Talk:List of British place names and their meanings

Merge Proposals
I am somewhat concerned with the proposed merge with the generic forms article, which deals quite obviously with generic forms and this article which deals with specific place names. What would make sense however would be to make these sub pages of a main page dealing explicitly with British toponymy. Sjc 05:38, 20 Oct 2004 (UTC)


 * I have redirected it for now because to have this pitifully small list up was a disgrace to the UK, and because at Talk:British toponymy I suggested merging it with List of places in the United Kingdom and have thus far got no response. My feeling is that place name etymologies should go in the articles themselves, with the list of generics forms in place names remaining.


 * And what this guy below has been taking I don't know... -- Graham &#9786; | Talk 14:24, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Unfortunate Place Names
There is quite a long list of place names that give food to the dirty mind be they chosen accidentally or deliberately. Obviously there seems to be a kind of tradition for this in the history of naming which originally started with place names.

Some of our ancestors obviously were too innocent to realize what burden they place on their offspring when naming places like Pratts Bottom (Kent), Brown Willy (Cornwall), Lickey End (near Birmingham), Booby Dingle (Powys), Great Cockup (Cumbria), Even places such as Thong (Kent) seem to have revealed far too much for not being the victim of lewd remarks.

The European continent, however, is also challenging the innocent mind of the English speaking traveller. In Southern Bavaria they will come across a village with the name of “Petting” and about eleven miles from there, in neighbouring Upper Austria, the shock might be inevitable when they enter the village of "Fucking". Inspite of the fact that the inhabitants of Fucking have had enough with English-speaking tourists swiping their sign, they refuse to change their name. It goes back to the ancient Bavarian settlement and although this area was christianized by Irish and Scottish monks in the 9th and 10th century, an amendment of the name has never been deemed necessary.

No wonder that in many countries there are restrictions regarding the choice of a place name as a trademark for goods and services.