Talk:Place names considered unusual/Archive 1

Archive 1 (2003-2004) [eventually : add 2005] | Archive 2 (interregnum, Feb 2006)

Not likely to exist?

 * Bastard, Norway

I've removed this entry since I've never heard of it, and besides the name means exactly the same thing in Norwegian as in English so it does not seem very likely that it exists, either. -- Egil 22:07 Apr 24, 2003 (UTC)

acording too: it exists. -fonzy


 * Excuse me, but this is the worst reference I've seen for a while. From geocities, with no mention of in which county or municipality. And no attribution. There is certainly no municipality, town or village with that name. And no river nor lake. And no farm. I'm pretty sure it is someone who thought they saw it. Sweden has a Båstad, for instance. Egil 22:39 Apr 24, 2003 (UTC)

I deleted the similarly dubious "Cunt, Spain" pending a decent source. (possibly what the above website lists as "Cuntis, Galacia"?) -- Infrogmation 22:44 Apr 24, 2003 (UTC)


 * The Spanish census bureau notes a municipality called Cuntis in the province of Pontevedra, Galicia. - Montr&eacute;alais 19:48, 23 Aug 2003 (UTC)


 * Do we need a source for every single placename listed on here? This could take forever. -- Smjg 10:37, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

-

I can't find a "Fuck You" in Toronto by searching Google. Is this a real place? If so, what is it? A street? I find it kind of unlikely for an English-speaking city really to have a place with such a name. -- Elizabeth 00:20, 21 November 2004

Honolulu
Why is Honolulu interesting or unusual?

Sommerloch
Does anyone know a better translation for German "Sommerloch"? It's a word describing a period of time during summer when most people are on holiday and nothing interesting is happening because of that. -- Timwi 01:16 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)


 * Some translate it as the "summer pause" or the "summer hole". --Menchi 08:56 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)


 * In the newspaper business I've heard they call it "silly season" - Montr&eacute;alais 19:48, 23 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Bob
This name is a serious encyclopedic attempt in listing linguistically unusual and unique placename, like all other lists, right? Then why is there a fake one here?

Bob, a made-up name for Northwest Territories, is a joke, nothing more. It is not a placename in any sense. The poll is limited, and very light-natured. It is not even a nickname, like Italy is called The Boot.

It is not a part of Canada, that's probably what the original contributor realized, and so s/he didn't place a specifer country behind the name. So, there you go, a "placename" that belongs to noplace. Nowhere.

--Menchi 09:07 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)


 * If there is an ambiguity, maybe a more serious footnote could make this clear? User:Docu


 * I've read up on it and from what I see, I think Menchi is right and Bob doesn't really belong on this page. -- Timwi 21:42 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)


 * but, even if it's not a place named in an interesting or unusal way, it may be a place name that is interesting or unsual. Thus before we remove it, we should find a better place for it. Toponymy suggests a place for this. User:Docu


 * Then you are invited to take it there :) P.S. if you type four tildes ( ~ ), it'll insert a nice signature like this one: Timwi 22:00 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)


 * Well, there it is. :) User:Docu

How interesting?
Oh, how interesting is "interesting"???? :P Wshun

Indeed. and Why is Honolulu interesting or unusual? says somone, above. Here are my Votes for not being very interesting; These are a bit "less interesting " on similar grouds, maybe... Opinions? Andy G 20:18 1 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * Goodyear - dull - surely just someone's surname
 * Lough Neagh - no more interesting than hundreds of other Irish and Scottish gaelic names?
 * Rann of Kachchh, India
 * Thiruvananthapuram, India
 * Tiruchchirappalli, India


 * Agreed. If it's funny, it has to make sense. Otherwise it's just a 1st-grader who laughs uncontrollably at Mahatma or Gaylord. Other than Goodyear, they -- including Honolulu -- are "odd" to some Americans or English, just because of their lack of contact w/ other ethnicities. Some call such an isolation "ignorance". --Menchi 20:56 1 Jul 2003 (UTC)


 * "If it's funny, it has to make sense"? Ever heard of abstract humour? Regardless of you finding it funny or not, it's humour and it doesn't make sense. I'm the one who has included Rann of Kachchh and Tiruchchirappalli because of the chchh/chch which you don't (often) find in English. FYI, I also included Boom, Belgium, which, as a Belgian, doesn't make me laugh (boom means tree in Dutch). My point is, this page is inherently POV, because humour is POV. D.D. 05:39 2 Jul 2003 (UTC)


