From Shag Point to Humptulips
February 10, 2013 6:27 AM   Subscribe

Vaguely Rude Place Names of the World.

More items of geographical interest at creator Gary Gale's blog.
posted by Horace Rumpole (57 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
With the emphasis on "vaguely".

I'm seeing the plot line for the next Beavis and Butthead road trip adventure movie, titled ""heh....heh...he said wood"
posted by HuronBob at 6:33 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


None in New Jersey, yet. We're pretty upfront with our rudeness.
posted by johnjreiser at 6:34 AM on February 10, 2013


Aw, where's Manassas?
posted by Westringia F. at 6:42 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


It is really not ok and bigoted that Gayville South Dakota is on there, there is nothing rude about being Gay, vague or otherwise.
posted by Blasdelb at 6:45 AM on February 10, 2013 [2 favorites]


My absolute favourite rude place name is Hole of Horcum in North Yorkshire - it doesn't get much ruder than that.. Surprised it wasn't on that map.
posted by HarrysDad at 6:53 AM on February 10, 2013 [2 favorites]


No Blue Ball, PA?
posted by octothorpe at 7:06 AM on February 10, 2013 [3 favorites]


None in New Jersey, yet. We're pretty upfront with our rudeness.

That's funny, because whenever my friend goes cruising in Nutley, New Jersey, he always Spotswood.
posted by orme at 7:10 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


Just down the road from here: Lixwm and Cwm.
posted by Prince Lazy I at 7:15 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


There really need to be a lot more pins in Newfoundland.

-Come By Chance
-Conception Bay South
-Conception Harbour
-Cow Head
-Cox's Cove
-Crow Head
-Happy Valley-Goose Bay
-Jackson's Arm
-Leading Tickles
-Mary's Harbour
-Placentia
-Pouch Cove
-Robert's Arm
-Sally's Cove
-Woody Point

...and the obvious. This is what happens when you let sailors name all the places.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:25 AM on February 10, 2013 [6 favorites]


Wait, where's Dildo Newfoundland?
posted by lazymuse at 7:27 AM on February 10, 2013


They got Knob Lick and Beaverlick Kentucky but they missed Big Bone Lick.
posted by kmz at 7:27 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


Glad to see Scunthorpe on there. But no Scrooby or Bitchfield?

Sadly there's no place for street names, or else you could add Fanny Hands Lane in Ludford.
posted by Jehan at 7:29 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


A few years ago, some Canadian magazine (Geist?) had a great map of rude place names of Canada; anybody else remember that? I'm not having any luck finding it now.
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:34 AM on February 10, 2013


Dildo is there, it's just tucked in behind Spread Eagle.
posted by saturday_morning at 7:40 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


Not to "you forgot", but you forgot Dry Prong, Louisiana.
posted by Legomancer at 7:45 AM on February 10, 2013


Here out west, we have Crested Butte and Elephant Butte, and we insist on pronouncing them improperly and frequently.
posted by mochapickle at 7:46 AM on February 10, 2013


No Blue Ball, PA?

See also:
Bareville, PA
Big Beaver, PA
Climax, PA
Fertility, PA
Intercourse, PA
Mount Joy, PA

And the best part is that so many of these are in Amish country.
posted by radwolf76 at 7:53 AM on February 10, 2013 [3 favorites]


I see your Manassas, and raise you Assawoman.
posted by kcds at 8:00 AM on February 10, 2013


I've often thought that "Throggs Neck" sounded like a euphemism.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:11 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


They should do one for every language. May I nominate Kloten, near the Zurich airport, for the Dutch language version?
posted by DreamerFi at 8:12 AM on February 10, 2013


Now that euphemisms have become rude, perhaps we should assign numbers to euphemisms.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:27 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


If you're interested in more reading about this, Mark Monmonier's From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow is a pretty readable book on this topic.
posted by BlooPen at 8:29 AM on February 10, 2013


Those who are unimpressed with the US names should check out the ones in the the UK. You're just not going to find a name like "Lord Hereford's Knob" or "Sandy Balls Estate" in the US. (are these even real?)

Also, they missed Big Bone Lick State Park in Kentucky, which is right next to Beaverlick and far more prominently signed.
posted by Llama-Lime at 8:34 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


How about Buttzville, New Jersey? Home of Hot Dog Johnny's!
posted by ReeMonster at 8:59 AM on February 10, 2013


Is Sandy Balls Estate real? Oh yes.
posted by cromagnon at 9:16 AM on February 10, 2013


Looks like it's just cities and townships rather than features. Features get a lot more explicitly...well, explicit - like Mollie's Nipple in UT. There's an awful lot of nipples out here in the western US; I think it's fair to say there were a lot of prospectors and surveyors with one thing (ok, two things) on their minds.
posted by hackwolf at 9:20 AM on February 10, 2013


Oh, hey, BlooPen's article above covers all the various nipples in Utah. Mark Monmonier also wrote the fantastic How to Lie With Maps.
posted by hackwolf at 9:25 AM on February 10, 2013


I'm not impressed. They left out Puta Creek.
posted by mule98J at 9:33 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


Not nearly as obvious as these, but I've always like Boca Chica, Panama
posted by Lucinda at 9:38 AM on February 10, 2013


This needs to be expanded, Dorset in southern England is a gold mine for this kind of thing. Close to Shitterton, is Scratchy Bottom (not to be confused with nearby Happy Bottom), the Piddle River, Cripplestyle and Poxwell Big Wood.

