# How not to name your city/country for Beginners **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 19, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047 "2005-04-19T13:57:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Buran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Buran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buran)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/1 "2005-04-19T13:57:21Z")
After long and arduous study I have come to the firm conclusion that it is extremely unwise to name your city/country beginning with the letter B, its just asking for trouble. Beirut, Bosnia, Baghdad, Berlin, Belgrade, Belfast, The Balkans… Need I go on? The proof is plain for all to see! :eek: Just wait, Barbados is about to decide into a bloody civil war any day now… ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/2 "2005-04-19T14:03:57Z")
> [@MidwinterF1](#): > > After long and arduous study I have come to the firm conclusion that it is extremely unwise to name your city/country beginning with the letter B, its just asking for trouble. > > Beirut, Bosnia, Baghdad, Berlin, Belgrade, Belfast, The Balkans… > > Need I go on? The proof is plain for all to see! :eek: > > Just wait, Barbados is about to decide into a bloody civil war any day now… We’ve seen the chaos to envelop Boston in the past year. Come to think of it, I’ve always had crappy service staying at Best Western hotels. Beans cause gas. Biker Bars are clearly doubly dangerous. It’s the entire letter! Boycott (err, protest against by not using. Ha! Avoided starting a word with the cursed letter!) the letter B!!! ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/3 "2005-04-19T14:11:42Z")
BELGIUM!!! A beer for anyone who gets the refrence ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/4 "2005-04-19T14:16:56Z")
> [@MidwinterF1](#): > > Beirut, Bosnia, Baghdad, Berlin, Belgrade, Belfast, The Balkans… … Burma, Burundi, Banja Luca, Bahrain, Banda Aceh, Bangalore, Bethlehem … Bangkok, Beijing, Bratislava, Bogota, Bangladesh … Britain, Bavaria, Belgium, Bahamas? ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/5 "2005-04-19T14:18:20Z")
> [@Mycroft Holmes](#): > > BELGIUM!!! > > A beer for anyone who gets the refrence [Watch your language!!!](http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/guide/belgium.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/6 "2005-04-19T14:23:59Z")
> [@wolfstu](#): > > [Watch your language!!!](http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/guide/belgium.shtml) Dang, beat me to it. [slinks away, decidedly not hoopy] ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/7 "2005-04-19T14:27:07Z")
> [@Only Mostly Dead](#): > > Dang, beat me to it. > > [slinks away, decidedly not hoopy] If it makes you feel better, you can have the beer. I don’t drink 🙂 (Unless **Mycroft Holmes** is willing to substitute [fritten](http://www.belgianfries.com/), in which case they’re _mine, all mine!_) ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/8 "2005-04-19T14:47:20Z")
> [@wolfstu](#): > > [Watch your language!!!](http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/guide/belgium.shtml) Excellent. So **wolfstu** here’s your [patat met](http://gillisse.4t.com/images/patzak.jpg) and a [Grolsch](http://www.bottledbeer.co.uk/photos/grolsch.jpg) for **Only Mostly Dead** for coming in a close second. ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/9 "2005-04-19T14:53:57Z")
> [@Mycroft Holmes](#): > > Excellent. So **wolfstu** here’s your [patat met](http://gillisse.4t.com/images/patzak.jpg) and a [Grolsch](http://www.bottledbeer.co.uk/photos/grolsch.jpg) for **Only Mostly Dead** for coming in a close second. Thank you, thank you kindly. _Dank u wel_. - savours \* ---
**Author:** ![Buran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Buran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buran)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/10 "2005-04-19T15:07:36Z")
> [@wolfstu](#): > > … Burma, Burundi, Banja Luca, Bahrain, Banda Aceh, Bangalore, Bethlehem > > … Bangkok, Beijing, Bratislava, Bogota, Bangladesh > > … Britain, Bavaria, Belgium, Bahamas? That proves _nothing_. You hang yourself with your own words, Banda Aceh is center of the GAM seperatist movement and Burundi has been engaged in a vicious civil war since 1993. Those other poor benighted places are trembling on the very edge of catastrophe even as we speak! Oh the _humanity_… ---
**Author:** ![wonderwench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/35a633/32.png) [@wonderwench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderwench)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/11 "2005-04-19T15:08:58Z")
Another good reason to avoid Bakersfield. Not that I really needed one. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/12 "2005-04-19T15:12:12Z")
> [@MidwinterF1](#): > > You hang yourself with your own words, Banda Aceh is center of the GAM seperatist movement and Burundi has been engaged in a vicious civil war since 1993. Errrr…I think the whole point was that there’s no correlation, that some are hell-holes and some are paradise. Unless you know something about the Bavarian People’s Front that we don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Buran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Buran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buran)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/13 "2005-04-19T15:20:39Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Errrr…I think the whole point was that there’s no correlation, that some are hell-holes and some are paradise. Unless you know something about the Bavarian People’s Front that we don’t. You may be afraid of pointing out the elephant in the room but I am not! ---
**Author:** ![Buran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Buran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buran)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/14 "2005-04-19T15:22:49Z")
And again, the capital of Burundi is Bujumbura! Those poor people, didn’t realise the malign forces of fate such a combination has conjured. _shakes head in despair_ ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/15 "2005-04-19T15:37:44Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Bavarian People’s Front that we don’t. [size=1]fnord[size] ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/16 "2005-04-19T15:38:03Z")
On the flip side, we have my hometown of Brick. Check the last paragraph in the [Wikipedia writeup](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_Township,_New_Jersey). [Jay] Jersey, represent! [/Jay] ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/17 "2005-04-19T15:41:38Z")
> [@Mycroft Holmes](#): > > [size=1]fnord[size] The Illuminati prevented me from previewing. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/18 "2005-04-19T16:36:45Z")
Baltimore and Buffalo _are_ the ugliest cities in the United States. But then Newark’s a close third so the letter n is suspect as well. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/19 "2005-04-19T17:24:08Z")
Things have been going downhill on [Betelgeuse](http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/1996/04/) for quite some time, and it’s only going to get worse. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047/20 "2005-04-19T17:32:57Z")
Behold! Beautious babes, basking in bust baring bikinis on the Bermuda beach! 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-name-your-city-country-for-beginners/300047.md?page=2)