Road sign theft. Troublemaking tourists. Exclamations of "where?!" as the default response upon being asked from whence you hail; just a few of the galling things those from unfortunately named places have to put up with. In fact, Britain alone has a wealth of towns, villages and hamlets whose names were probably perfectly innocent once - before these old English words gained their inappropriate connotations. Nestled in our famous countryside, one can expect to see idyllic rural areas with names such as Fingringhoe, Nob End, Twatt, Scratchy Bottom, Shitterton... the list seriously goes on and on. How very quaint! Still though, we've got absolutely nothing on the merry old land of Dildo, Newfoundland or the quiet residential village of F**king, Austria. Staples of the world's most inappropriate geographic labels, the latter especially is famed for its attraction of troublemaking tourists as much as its naughty name. Slightly less inflammatory, but still capable of raising a giggle, are the place names that are just plain weird. There is New Mexico's Truth or Consequences, which changed its name from Hot Springs in the 1950s to win a competition - no, seriously - whereas other peculiar-sounding US towns seemingly have no rhyme or reason to their names at all. We have the philosophical Why, Arizona; the eggy-faced Embarrass, Minnesota; and all the nutritious promise of Oatmeal, Texas. Yum. From the suggestive to the strange, the following mental place names take the (souvenir) biscuit. Enjoy this virtual tour of ten of the most bizarrely christened areas of our planet...
Stephanie is a writer and free spirit who likes to pretend she's a Londoner, though strictly speaking she's from Watford. She likes books, music, elephants, and hairspray.