Also, allow me to point out, its 244 miles from Intercourse, PA to Climax, PA, but only 17 miles from Intercourse PA, to Blue Ball, PA
posted by Pink Fuzzy Bunny at 9:52 AM on February 10, 2013 [2 favorites]


perhaps we should assign numbers to euphemisms.

That's a 14ing great idea!
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:02 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


Not so much rude as unpleasant Feces.
It's actually Feces de Abajo. If it was Feces de Arriba everyone would walk around with umbrellas up all the time.
posted by adamvasco at 10:04 AM on February 10, 2013 [2 favorites]


I'm surprised there's no Gropecunt Lane. (There were a lot of them.) Or is that too explicit for the "vaguely rude" map?
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 10:13 AM on February 10, 2013


Also missing the protected wetlands of Poopo Lake.
posted by saturday_morning at 10:31 AM on February 10, 2013


I'm surprised there's no Gropecunt Lane. (There were a lot of them.) Or is that too explicit for the "vaguely rude" map?
On this note, there was once also quite a lot of places with the word "cunt" in them, simply because somebody thought, well, they looked like a cunt. A little hollow or clough, surrounded by bushy undergrowth, why wouldn't you think that? They're not vaguely rude in a real sense, as simply descriptive.
posted by Jehan at 10:35 AM on February 10, 2013


Sad they missed Athol, MA. Funnest rude placename ever.
posted by threeants at 10:35 AM on February 10, 2013 [4 favorites]


Back when I played WoW I could never go into the Cleft of Shadow in Orgrimmar without giggling uncontrollably. Playing a rogue character became difficult.
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 10:37 AM on February 10, 2013


There really need to be a lot more pins in Newfoundland.

Newfoundland's such a rich vein for these that there's a song
posted by figurant at 10:49 AM on February 10, 2013


Sad they missed Athol, MA.

My impression is that Rhode Islanders think all people from Massachusetts hail from that town. Well, based on their shouts of greeting on the highways, at least.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:50 AM on February 10, 2013


Also Cwm, which is Welsh for valley and part of many names there, is suspected to be behind the mighty quim - you can also find it in plenty of English place names as -coombe or -combe. Not that Celtic sensibilities are too bothered by such things; the famed Paps of Jura are so named for two prominent reasons.
posted by Devonian at 11:14 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


I was almost certain it was "Mathol, MA".
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 11:14 AM on February 10, 2013


One more from pa: Bird-in-Hand
posted by rouftop at 11:14 AM on February 10, 2013


Really? Nob Hill?
posted by jeffamaphone at 11:14 AM on February 10, 2013


Also: Belchertown, MA
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 11:24 AM on February 10, 2013


How did they miss Maidenhead, Berkshire, UK?
Where the hell is Hell, Michigan, USA? (They got 'Gaylord', oh, aren't we clever).

Anyone else notice Pis & Poo (adjacent, of course) on the north coast of Spain?
Good post. I'm sore from laughing. Thanks.
posted by Goofyy at 12:17 PM on February 10, 2013


What about Cock Rock on the Columbia in Oregon? Maybe since it's not vague in the slightest.
posted by Brocktoon at 12:29 PM on February 10, 2013


Almost forgot: Phouc My, Vietnam.
posted by mule98J at 12:53 PM on February 10, 2013


They've got Cockermouth, which is good, but they've missed nearby Papcastle!
posted by Jehan at 1:10 PM on February 10, 2013


I was always amused by Pealiquor Road, in MD.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 1:10 PM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


My neighborhood is there. I'm so proud.
posted by bondcliff at 2:46 PM on February 10, 2013


Arguably, Grand Teton is French for Big Teat.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 3:13 PM on February 10, 2013


I'm going to name my cheap wine brand "Cascade d'Ars."
posted by ostro at 3:32 PM on February 10, 2013


My similar map of important world locations was rejected for mefi projects, but does feature one entry submitted by no less than James Gosling.
posted by jewzilla at 5:54 PM on February 10, 2013


No Cockington or Crapstone?
posted by etc at 7:14 PM on February 10, 2013


Then there's Bobbin Head NSW
posted by achilles_hunt at 3:40 AM on February 11, 2013


Can't believe they missed Dime Box, Texas. (Where it is considerably cheaper than "Twenty dollars, same as in town.")
posted by MexicanYenta at 7:21 AM on February 11, 2013


Big Bone Lick, Kentucky
posted by Billiken at 7:49 AM on February 11, 2013


« Older The Christopher Dorner Manhunt   |   "a most wonderful invigorator of sexual organs" Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments