# Places with funny names, with completely innocent origins **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2023, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654 "2023-09-05T16:46:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/41 "2023-09-06T04:02:51Z")
I drove from Albuquerque to Knoxville and back a few times taking my daughter’s team to the Destination Imagination global tournament. We always passed the sign for a town called Toad Suck, Arkansas. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/42 "2023-09-06T04:03:04Z")
There’s a [Uranus Missouri](https://www.uranusmissouri.com/). All sorts of stuff in their local paper. What to do in Uranus? What’s new in Uranus. Get your fudge in Uranus. “Exploring Uranus is an experience the whole family will enjoy” ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/43 "2023-09-06T04:08:51Z")
As a Dane, I feel that Middelfart should be in this collection. Its name come from the fact that it was the place of the middle ferry over Lillebælt. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/44 "2023-09-06T04:20:21Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Athol. Google says it’s a town in Idaho, " first known as Colton, the town was renamed Athol by a settler who came from Athol, Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Athol was named after a town in Scotland named for the Duke of Atholl." > > [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athol,_Massachusetts) weighs in on the name origin for Athol, Massachusetts: " Originally called Pequoiag when settled by Native Americans, the area was subsequently settled by five families in September 1735. When the township was incorporated in 1762, the name was changed to Athol. [John Murray](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Murray_(Massachusetts)), one of the proprietors of the land, chose the name which traditionally was believed to mean [“new Ireland”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atholl) although some, including historian [James E. Fraser](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_E._Fraser_(historian)), dispute this definition." > > The sniggering humor is obvious. Wait, what? I’m gonna go on record as an idiot here, because I’d prefer to be enlightened even it it means revealing my stupidity. So: I’m confused about the timeline/geography, but as near as I can tell from your post: **There is a town in Massachusetts.** Native Americans settled that area and call it Pequoiag. In 1762 a bunch of colonialists declared it to be called “Athol,” rightly or wrongly thinking this referred to “New Ireland.” **There is a town in Idaho.** It was known as Colton (something not mentioned in the Wikipedia link you provided). Later, a settler from Athol, MA, declared it to be called “Athol” and said that this name was after a town in Scotland named for the Duke of Athol. What am I missing? I know jokes rarely survive the explanation process, but still - can you tell me what makes that funny? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/45 "2023-09-06T04:24:56Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > can you tell me what makes that funny? “Athol” is likely pronounced similarly to how one would pronounce “asshole,” if one had a lisp. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/46 "2023-09-06T04:25:41Z")
Our former house was just a few streets over from Athol Street. No sniggering that I can remember. It’s just a name, here in Regina, which rhymes with … ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/47 "2023-09-06T04:34:05Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > It’s just a name, here in Regina, which rhymes with … Something that the Queen has but the King does not. Speaking of such things, no one’s mentioned Dildo, Newfoundland yet. As I understand it, _dildo_ used to be a nautical term for any cylindrical object that could be held in one’s hand. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/48 "2023-09-06T04:38:12Z")
_Dildo_ may not fit with the thread, though, because it may have been an intentional choice of a suggestive name. > Social scientist William Baillie Hamilton notes that Captain [James Cook](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cook) and his assistant Michael Lane, who mapped Newfoundland in the 1760s, often displayed a sense of humour in the place names they chose, and were not above selecting names that might “offend over-sensitive” readers. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/49 "2023-09-06T04:47:47Z")
Okay. As a former denizen of Massachusetts, the name “Athol” seems totally normal to me. Wouldn’t have ever made the connection to “asshole.” Live and learn. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/50 "2023-09-06T04:56:02Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > _Dildo_ may not fit with the thread, though, because it may have been an intentional choice of a suggestive name. > > > Social scientist William Baillie Hamilton notes that Captain [James Cook](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cook) and his assistant Michael Lane, who mapped Newfoundland in the 1760s, often displayed a sense of humour in the place names they chose, and were not above selecting names that might “offend over-sensitive” readers. Did Cook or Lane name the town? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/51 "2023-09-06T12:34:28Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > … Live and learn. The joke’s more obvious if you or one of your close friends has a lithp. ---
**Author:** ![a6ka97](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@a6ka97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a6ka97)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/52 "2023-09-06T14:01:09Z")
Kiester, a small town southern Minnesota. Named after a local judge. A toilet paper company filmed a commercial there a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/53 "2023-09-06T14:12:53Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@PastTense](#): > > > > Intercourse, Pennsylvania > > And, just a few miles away from Intercourse is [Blue Ball, PA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ball%2C_Pennsylvania); it gets its name from an inn which was located there, which had, as its sign, a blue ball on a post. Without leaving Pennsylvania, you can go from Blue Ball to Intercourse to [Climax](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climax,_Pennsylvania). ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/54 "2023-09-06T15:21:25Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Okay. As a former denizen of Massachusetts, the name “Athol” seems totally normal to me. Wouldn’t have ever made the connection to “asshole.” Live and learn. Clearly you didn’t have the same sort of obnoxiously juvenile acquaintances I did. Lucky you. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/55 "2023-09-06T17:40:45Z")
It’s really a place. They have a festival every year. The tee-shirts from them are always sought after. Very cool!! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/56 "2023-09-06T17:45:22Z")
Then there’s Cooterneck, Arkansas. Mostly just a volunteer fire department. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/57 "2023-09-06T17:47:25Z")
There is a village in Essex, UK called [Fingringhoe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingringhoe) ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/58 "2023-09-06T17:52:23Z")
After years of just driving by the sign because we didn’t have time and I was carrying other people’s kids, I had just my daughter and her best friend in the car coming back from their last tournament, so we took the detour and stopped in at the store. We bought t-shirts for everyone! ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/59 "2023-09-06T17:55:53Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Athol. Google says it’s a town in Idaho There’s an [Athol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athol,_Kansas) in Kansas as well, but it’s not as big of an Athol as the Athol in Idaho. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/60 "2023-09-06T18:33:48Z")
I don’t know how long ago it was but the older tee-shirts are worth some $$ Keith Urban has been spotted in one. Guy Fieri has shown up at the festival. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654.md?page=4)