 * "Boom" makes sense in English, those other you've added do not. You are probably thinking of Mahatma-funny in those cases. --Menchi 05:44 2 Jul 2003 (UTC)


 * Again, I disagree with you that something must make sense to be funny. Have a look at Lightbulb joke - one of them goes like this:
 * Q: How many surrealists does it take to change a lightbulb?
 * A: Fish.
 * A2: To get to the other side.
 * A3: Two; one to hold the giraffe, and one to put the clocks in the bath tub.
 * Call it abstract humour, call it surreal humour, call it whatever you like, the joke doesn't make sense but it does make people laugh.
 * Nobody can deny that the chchh in Rann of Kachchh and the chch in Tiruchchirappalli is quite unusual in English. That is the reason why I included them. Furthermore, Wikipedia is not reserved to people who speak Enlish as their first language. If you speak more than one language, including English, you probably find some things funny, just because of your different linguistic background (and I absolutely don't mean that in a condescending way). As I said before, humour is inherently POV. D.D. 19:03 2 Jul 2003 (UTC)


 * The joke makes sense, and it's in English. It refers to the popular conception that surrealist paintings include animals or objects doing weird thing.
 * This is English Wikipedia, a Chinese who speaks just Chinese and can't understand a word of English (and yes, they exist. I was like that until my teenage) can't even read the title of this page. Of course, s/he is free to visit WP any time, but I doubt their browsing out of curiosity will be over 10 minutes, and will never return again until s/he learns some basic vocabulary, to start press on that button "Search" that is spelled in English.
 * Wikipedia isn't a joke. Sure, visitors can laugh at us all they want, but that's not our intention or purpose. We are an encyclopedia, as our title implies. We make serious endeavour in presenting facts, some of which happen to be interesting and give ppl a chuckle. But Wikipedia proper (excluding meta-pages) is not for people to point to and laugh their pants out. This page is a part of WP proper, and its title says "interesting or unusual", not "making 2-year-olds giggle like rabbits".


 * Yes, chch is unique orthographically, but it's not hard to pronounce at all. If it were to be mentioned, maybe on linguistic oddities or rare linguistic syllables ("rare" as in # of speakers on the int'l stage), although what you think of as common, such as th and st, are hard for most Europeans and all East Asians. So, do we include all sounds and syllables and syllable-cluster? Or do we just include those odd to the native English speakers? Anyway, the point is that there are many more examples of chch in several languages, Russian similarly has shch. And many more odd sounds to English speakers and/or speakers of other languages.


 * --Menchi 19:38 2 Jul 2003 (UTC)


 * Your first point: OK, the joke might make sense in an indirect way.
 * Your second point: I fail to see how this has anything to do with what I've said. I make no reference to people who cannot read/speak/understand English.
 * Your third point: I have never said or implied that Wikipedia is a joke.
 * Your last paragraph: if you think your sense of humour is superior to that of others, go ahead, delete the places you don't find interesting or unusual, and don't forget Å, Norway, Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, Massachusetts, Fuku, China, Gorsafawddacha'idraigodanheddogleddollônpenrhynareurdraethceredigion, a train station in Gwynedd, Wales, Himmelspforte, Germany, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Kokomo, Indiana, Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit, the poetic name of Bangkok, Lake Titicaca, Salsipuedes, California, Sommerloch, Germany, Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu Hill, New Zealand, Waikikamukau, New Zealand, Woolloomooloo, Sydney, Australia and Y, Alaska (and I'm forgetting some) as they don't mean a thing in English.
 * For the rest, I'm not going to spend my time further to discuss what can be considered funny and what not. I feel we're just talking past each other and this article really isn't that important to me. D.D. 20:10 2 Jul 2003 (UTC)


 * Re: "if you think your sense of humour is superior"
 * Take your "superiority" hypothesis to the Aryan Neo-Nazi.
 * I speak for those whose humour is selective, i.e., not everything that sounds like Buchachachacha is funny. And since you probably have a more inclusive taste, you think such a taste is inferior, the norm, or superior, that's your opinion. To me, it possesses the innocence of a child who lacks understanding of the world, but unsuitable in formal occasions (i.e., encyclopedia -- where, for example, we don't type "Queen Louisa wanna destroy England because she really doesn't like their sense of arrogance. It irritated her so!!").


 * Re: deletion:
 * Å & Y are truly unique as placenames, they are a part of an extremely small amount of placenames with just one letter. The long ones are unique and very rare as well. Titicaca is just Mayan. Salsipuedes is just Spanish (Is Los Angeles funny?). Himmelspforte & Sommerloch have their meanings explained. The rest are in Maui and other native languages.
 * You know I will not abuse my power as Wikipedian by removing some names just because I find them unqualified, so to make such suggestions is an insult or a dare. If you don't care, remove the ones you added yourself if you'd like.


