Monday, January 24, 2011

Will and Guys article.

** Toponymy **

The study of unusual place names is called Toponymy. Have you ever lived in a place with a strange name? What happens is that everyone who lives there becomes oblivious of the names amusing connotation. Another common occurrence is that people in the area refer to the place with a strange pronunciation. For example, I stayed for a while in charming village in Cornwall called Mousehole. Did people pronounce it Mouse Hole? No, they refer to it as Mousle, the aitch is silent.

Here are some examples Will and Guy researched, we hope they make you smile:

Curious Name Places Located in the USA

Paradox, strange as it may seem, is in New York
Crapo, unfortunately for them is in Maryland
Boogertown, is happily in North Carolina
Hellhole, is depressingly to be found in Idaho
Purgatory, is sadly in Maine
Volcano, an explosive place in Hawaii
Needmore, is in the greedy state of Arkansas
Hardup, is in the poor [you must be joking} state of Utah
Rudeville, surprisingly perhaps is in New Jersey
Boring, can be found in Oregon [I wonder if it is?]
Hell, is in Michigan [Some other places too, I suspect]
Hooker, can be found in California [And other places too]
Virgin, is a place in Utah
Dulls Corner, is in Maryland [Do they wear pointy hats there?]
Bowlegs, is amusingly in Oklahoma
Beersville, is a fine town in Pennsylvania
Fleatown, is an itchy place in Ohio
Burnt Corn, can be seen in Alabama
Two Guns, famously in Arizona
Toad Suck, is a found in Arkansas
A Monkey's Eyebrow, is based in Arizona

Curious Name Places Located in the UK

Ugley in Essex [What a pity; is there an Ugley Women's Institute or Working men's Club, in the town?]
Pratts Bottom in Kent [Even more so]
Great Snoring in Norfolk
Little Snoring in Norfolk [which would you prefer to live in?]
Beer in Devon [Possible retirement place for Will?]
Giggleswick in Yorkshire
Maggots End in Hertfordshire [Ugh]
Great Cockup in Cumbria
World's End can be found in Berkshire and again near Birmingham [Lovely pub/restaurant in the place near Denmead, Hampshire]
Blubberhouses in Yorkshire [Visited there once says Will]
Catbrain near Bristol
Crank in Merseyside [Probably more than one]
Hole in the Wall near Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire [Visited a pub named that in Caernarfon, North Wales, once or twice say Guy and Will]
Idle near Bradford, Yorkshire [Fancy belonging to the Idle Men's Working Club]
Lilliput near Bournemouth, Dorset [Full of little people?]
Mumps in the Greater Manchester area [Sounds painful]
Piddlehinton in Dorset [There are several names like this based around The River Piddle - true].
There is also a Wyre Piddle in Worcestershire.
Pity Me in Durham [OK]

3 comments:

Arkansas Patti said...

What delightful names as long as they aren't part of your zip code.
I am aware of Toad Suck Ar. They have a festival each year.
Yeehaw Junction, Fl was the strangest for me.

Margaret Cloud said...

This was very interesting. Here in Michigan we have a city called"Hell."

Carole Barkett said...

I can't imagine being at a town meeting when an agreement was made to give any of these names