Gooser said:
I never quite understood what they were getting at when they named things "French Broad."
To understand, you may have to wait until you visit the
Grand Tetons.<giggle>
Among the other amusing place names that I have encountered include the "jokes" that the Spanish played on us unsuspecting
Yanquis:
Manteca (a little town an hour due east of the San Francisco Bay of San José, California) is Spanish for
Lard (How romantic).
Los Banos (southwest of Manteca) is Spanish for
The Baths.
El Cajón (in SoCal) is "The Drawer" or "The Box".
Alcatraz "Pelican"
Boca Raton "Rat Mouth"
Fresno "Ash" (or just "half-ash" for those that have been there.
La Brea "Tar"
...and my personal favorite joke on the Yanquis:
Back in settlement days, the sheriff in San José kept a pretty tight chain on vice in his town. When he would catch a "Lady of the Evening" plying her trade, he had her shipped off to the "Red Light District" way out in the boondocks, affectionately called "1000 Whores", which, in Spanish is "Mil Putas". Today, that part of town is known by its more politically-correct, non-descript variation,
Milpitas.
Then, while I lived in the UK, I enjoyed the Founding Fathers' senses of humour:
Cock Pond, Tyttenhanger, Pratt's Bottom, Titsey Park, Tittensore, Herbert's Hole, Thong, Twatt, Wetwang, Little Willey, Penistone, Clitheroe, Nasty, Ugley (which together caused a stir when the headline read, "Nasty Man Weds Ugley Woman"), Piddle Valley, Scratchy Bottom, Slack Bottom, Lilley Bottom, Nether Wallop and in Ireland: Muff and Boobyglass.
And for streets: Cock Lane, Cock Hill, Cockfoster, Dick Turpin Lane, Titley Close, and Cockbush Avenue.
In Pennsylvania, we have Blue Balls and Intercourse.
In Tennessee, we have Running Knob and Thumping Dick Hollows.
More later, but I must rush to an appointment.
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Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services:
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