 * --Menchi 20:39 2 Jul 2003 (UTC)

I seem to have stired up a hornets' nest. On reflection, I vote for leaving things alone - every entry must have been interesting to someone, otherwise they wouldn't have put it in. And things dont have to be "interesting" only in English: see Grand Tetons and Hérrison. I still wonder why Goodyear got in, though. Andy G 19:55 3 Jul 2003 (UTC)


 * [Goodyear was added by User:Docu. Their response to above wondering as added to User Talk:Docu 21:25 3 Jul 2003]
 * :-)  Be bold in updating pages, afterall you contributed to the list. Obviously, it's not "inherently funny" nor "sex related", but the list isn't titled that, nor is the name on . -- User:Docu

-

Hard-to-Find Farm
I'd like to nominate "Hard-to-Find Farm" in High Wycombe, Bucks. This place is indeed quite hard to find - unless you happen to look on any map of the area, including Ordnance Survey, where it is clearly and prominently marked! GRAHAMUK 06:09 2 Jul 2003 (UTC)


 * Is that a commercial farm's name? Many of them intentionally use such weird names in modern time to attract costumers visiting. Farms aren't really places I think. --Menchi 06:18 2 Jul 2003 (UTC)


 * I don't know for sure, though it's been on the maps for many years. If you actually go there, the gateway is very ordinary and simple - just a plain wooden gate. Doesn't LOOK like a place that's trying to attract attention! Here's a map: Hard to find FmGRAHAMUK


 * It seems like Streetmap labels every farm in the UK though... --Menchi 06:39 2 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Deletion
This page has been listed for deletion.

Text moved from Votes for deletion:


 * List of interesting or unusual place names
 * There is absolutely no way in the world that this can ever be NPOV. -- Oliver P. 08:40 7 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * Why is this a question of NPOV? The names in this list are not fictional, and the introductory paragraph explains quite well (a) the intention of the page and (b) that in many/most cases the names just sound funny to foreign language speakers. If someone added things like "Fucking is very popular with tourists", well, that would of course have to be removed. But the bare list? --KF 08:54 7 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * It is POV because it calls these names 'funny' or 'interesting', which is something fully subjective. Andre Engels 10:24 7 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * Then let's rename the page List of place names that are likely to be considered by some as unusual and we've got rid of all our problems. --KF 11:11 7 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * Not really. "Likely" is far too vague, and so its interpretation is subjective too. Now, if it were List of place names that some published source states is interesting or unusual, then we could be objective about it. Does anyone want to go for that title? I would guess not. But as it is, it is a purely subjective list, and therefore not appropriate for the Wikipedia. -- Oliver P. 13:50 8 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * Do we really need to apply NPOV to an issue as trivial as whether or not a place name is interesting? I doubt this can ever offend anyone. Evercat 13:54 8 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * NPOV is a Wikipedia-wide policy. We can't just start arbitrarily deciding not to apply it to some articles. Whose POV do we go with when deciding whether or not to apply the NPOV policy? This is just silly. -- Oliver P. 13:58 8 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * NPOV is overrated mental masturbation - this is a nice article Pizza Puzzle
 * Well, of course it's nice. But Wikipedia is not here to be nice. ;) You love NPOV, really, you know you do... -- Oliver P. 14:49 8 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * Heh, OK, but I still refuse to believe that it's POV to say that Fucking, Austria is an interesting name. I mean, who doesn't find it so? :-) Evercat 15:10 8 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * Well, I do, admittedly. :) But it's still a subjective judgement, and I think we should be trying to be as objective as possible. Much as I like this list, I don't think it is appropriate for an encyclopaedia. -- Oliver P. 21:55 9 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * If you really want it to be NPOV you could re-cast it as list of place names that sound like "vulgar" (dictionary tag) English words, list of place names with an unusual number of letters, etc., and move remainder to "inherrently funny words" article. But why bother? Leave it in, Killjoys. Andy G 22:15 9 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * "Killjoys"? This is supposed to be a serious encyclopaedia, not somewhere to have a laugh. "Why bother?" Because an encyclopaedia is supposed to provide a summary of human knowledge. What does one learn from this page? Nothing, except about the minds of the Wikipedians. How can we check a "fact" on this page? What reference source can we use to check if something is interesting or not? We can't check anything on this page, because it contains nothing but the subjective impressions of the people editing it. -- Oliver P. 02:27 10 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * Objected. :-) -- Timwi 23:39 9 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * On what grounds? I know the page says "Votes" in the title, but I think we should provide arguments. -- Oliver P. 02:27 10 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * What does one learn from this page? you ask. One learns about interesting and unusual place names. Evercat 02:33 10 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * Do you learn what is interesting from other people? Of course not. There is no objective truth behind the concept, so you can't learn about it from other people. It's purely a matter of taste. This is just a list of what some Wikipedians find interesting. I mean, what are we going to get next? A list of songs that are good? A list of political doctrines that are sound? A list of people that are attractive? -- Oliver P. 04:59 10 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * I can't see the problem with this page. FearÉIREANN 04:14 10 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * I started this page do de-orphan Fucking, Austria, and that is how I generally see most of the lists on Wiki that might be accused of being non-encyclopaedic - as place holders for links to articles that might not otherwise get wirtten. Some of the interesting and unusual places, I find less than interesting. If you want to delete this page for NPOV reasons, then a page containing placenames that are vulgar in English would susbstitute the majority of entries, but then we would orphan pages such as Bang Bang Jump Up and Macgillicuddy's Reeks Mintguy

