# News Item: Austrian town of Fucking changes its name . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 27, 2020, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538 "2020-11-27T03:04:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/1 "2020-11-27T03:04:15Z")
Tired of the ridicule, fed up with the Fucking sign-posts being stolen, the town is changing its name to . . . (Wait for it . . . ) Fugging This, apparently, is considered an improvement? [Link to news story](https://www.rawstory.com/2020/11/austrian-village-votes-to-changes-name-to-fugging-to-avoid-ridicule-report/). ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/2 "2020-11-27T03:17:53Z")
The story is apparently true, but **[a similar story circulated in 2012 turned out to be false](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fucking,_Austria#False_rumours_of_name_change)**. As Wikipedia stated at the time, in a report whose wording could not possibly have been improved upon, “The Fucking mayor denied these rumours when contacted.” ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/3 "2020-11-27T04:12:56Z")
If people would just take some dam pictures instead of stealing the Fucking signs, they wouldn’t have had to change the name. Here’s a quick video about Fucking I found a year or so ago. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bawmxQE_Fj0) ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/4 "2020-11-27T05:26:39Z")
If all else fails, try [Wank](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wank_(mountain)) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/5 "2020-11-27T05:39:45Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > If all else fails, try [Wank](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wank_(mountain)) Or Felching. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/6 "2020-11-27T05:42:05Z")
The Raw Story article I linked does mention a nearby town, just across the border in Germany, called Petting. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/7 "2020-11-27T06:13:59Z")
Ah, shame. I guess that’s going to be the end of the best-named beer ever, [Fucking Hell](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Fucking_Hell) (‘hell’ of course denoting the style, a ‘[Helles](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Helles)’, ‘hell’ meaning ‘pale’). I wish I’d kept a bottle of it… ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/8 "2020-11-27T07:17:22Z")
I think it was Eddie Izzard who spoke of a German who decided to escape the ignominy of having the former Fuhrer’s surname, so he thought tacking an “S” onto the beginning of it would be the right way to go. ---
**Author:** ![williambaskerville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@williambaskerville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williambaskerville)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/9 "2020-11-27T07:29:41Z")
Muff, County Donegal, Ireland, continues unabashed. There’s even a Muff Diving Club (seriously). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/10 "2020-11-27T07:57:32Z")
Intercourse Pennsylvania My sentiments exactly! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/11 "2020-11-27T11:55:43Z")
And strangely, all of the streets in the town are either “Fucking” or “Wolfing”. How do they deliver mail? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/12 "2020-11-27T12:49:01Z")
There’s about about 2 dozen buildings in the city and 4 or 5 roads, one of which is Wolfing, everything is is Fucking. I’d wager that all the buildings have unique numbers, as opposed to the same group of numbers on each block (like you’d find in a grid system). So, it might require a slight familiarity with the city, but the entire town looks like it would only take about 5 minutes to walk from one of to the other. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/13 "2020-11-27T15:53:23Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Here’s a quick video about Fucking I’ve heard about those. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/14 "2020-11-27T15:55:33Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Intercourse Pennsylvania Which – a touch ironically – is only about 15 minutes from Blue Ball, PA. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/15 "2020-11-27T16:04:24Z")
Did they do this because they know about Norman Mailer’s 1948 novel **The Naked and the Dead**? Owing to the threat of censorship back then, Mailer used “fugging” instead of “fucking” throughout the book. This lead to the (apparently apocryphal) story about a female celebrity who, upon meeting him, said “Oh, you’re the young man who doesn’t know how to spell ‘Fuck’”. [https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/03/12/fug/](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/03/12/fug/) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/16 "2020-11-27T16:23:06Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Which – a touch ironically – is only about 15 minutes from Blue Ball, PA. Bird in Hand, PA.? Just down the road from Fertility? WTH? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/17 "2020-11-27T16:34:05Z")
A really true True Fact: The route from Blue Ball, PA, to Paradise, PA, goes directly through Intercourse, PA. I gather all these are small, unincorporated hamlets. Google maps shows several routes from Blue Ball to Paradise; if you go via PA-23, you’ll miss going through Intercourse. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/18 "2020-11-27T16:40:45Z")
^ Nice! 😄 The Amish are pulling our leg, aren’t they, English? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/19 "2020-11-27T16:46:19Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > ^ Nice! 😄 The Amish are pulling our leg, aren’t they, English? - Wrong body part. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538/20 "2020-11-27T16:50:00Z")
Likewise, [US 666](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_491#U.S._Route_666) in Arizona and New Mexico was renumbered as US 491, mostly because the US 66 it was a spur of had been eliminated but also because the signs kept disappearing. After the announcement of the number change in 2003, it got worse. > Although sign theft has always been a problem along this highway, thefts reached epidemic proportions when the pending number change was announced. Within days of the announcement, virtually every US 666 sign had been stolen, some for sale on [eBay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay).[[34]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_491#cite_note-sttimes-34) Officials in Utah reported that five entire sign assemblies had been cut down with a chainsaw and stolen, while New Mexico officials reported that even signs welded to metal posts, as a theft deterrent, had been stolen. Officials speculated from one scene that someone had intentionally crashed a car into the sign post to break the welds.[[26]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_491#cite_note-nytimes2-26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-item-austrian-town-of-fucking-changes-its-name/926538.md?page=2)