - 05:06 AM Matching Tye, Essex, UK Valmai (Lewes, Sussex) |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Splott Man Date: 02 Jun 06 - 07:37 AM I notice there are a few places in Essex with Tye in the name. Anyone know what it means? Any relation to the Welsh Ty and Cornish Chy? |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Big Jim from Jackson Date: 02 Jun 06 - 12:00 PM I haven't read the whole thread, so it may have already been mentioned, but in Illinois a Normal man married an Oblong woman. I know the story behind it, but Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico, is just weird. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Scoville Date: 02 Jun 06 - 12:57 PM Texas: Cut N Shoot, Chocolate Bayou, Dime Box, Reklaw ("Walker" was already taken), No Name (the one they wanted was spoken-for), Telephone (on the cutting edge of modern communications technology, apparently) Arkansas: Needmore (as in, we need more residents . . .), "Y" City (literally built at a fork in the old highway) Missouri: Peculiar, Tightwad, Claycomo (which is in Clay County, MO) Colorado: Fairplay, Silver Plume |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Watchdoggy Date: 02 Jun 06 - 02:49 PM I pass an exit for "Toad Suck" and head north to "Bald Knob"; Any idea where I am? |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Crane Driver Date: 02 Jun 06 - 06:56 PM Cwmrhydiceirw and Llangefelach. Two areas on the outskirts of Swansea. They really roll off the tongue. Watchdoggy - sounds like you're near one of John Prescott's homes. (UK political joke) Andrew |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: RobbieWilson Date: 02 Jun 06 - 09:02 PM If I can, I go to places I like the sound of. I've been to Biggleswade, To Pratts Bottom, in kent, to East Grinstead, just because it sounded so grotty. I'll hink of some more in a bit. love robbie x |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: BobKnight Date: 22 Feb 10 - 12:28 PM How about these - the bane of TV and radio announcers. Drumnadrochit - a wee village on the banks of Loch Ness. Craigellachie - in Speyside, distillery country. and Loth - in Caithness, sounds like something out of H.P. Lovecraft. In Aberdeen, a street name, "Lang Stracht," Sounds Dutch or German, but it's Scots - just means long, straight. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,DWR Date: 22 Feb 10 - 02:22 PM It's been a long time since Watchdoggy asked,(02 Jun 06 - 02:49 PM) but yes, I do know where he is. He asks I pass an exit for "Toad Suck" and head north to "Bald Knob"; Any idea where I am? That would be Arkansas which is also home to a good many more unusual names, Possum Grape, Oil Trough, Fifty Six, Solgohachia and Frog Town just to name a few. We've also got Chimes and Bell City, Oxley, Boxley and Martin Box. Then there's Morning Sun, Morning Star, Evening Star and Evening Shade. That's probably enough. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: MGM·Lion Date: 22 Feb 10 - 02:27 PM Re Maidenhead, Berks (uk) --- When Bob Johnston with Steeleye Span used to intro their singing of Ups·&·Downs, he would say, "Here's a song about a young woman who went to Maidenhead and lost her Aylesbury." |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Murpholly Date: 22 Feb 10 - 02:33 PM Just of to Hope (Derbyshire) having visited what fitzherbert Fitzilliam (Yorkshire) |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Jonny Sunshine Date: 22 Feb 10 - 02:40 PM Three superb names off the top of my head are Nemptnett Thrubwell Marston Bigot and maybe best of all Marsh Gibbon |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Howard Jones Date: 22 Feb 10 - 03:13 PM I have a friend who lives at Loggerheads with his wife. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Howard Jones Date: 22 Feb 10 - 03:16 PM Someone way up the thread mentioned Ham and Sandwich, in Kent. Here's the roadsign: Ham Sandwich sign |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: MGM·Lion Date: 22 Feb 10 - 03:38 PM A question asked purely out of curiosity ~ My post 5 back about Steeleye Span's use of name "Maidenhead" in a joculsr intro was the first in the 8-year existence of this thread to have the remotest musical connection. Why, please (I repeat ~ just out of curiosity), has it been above the line all this time? |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Gerry Date: 22 Feb 10 - 04:46 PM There was an item in the news here in Sydney a few days ago about a drug bust in country New South Wales. Nothing unusual about that, except that the bust took place in Woodenbong. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Anne Lister Date: 22 Feb 10 - 05:02 PM I love looking at the road atlas as we're travelling and finding names ... current faves are Redmarley Dabitot and Huish Champflower. We have an on-going travel game in which we work out what sort of characters these are. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Aeola Date: 22 Feb 10 - 05:03 PM St. Cuthbert Without --- without what ? Idon't know, but it's in Cumbria. and of course Cholmondeley, ( pronounced Chumley ) near Malpas. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Dave Roberts Date: 23 Feb 10 - 03:29 AM I have an odd feeling I've mentioned this before, many years ago, but there's a little village near Nantwich which, unlike most others, has retained its Roman name of Aston Juxtra Mondrum. Rather musical, I feel. And talking of Cholmondeley, L.T.C. Rolt recounts in one of his books having been informed of the correct pronunciation of this name and shortly aftwerwards happening on the village of Cholmondeston, which he confidently pronounced as 'Chumston', only to be told that, in this case, it should be pronounced 'Cholmondesterton'. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Dave Roberts Date: 23 Feb 10 - 03:32 AM Sorry - slight typo there. It's Aston Juxta Mondrum. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Gweltas Date: 23 Feb 10 - 03:41 AM Just a few off the top of my head............... Skinner's Bottom, Cornwall, UK Crinkly Bottom, in Cricket St.Thomas, Somerset, UK Buckland Monachorum, Devon, UK Herodsfoot, Cornwall St. Austell, Cornwall, (pron : "Snozzle") Launceston, Cornwall, (pron : "Lan-son") Redruth, Cornwall, (pron : "Druth") Pelynt, Cornwall, (pron : "Plynt") Mousehole, Cornwall, (pron : "Mow-zell") |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Will Fly Date: 23 Feb 10 - 04:32 AM I thought an Aston Juxta Mondrum was a very flash car... |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST Date: 23 Feb 10 - 06:54 AM I also find the village of Norton Thrubwell strangely attractive.... Wot aboat Nempnet Thrubwell? Acker Bilk sings a song about it, written by Adge Cutler (who was his roadie initially). And a lovely song it is. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Jim Carroll Date: 23 Feb 10 - 09:44 AM There is a dire shortage of crematoriums here in Ireland as the people and the church have up to comparatively recently regarded cremation with disapproval. Not so long ago it was decided to build one in County Cork, the town selected - Ovens - obviously someone up there has a sense of humour. Jim Carroll |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Jim Dixon Date: 23 Feb 10 - 10:16 AM There is a Nowthen, Minnesota.. We have towns called New London and New Brighton, and every year there is a New London to New Brighton Antique Car Run, named after the more famous London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Dave MacKenzie Date: 23 Feb 10 - 10:47 AM When I go back to Edinburgh I usually come off the M74 and take the Biggar road. Then there's the appropriately named Swindon, Wilts. And you've heard about the Wrexham woman whose husband went missing so she lived in Hope. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: dwditty Date: 23 Feb 10 - 11:17 AM New Jersey has lots of great names, as illustrated by Dave Van Ronk in GARDEN STATE STOMP in which every word in the song is the name of a town in New Jersey. One the other hand, there is always Athol, Massachusetts (or should I say Mathachusetts) dw |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Neil D Date: 23 Feb 10 - 11:31 AM Someone already mentioned Intercourse but what they didn't say was that Intercourse is right down the road from Blueball. Basketball great Larry Bird was known as the Hick from French Lick. Now what was that town named for? |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: mousethief Date: 23 Feb 10 - 11:40 AM I am given to understand there is a town in Oregon called Wanker's Corner, although I've never been there. O..O =o= |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Mariner Date: 23 Feb 10 - 03:39 PM There is also the townland of Bastardstown in County Wexford, Ireland |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,bankley Date: 24 Feb 10 - 07:44 AM Bastard, Ontario Newfoundland, Kentucky ( talk about blown off course !) |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: kendall Date: 24 Feb 10 - 10:53 AM Intercourse PA. Fucking Austria |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Mavis Enderby Date: 25 Feb 10 - 02:54 AM Twatt |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: kendall Date: 25 Feb 10 - 06:31 