I think the best way to de-orphan placenames is to list them in the article on whatever region the place belongs to. I think this should be done whatever the decision on this page, so I might do it later. I'll put it on my things to do list, so it might get done by around 2043 or so. :) -- Oliver P. 01:27 12 Jul 2003 (UTC)

I started adding footnotes to some of the entries, possibly this makes the list more objectif in your eyes. -- User:Docu


 * That's cool, but if you're going to explain a large proportion of the entries, it would probably be easier to put the explanations on the same lines as the entries themselves. But it doesn't help with my NPOV concerns, which are related to the title - specifically, the words "interesting or unusual". That's purely a subjective matter. However much you do to explain why you have chosen to include something, it's still your personal choice, and there is no means of checking whether or not it is a valid choice. Maybe that's true with all lists, to a certain extent, but it's particularly true of this one. And I didn't realise that the linking-to-headers thing had been implemented here yet. That's hideous. Please don't do it again. :P -- Oliver P. 09:01 12 Jul 2003 (UTC)

If you like to suggest a better title, I'm sure I'm likely to follow your suggestion. As for the inclusion criteria, I tend to think that looking up the words in a dictionary is a fairly objective process, even if it may the wrong dictionary. -- User:Docu


 * Well, KF came up with List of place names that are likely to be considered by some as unusual (see above), but I'm not sure that was a serious suggestion. Then I suggested that we could have List of place names that some published source states is interesting or unusual, but I wasn't really being serious myself. It would mean removing all the placenames until such published sources could be found, anyway. And I don't understand your comment about looking up words in a dictionary. How many dictionaries tell you which of their words are "interesting"? Even if one of them did, it would still only be the point of view of the editors of that particular dictionary. So I still support deletion of the page. Why is no-one else supporting me? >:( -- Oliver P. 15:59 14 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Since I'm here, I just thought I'd say three things:
 * 1) I am another person who thinks this page is not neutral and shouldn't be here. Having articles for entertainment value is more Everything2's style.
 * 2) However, I don't care enough to argue about it. Have fun.
 * 3) I have a friend from Shag Harbour. He was reminded on a daily basis how funny that was. I believe that Shag Harbour is more interesting, however, for that fact that it seems to have developed a unique dialect of English. -- Stephen Gilbert 16:01 16 Jul 2003 (UTC)

I don't see how this could be a NPOV issue. On a reasonable reading, lists of this kind implicitly assert only that many people are likely to find the entries interesting -- not that one point of view is superior to another, or that anyone who finds the names uninteresting is "wrong". I have to think that what's really bothering the objectors is a feeling that the topic is frivolous or unencyclopedic, not that it's biased. I see no good reason to delete it. -- Cjmnyc 02:14 17 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Hérisson
Are you sure "Hérrison" is correct? Hedgehog is "hérisson". -phma

The correct spelling of the town in France is "Hérisson", like the word for hedgehog. I've fixed it. Cjmnyc 04:31 17 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Jay's random changes
1. I changed Rann of Kachchh to Rann of Kutch. The latter is a more accepted spelling (turns up more on google). Also see official website of the Kutch district and the American Heritage® Dictionary

Changed Tiruchchirappalli to Thiruchirapalli.

Have the names become less funny by my changes ?

2.Whats interesting about Thiruvananthapuram ? P'haps its historical name of Trivandrum is funnier (Tree Van Drum ;)).

