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Link: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/is...502-1xye2.html
Is a Cockburn really as bad as a Middelfart?
Bec Curtin
May 3, 2012 - 8:51AM
You may have enjoyed a laugh at the Austrian town named F..king but around the rest of the world, they are giggling at our Cockburn.
Cockburn, in Perth's southern suburbs, was once officially ranked at No. 22 in a list of worst town names by netscape.com.
That said, it clearly has some ground to make up on some of the other more weirdly named places in the world.
Would you, by any chance, take your family on a holiday to Hookersville? Or hop in the car for a weekend in Upper Dicker? How about Satan's Kingdom, Iron Knob or Slaughterville?
They may sound like heavy metal bands or names to be read of in a fantasy novel but they actually exist. They're towns some people call home.
Hookersville is in West Virginia and Slaughterville in Oklahoma is named after a grocery store run by James Slaughter in the 20th century.
Satan's Kingdom is actually above ground in Massachusetts, Iron Knob is in South Australia and Upper Dicker is a small village in England.
Undoubtedly subjects of ridicule and many a pun, many of these places have a sense of humour about it.
Take, for instance, the small villages of Dull in Scotland, and Boring, in Oregon, USA, which are set to reach out across the North Atlantic to twin themselves as "sister" communities on May 5.
The seemingly perfect match of "Dull and Boring" was born after a Scottish cyclist rode through Boring and relayed the idea back to villagers in Dull.
The Boring community was named after William Boring a Civil War veteran and Dull in Perthshire, Scotland is little more than a blink and you'll miss it village comprising of a single street with just 22 houses.
Although these towns may be revelling in the possibility of eye-catching signage, other towns in the world aren't laughing just yet.
There is an infamous village in Austria that can only referred to as F..king. Google map it if you're skeptical, although I'd be wary of what might come up in your search engine.
It is of course a favourite with tourists and souvenir hunters.
F..king Mayor Franz Meindl confirmed recently the name has caused trouble for locals with street signs regularly stolen.
Residents in the Austrian Village got so tired of mockery and theft, they voted to have its named changed to Fugging. Unfortunately, the name was already taken by another Austrian village.
Before any West Australians laugh too hard at these towns' misfortune, they should also consider the case of Cockburn, which made netscape.com's cut alongside such beauties as Whisky Dick Mountain, Disappointment, Hell and Titty Hill.
And what about Innaloo or Upper Swan?
Perhaps not as bad as Horneytown, North Carolina and Spread Eagle, Wisconsin - had the town founders been out on the plains too long? - but still likely to cause a snicker for those unfamiliar with them.
The 22 worst town names in the world (via netscape.com)
1. Whakapapa, New Zealand (the "Wh" is pronounced "f")
2. ****ing, Austria
3. Disappointment, Kentucky
4. Shitterton, Dorset, England
5. Horneytown, North Carolina
6. Middelfart, Denmark
7. Toad Suck, Arkansas
8. Hell, Michigan
9. Hookersville, West Virginia
10. Whiskey Dick Mountain, Washington
11. Cockup, Cumbria, England
12. Bald Knob, Arkansas
13. Spread Eagle, Wisconsin
14. Wetwang, Yorkshire, England
15. Gravesend, Kent, England
16. Thong, Kent, England
17. Titty Hill, Sussex, England
18. Looneyville, Texas
19. Muff, Ireland
20. Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakit anatahu, New Zealand
21. Twatt, Orkney, Shetland Islands, Scotland
22. Cockburn, Western Australia
Is a Cockburn really as bad as a Middelfart?
Bec Curtin
May 3, 2012 - 8:51AM
You may have enjoyed a laugh at the Austrian town named F..king but around the rest of the world, they are giggling at our Cockburn.
Cockburn, in Perth's southern suburbs, was once officially ranked at No. 22 in a list of worst town names by netscape.com.
That said, it clearly has some ground to make up on some of the other more weirdly named places in the world.
Would you, by any chance, take your family on a holiday to Hookersville? Or hop in the car for a weekend in Upper Dicker? How about Satan's Kingdom, Iron Knob or Slaughterville?
They may sound like heavy metal bands or names to be read of in a fantasy novel but they actually exist. They're towns some people call home.
Hookersville is in West Virginia and Slaughterville in Oklahoma is named after a grocery store run by James Slaughter in the 20th century.
Satan's Kingdom is actually above ground in Massachusetts, Iron Knob is in South Australia and Upper Dicker is a small village in England.
Undoubtedly subjects of ridicule and many a pun, many of these places have a sense of humour about it.
Take, for instance, the small villages of Dull in Scotland, and Boring, in Oregon, USA, which are set to reach out across the North Atlantic to twin themselves as "sister" communities on May 5.
The seemingly perfect match of "Dull and Boring" was born after a Scottish cyclist rode through Boring and relayed the idea back to villagers in Dull.
The Boring community was named after William Boring a Civil War veteran and Dull in Perthshire, Scotland is little more than a blink and you'll miss it village comprising of a single street with just 22 houses.
Although these towns may be revelling in the possibility of eye-catching signage, other towns in the world aren't laughing just yet.
There is an infamous village in Austria that can only referred to as F..king. Google map it if you're skeptical, although I'd be wary of what might come up in your search engine.
It is of course a favourite with tourists and souvenir hunters.
F..king Mayor Franz Meindl confirmed recently the name has caused trouble for locals with street signs regularly stolen.
Residents in the Austrian Village got so tired of mockery and theft, they voted to have its named changed to Fugging. Unfortunately, the name was already taken by another Austrian village.
Before any West Australians laugh too hard at these towns' misfortune, they should also consider the case of Cockburn, which made netscape.com's cut alongside such beauties as Whisky Dick Mountain, Disappointment, Hell and Titty Hill.
And what about Innaloo or Upper Swan?
Perhaps not as bad as Horneytown, North Carolina and Spread Eagle, Wisconsin - had the town founders been out on the plains too long? - but still likely to cause a snicker for those unfamiliar with them.
The 22 worst town names in the world (via netscape.com)
1. Whakapapa, New Zealand (the "Wh" is pronounced "f")
2. ****ing, Austria
3. Disappointment, Kentucky
4. Shitterton, Dorset, England
5. Horneytown, North Carolina
6. Middelfart, Denmark
7. Toad Suck, Arkansas
8. Hell, Michigan
9. Hookersville, West Virginia
10. Whiskey Dick Mountain, Washington
11. Cockup, Cumbria, England
12. Bald Knob, Arkansas
13. Spread Eagle, Wisconsin
14. Wetwang, Yorkshire, England
15. Gravesend, Kent, England
16. Thong, Kent, England
17. Titty Hill, Sussex, England
18. Looneyville, Texas
19. Muff, Ireland
20. Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakit anatahu, New Zealand
21. Twatt, Orkney, Shetland Islands, Scotland
22. Cockburn, Western Australia
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