Monday, January 26, 2009

Crapstone, Wetwang...I can't keep going...

It is just so hard not to laugh at British place names:
No Snickering - That Road Sign Means Something Else - NYTimes.com
In the scale of embarrassing place names, Crapstone ranks pretty high. But Britain is full of them. Some are mostly amusing, like Ugley, Essex; East Breast, in western Scotland; North Piddle, in Worcestershire; and Spanker Lane, in Derbyshire.

Others evoke images that may conflict with residents’ efforts to appear dignified when, for example, applying for jobs.

These include Crotch Crescent, Oxford; Titty Ho, Northamptonshire; Wetwang, East Yorkshire; Slutshole Lane, Norfolk; and Thong, Kent. And, in a country that delights in lavatory humor, particularly if the word “bottom” is involved, there is Pratts Bottom, in Kent, doubly cursed because “prat” is slang for buffoon.

At the end of the Picadilly line is Cockfosters. In the Square Mile, not too far from the Old Bailey is Cock Lane.
Of course, some people don't like:
Council bans the 'rude' street names that might offend | Mail Online

Oh, fuck! Cockshut Lane! Oh, sweet zombie Jesus!
BBC NEWS | England | 'Rude' English streets defended
New road names with rude connotations could soon be banned in part of Sussex to avoid "deliberate misinterpretation".

But throughout England streets including "Grope Lane" and "Titty Ho" have a rich history.

I think Grope Lane is the same place that used to be Grope Cunte Lane...Expert: 'Rude' place names start innocent - Oddities - redOrbit
"Place names and street names are full of history and culture, and it's only because language has evolved over the centuries that they've wound up sounding rude," Hurst said.

Thank you, Mr Academic Buzzkill. Leave me alone I have some more snickering to do at Rude Britain.


Shitterton.

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