No doubt this has been done before but I can't resist. Here is a list of funny place names from a British newspaper. Can you add to it (from anywhere in the world)?
Splat (Cornwall)
Pity Me (Co. Durham)
Pennycomequick (Devon)
Nob End (South Lancashire)
Great Snoring (Norfolk)
Thong (Kent)
Piddle River (Dorset)
Sandy Balls (New Forest)
Wideopen (Newcastle)
Great Cockup (Lake District)
Twatt (Orkney)
Crapstone (Devon)
Slack Bottom (West Yorkshire)
No Place (Co. Durham)
Lickey End (West Midlands)
Hackballscross (Co. Louth)
Horneyman (Kent)
Fryup (North Yorkshire)
myanmarbound
1
cogito
Pity Me is near where I was brought up; it's from the French Petit Mer - there's a pond there. I like all the names with piddle in them in Dorset, but it is a bit childish of me.
2
kilo_fox
Here are a few from Germany:
Ekel
Witzwort
Affendorf
Blasdorf
Rammelburg
Motzen
Lust
Feucht
Faulebutter
Fickingen
Lieblos
Leichendorf
Katzenhirn
Brechen
Busendorf
Wixhausen
Mueckenloch
Drogen
Pissen
Elend
Hodenhagen
Fetterstrich
Sexau
3
gilded lil
i remember a bus deribing past me whehn i was in sheffield, which had PENISton written as destination on the front
i think there is also a place called sCUNThorpe somewhere in england
4
mathilda
how did such place names come into existence? i mean places like fryup and redcar and pity me for example.
5
vinnyd
#4 -- My guess is folk etymology in most cases, reshaping a place name whose significance was no longer apparent into words that were at least familiar. There's a Smackover in Arkansas that originated as Chemin Couvert. In some cases, the funny meaning originated lafter the name ws well established, as with the Piddle River or Great Cockup.
7
cogito
this may interest some... world of words place names... mathilde, I've already explained pity me. See also this site which explains a lot of names.
Redcar (pronounced Redkuh) is almost certainly Viking and as I recall means reed-marsh - the area round there has several places that suggest the poor quality of the soil.
The north-east generally has some interesting names, not least because it is common to find very similar names for places quite close by. Three or four miles from where I was brought up there are two places, one called Heughall and one called Houghall. These were however pronounced Yuffall and Hoffal. Similarly there is Hetton-le-hole, Hetton-le-Hill and Hutton-le-Hole, all very close to each other.
8
cogito
The South West, where I now live, is also rich in beautiful Latin-ish names; two of the best are Huish Episcopi and Ryme Intrinseca. I'd love to live in either. Ryme Intrinseca refers to the fact that the land was 'intrinsic' to the estate of the Ryme family; Episcopi must mean it is part of the see but I'm not sure beyond that.
Nigel Reese (irritating man on the radio a lot) did a book of these...
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