# Name the hick town **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 28, 2004, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439 "2004-09-28T05:10:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/21 "2004-09-28T16:38:01Z")
Slocum Hollow. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/22 "2004-09-28T16:54:27Z")
Well, there’s a town in Missouri that fits your description fairly well. It’s called Wappapello, and I used to live there. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/23 "2004-09-28T16:57:27Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Being raised in a small southern city that was surrounded by a handful of small hamlets that sound vaguely of what you’re describing, I can tell you it’s overwhelmingly cliched. Places like that exist only in literature and people’s imaginations. > [@HPL](#): > > I was afraid of that. Looks I may need to re-tool it a little to make it seem more realistic. When people end up writing about small towns without having actually lived in them, you end up with the piece-of-shit _movie_ “Sweet Home Alabama” instead of the all-time-great _song_ “Sweet Home Alabama”. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/24 "2004-09-28T17:09:43Z")
Who was the founder of the town? Name it after him. In the Finish the Western thread, the name of the town is Anderson’s Gulch. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/25 "2004-09-28T17:21:32Z")
Mount Yourneighbor ---
**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/26 "2004-09-28T17:38:46Z")
I have no reason for suggesting this town name; it was just the first (and last) one I thought of: Knocker’s Rock. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/27 "2004-09-28T17:49:25Z")
Place names … one of my favorite topics. Stereotypical hillbilly place names like “Cooter Patch” or “Bubba’s Knob” aren’t really that common. Sure, they’re out there, but they’re the exception, not the rule. Religious place names outside of Spanish North America are commonly associated with utopian settlements of the 1800s. A random patch of dirt in Arkansas probably won’t have a name like Leviticus or Jehrico. Place names in some parts of the country often have a distinct sound, vocabulary and/or or cadence that closely ties it to the region. The imaginary city of Arlen, from King of the Hill, is about as perfect of a Texas place name as you’ll find. For Virginia, I’d say pick a random family name, make is posessive, and add “Ferry” to the end. For Pennsylvania, add “Forge” to any word or name. For a suburb of Cleveland, add “Heights.” For a suburb of St. Louis, pick any elegant-sounding French word. For Tennessee, add the suffix “ville” to any one or two-syllable English-language name. Arkansas was originally explored and claimed by the French, so a bastardization of a French name for a geographic feature might work. Entering “deep forest” into a translation engine results in “forêt profonds”, so maybe … **Fouray**? ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/28 "2004-09-28T18:05:37Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Place names … one of my favorite topics. > > Stereotypical hillbilly place names like “Cooter Patch” or “Bubba’s Knob” aren’t really that common. Sure, they’re out there, but they’re the exception, not the rule. > > Religious place names outside of Spanish North America are commonly associated with utopian settlements of the 1800s. A random patch of dirt in Arkansas probably won’t have a name like Leviticus or Jehrico. > > Place names in some parts of the country often have a distinct sound, vocabulary and/or or cadence that closely ties it to the region. The imaginary city of Arlen, from King of the Hill, is about as perfect of a Texas place name as you’ll find. For Virginia, I’d say pick a random family name, make is posessive, and add “Ferry” to the end. For Pennsylvania, add “Forge” to any word or name. For a suburb of Cleveland, add “Heights.” For a suburb of St. Louis, pick any elegant-sounding French word. For Tennessee, add the suffix “ville” to any one or two-syllable English-language name. > > Arkansas was originally explored and claimed by the French, so a bastardization of a French name for a geographic feature might work. Entering “deep forest” into a translation engine results in “forêt profonds”, so maybe … **Fouray**? Cooter Patch and Bubba’s Knob should be right next to each other. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/29 "2004-09-28T18:07:35Z")
Here are some suggestions, most of which are actual towns in my general vicinity. Bagdad (Where I live) Cropper Vigo Waddy Peytona Bald Knob Finchville Elmburg Pleasureville New Castle Gratz Alton Nebo Drakesboro Pembroke Crofton Dunmor Dawson Springs Yelvington Sinking Fork ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/30 "2004-09-28T19:20:56Z")
Another thought: I’ve seen many an obsolete or outdated place name used in a small town. Constantinople, Peking, Peiping, Formosa, Tokio, Persia and Siam could work. Stalingrad or Tenochtitlan probably wouldn’t. One thing I’ve seen in the Midwestern are transplanted but deliberately mispronounced foreign place names, a classic example being Cairo, Illinois. You could lend a little bit of flavor to your town by naming it “Chardonnay,” but have it pronounced “char-DON-nee”, or “Berlin” pronounced as “burr-LINE”. Then again, “Burlein” sounds like a town in west Texas, near Angus, Lock n’ Load, Schreckenbacher, Spur, Shorthorn, and Elrod, also imaginary Texas-sounding names I picked off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/31 "2004-09-28T19:47:37Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > How about “Ripon”? It’s the name of a conservative little town in California’s central valley that I don’t have too many fond memories of. Whoa. I’ve known two people from Ripon (a co-worker and a college classmate). If I’m not mistaken, you’re not too far from the lovely town of Delhi (pron. Dell-high) which, as we all know, is the namesake for the Indian city of New Delhi. As far as the hick town goes…I’ve always wanted to live in **Squatsville**. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/32 "2004-09-28T20:34:47Z")
Flawless. It jumped out at me for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/33 "2004-09-28T21:12:25Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > The people knew that demons stalked the forest, and kept their children in at night. For years the local farmers had been losing animals to the things that walked beyond the torchlight, but whatever they were, they appeared to fear the light. _The Village_? Sorry, just seems a little familiar… Any suggestions you get from me probably won’t be Ozarks enough, though a lot of US places are named after Irish or English towns. Where I’m from in England, there were places like “Long Wittenham Stump”, which always struck me as spooky, and a genuinely creepy village-of-the-damned hick village called “Adwell”. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/34 "2004-09-28T21:38:38Z")
[Abaddon.](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Abaddon) > [@](#): > > Abaddon > > \A\*bad"don\ ([.a]\*b[a^]d"d[u^]n), n. [Heb. [=a]badd[=o]n destruction, abyss, fr. [=a]bad to be lost, to perish.] 1. The destroyer, or angel of the bottomless pit; – the same as Apollyon and Asmodeus. > > 1. Hell; the bottomless pit. [Poetic] > > In all her gates, Abaddon rues Thy bold attempt. --Milton. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/35 "2004-09-28T21:48:12Z")
> [@AugestWest](#): > > Here are some suggestions, most of which are actual towns in my general vicinity. > > Bagdad (Where I live) > Cropper > Vigo > Waddy > Peytona > Bald Knob > Finchville > Elmburg > Pleasureville > New Castle > Gratz > Alton > Nebo > Drakesboro > Pembroke > Crofton > Dunmor > Dawson Springs > Yelvington > Sinking Fork I assume you’re near Frankfort KY then. I was going to add some other names from Boyle County KY (my high school home) which resonate… Needmore Atoka Junction City Gravel Switch Parksville Forkland Perryville Tennessee Ridge Pumpkin Run Mitchellsburg Knob White Oak Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/36 "2004-09-28T21:48:29Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **HPL** :_ > > > [@](#): > > > > Being raised in a small southern city that was surrounded by a handful of small hamlets that sound vaguely of what you’re describing, I can tell you it’s overwhelmingly cliched. Places like that exist only in literature and people’s imaginations. > > I was afraid of that. Looks I may need to re-tool it a little to make it seem more realistic. Not necessarily. It depends on who you have in mind for your narrator, but if s/he is a big-city person and has condescending attitudes about small-town people, your opening could be perfect. Particularly if your narrator discovers that these people are pretty damn smart. Have fun with the story! ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/37 "2004-09-29T00:38:23Z")
Three tiny towns near here are **Hardscrabble, Florida Station, and Beauvoir Circle.** Three weeks ago, I was in **Gnaw Bone.** ---
**Author:** ![hermann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b487fb/32.png) [@hermann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hermann)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/38 "2004-09-29T00:57:52Z")
Buckhorn, and it should have an Army post nearby, possibly named Ft Leonard Wood. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bangiadore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@Bangiadore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bangiadore)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/39 "2004-09-29T01:08:43Z")
Though you’ve described Montville, I’ll have to say Cappadocia. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-hick-town/266439/40 "2004-09-29T02:37:25Z")
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