AM Passamaquoddy Maine. Indian name, means, "People who spear Pollock" |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Fred Bailey Date: 25 Feb 10 - 05:02 PM and Slapout, Oklahoma -- a good distance from Bug Tussle |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Alice Date: 25 Feb 10 - 06:03 PM Two Dot, Montana (and that's about how small it is) |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Dave MacKenzie Date: 25 Feb 10 - 06:15 PM I used to like Joe, Montana |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: frogprince Date: 25 Feb 10 - 10:55 PM I once help manufacture something that was sent to Bunn Level; it's been a long time, but I think it was in North Carolina. Red Neck Arkansas; I think I discovered it with a National Geographic mapping CD. I gotta look and see if it shows up on mapquest or Yahoo maps. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Sawzaw Date: 25 Feb 10 - 11:05 PM Tata Creek BC |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Alice Date: 25 Feb 10 - 11:06 PM Ismay, Montana, which briefly changed its name to Joe, Montana, has changed back to Ismay. The name of Joe didn't bring benefits to the town that citizens had hoped. click |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Alice Date: 25 Feb 10 - 11:14 PM Knockemstiff, Ohio |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Alice Date: 25 Feb 10 - 11:18 PM Slickpoo, Idaho |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Mr Happy Date: 02 Aug 12 - 05:24 AM Last week, travelling to North Yorkshire [Roxby] we passed a village whose name sign seemed to suggest something quite unexpected in the rural scenery, which at first sight looked like 'Sexshow!' but on closer inspection read 'Sexhow' Oops, shoulda gone specksavers! |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 02 Aug 12 - 02:15 PM We have quite near to us in Norfolk a village called Little Snoring. And for those with a more serious problem, there is Great Snoring right next to it. And our village is half a mile from Fustyweed. There is a Muck Lane and a Nowhere Lane too. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Micca Date: 02 Aug 12 - 03:00 PM Mr Happy, was it near Penistone!!! ( I ant to get mine toned too ! |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: MGM·Lion Date: 02 Aug 12 - 04:33 PM There is a village in Essex called Ugley, where there is a branch of the WI called the Ugley Women's Institute. ~M~ |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Ebbie Date: 02 Aug 12 - 11:12 PM "So how do you pronounce Unalaska? Is it YOOnalaska? Un-Alaska(rhyming with bun? OOnalaska? Or some other way?: 31 May 06 - 02:39 AM I haven't yet been there but in Juneau they say that it is pronounced UNalaska (as in bun). I would prefer it to be OONalaska. One town in Norton Sound got its name from an error: a cartographer poring over a map scribbled Name? beside an untitled collection of homes. Someone else, they say, misread it and it became Nome. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 03 Aug 12 - 02:49 PM LOL Michael! And are they??! |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Musket Date: 03 Aug 12 - 03:19 PM Every Ralph McTell admirer has heard of Tickle on the Tum. Seems a grand place. Being a Derbyshire lad, I recall the saying "I'd rather live in Hope than die in Clay Cross....." |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Peter Laban Date: 03 Aug 12 - 03:30 PM 'LOL Michael! And are they??' The same question arises with regards to the WI in Loose (Kent) |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Peter Laban Date: 03 Aug 12 - 03:32 PM Or the local women's Morris team |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 03 Aug 12 - 03:34 PM There's a super Border Morris team from there called Loose Women. Their costumes are in rainbow colours and they're really funny. They dance to a tune called Y-Fronts, among others! |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: GUEST,Peter Laban Date: 03 Aug 12 - 03:35 PM And while were on that slant; there's a place called Muff in Co Donegal. And yes, they have a diving club |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: kendall Date: 03 Aug 12 - 04:07 PM I've been to Scrabster on my way to Orkney. Also saw Lick, Bunn and Tongue, Scotland. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Ed T Date: 03 Aug 12 - 05:49 PM I always felt like stopping and resting while passing "Travellers Rest" PEI, Canada. But, I always seem to be in a rush and never got to do it-yet. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: WalkaboutsVerse Date: 03 Aug 12 - 05:57 PM Giggleswick, Lancashire, England. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Peter the Squeezer Date: 04 Aug 12 - 04:29 AM Don't forget Nobber, in County Meath, reputed birthplace of Turlough Carolan. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Georgiansilver Date: 04 Aug 12 - 05:27 AM In the UK.. Upper Ramsbottom is one place I wouldn't want to live.. but if we're talking about favourite Town names.... Henley-in-Arden is my fave! |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: MGM·Lion Date: 04 Aug 12 - 05:59 AM No particular double meaning; but I have always liked Oswaldtwistle ~ pronounced "Ozzle" by locals, I believe. ~M~ |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Mavis Enderby Date: 04 Aug 12 - 06:23 AM Newark, 'cos it has a good anagram... |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: YorkshireYankee Date: 04 Aug 12 - 07:22 PM You gotta listen to this... John Forster is a genius, AFAIC! John Forster: Entering Marion John Forster: Entering Marion (live) The first clip is significantly easier to understand than the live one, but the live one has a bit more personality, a very entertaining intro (which is not included in the first clip), and something to watch. Enjoy! |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 05 Aug 12 - 06:52 PM I always enjoy driving through Dorset and Somerset past road signs pointing to Middle Wallop Nether Wallop Much Hadham Piddlehinton I pick up new ones every time I head that way. Don T. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Mr Happy Date: 06 Aug 12 - 07:28 AM In Cheshire, there's Peover & down a narrow lane there's Higher Peover, which has passing places! |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: The Sandman Date: 06 Aug 12 - 04:13 PM much hadham is in hertfordshire |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: s&r Date: 06 Aug 12 - 05:15 PM Douglas Adams co-authored the Deeper Meaning of Liff which uses obscure place names to describe things for which there is no word.EG for no reason except I just opened the book "Hambledon" the sound of a single-engined aircraft flying by, heard while lying in a meadow in New England, which somehow concentrates the silence and sense of space and timelessness and leaves one with the feeling of something or other. Stu |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: s&r Date: 06 Aug 12 - 05:20 PM Some or more here - and they're all placenames Stu |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 06 Aug 12 - 06:17 PM ""much hadham is in hertfordshire"" Mea Culpa Dick! I got one wrong, proving that I have travelled in Hertfordshire as well as the South West. You obviously would have considerable knowledge of town and village names throughout the country. Wouldn't you rather add a few of those, rather than picking on others' honest mistakes? You know, I don't remember you being this sour and prickly back in the days when I was booking you at the Dog & Gun F.C., but it seems to be the norm these days. Don T. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 07 Aug 12 - 04:47 PM I've lost track of who said it above, but Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico, is just weird Not so weird. It was named after a very popular network radio quiz/game show years ago. And someone wondered about Normal, Illinois. A teachers' college (which used to be called a normal school, though I don't know why) was located there. Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: banjoman Date: 08 Aug 12 - 07:22 AM Shitterton - Southern England. They got fed up of the sign being stolen that they had a new one made in concrete Thereis also The land of Nod in Lancashire |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 08 Aug 12 - 05:37 PM There is also the village which revels in the name of "Snoring". A sleepy little country place? Don T. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: Bee-dubya-ell Date: 08 Aug 12 - 11:03 PM Hot Coffee, Mississippi supposedly got its name from a roadhouse sign advertising, oddly enough, hot coffee. Stonehead, Indiana is named for a piece of folk sculpture in the front yard of a farmhouse. |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: The Sandman Date: 09 Aug 12 - 09:29 AM Don , I am not sour and prickly.Just stating a fact , we can all make mistakes , myself included |
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Subject: RE: Favorite Town names From: The Sandman Date: 09 Aug 12 - 01:13 PM Don, please, do not misunderstand me, I am not being sour. Little Snoring, Great Snoring,Little & Great Snoring in Norfolk, England |
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