3.Can someone tell me the location of the place Dikshit in India, cuz I haven't heard of it.

Jay 21:06, 15 Nov 2003 (UTC)


 * I got no responses to the above queries. Hence am deleting the above 4 names. Jay 07:14, 7 Jan 2004 (UTC)


 * Google shows Dikshit as a personal (second) name on many Indian newspaper sites. Andy G 21:49, 8 Jan 2004 (UTC)


 * A personal name yes, a place name no. Dikshit or Dixit (spelled Deekshith) would mean learned and hence would ideally be a person's name only. However if it's a place name that would be interesting info. User:Mintguy can tell where he got the name from. Jay 20:25, 11 Jan 2004 (UTC)

In Poland

Call these sex-related?
A 1 has appeared next to Piddle. My understanding has always been that this is to do with excretion, not sex, and a quick look on OneLook doesn't reveal any sexual meaning. Similarly PPR? -- Smjg 10:37, 10 May 2004 (UTC)


 * It can be sexual. heh Copysan 08:38, 11 February 2006 (UTC)


 * A little imagination required, methinks. --LiamE 12:25, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

Categorization
Maybe if a category was used instead of an article, it would be easier to maintain. --Sgeo | Talk 11:56, 4 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * And also lead to a lot of stub pages when people add names from national road atlases and the like. Would this be a Good Thing or not? -- Smjg 17:19, 4 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Florida Keys
I deleted The Florida Keys as out of place here, then realized the name might seem unusual to someone who comes from a part of the world where islands are not commonly called keys. What do others think? If someone wants to put it back, it should be alphabetized under F, not T. -- Cjmnyc 05:40, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * It was good enough for a "key" joke on one of the Naked Gun movies :) -- Chuq 23:15, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Noone, New Hampshire
Noone, New hampshire is indeed a real place but what is so interesting or unusual about its name? I might understand Noon as an English word that has become a geographical entity, but Noone? Dieter Simon 22:57, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC) However, have now added Noonday, Texas Dieter 3:10, 19 oct 2004 (UTC)


 * Try reading it as no-one. Although it is probably pronounced closed to noon. older &ne; wiser 00:23, Oct 20, 2004 (UTC)


 * Yes, I see your point. Slightly tenuous, go along with it though. Dieter Simon 23:17, 20 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Lough Neagh?
Maybe I don't get it because I live in Belfast, but what's so funny about Lough Neagh? --Jonathan Drain 05:45, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Because it sounds like the noise a horse makes? Just a theory -- AndrewH 09:38, 21 Oct 2004 (UTC)

or if you pronounce it with the gh as in through (throo) it becomes loo nee (looney)

Milton Keynes?
Why is Milton Keynes funny or interesting?

I really don't get that... -- User:212.219.116.250


 * The second paragraph in the article Milton_Keynes might explain it. Not funny, but possibly interesting. -- User:Docu


 * "Why is Milton Keynes funny or interesting?" It isn't. It's name, on the other hand... [[User:Grutness|Grutness hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|30px|]]]] 13:22, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * When I started reading BBC News (I'm American), I would occasionally come across the words Milton Keynes - which I assumed had to be a person. Of course, this made no sense in context, so I would skip that sentence (assuming some error was made) and go on.  However, I would keep seeing this.  Only then did I look it up and discover MK is a place.  :)  Ubermonkey 18:06, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

America, Cambs.
America, Cambs. does indeed exist. Just north of Chatteris in Cambridgeshire on the A141 turn right on to the A142 signposted Ely, after Mepal turn-off turn right at Sutton and at the other side of Sutton is America. It is given in the Millenium Road Atlas. Might be worth investigating, perhaps they have a rather nice pub with local ale. Dieter Simon 23:03, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * I've no idea what made someone think it doesn't exist. But I just got a message on my talk page:


 * 16:50, 3 Dec 2004 Jimfbleak deleted America, Cambridgeshire? (content was: 'db|further research shows Mgekelly was right -- this doesn't exist}}For other places named America, see America.America is a town ...')


 * No indication of what the "further research" consisted of - clearly not the AA atlas (from which I added it in the first place). -- Smjg 14:52, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * You are quite right, Smjg, Jimfbleak should have a butchers at our own Uk maps/atlases before he makes such a statement. Place names either exist in a country's maps or they don't. In this case it is substantiated by two UK atlases. Dieter Simon 23:35, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Why two spellings?
Any idea why two different spellings of the same place in New Zealand (the place known to locals as "Taumata Hill", for obvious reasons) are on the list? Surely one will do. 13:24, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)