# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/81 "2023-09-08T02:37:09Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Gobbler’s Knob, Utah, and Knob Noster and Pilot Knob, Missouri. You forgot [Knob Lick, Missouri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knob_Lick,_Missouri) which has been around since at least 1870. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/82 "2023-09-08T08:46:04Z")
Also Cockermouth in Cumbria - > **[Cockermouth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockermouth)** > > Cockermouth /ˈkɒkərməθ/ is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary area of Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cockermouth has a population of 8,204, increasing to 8,761 at the 2011 Census. > Historically a part of Cumberland, Cockermouth is situated outside the English Lake District on its northwest fringe. Much of the architectural core of the town remains... ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/83 "2023-09-09T00:50:40Z")
[Head-Smashed-In, Alberta](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-Smashed-In_Buffalo_Jump). It was a buffalo jump used by Aboriginals for 5,500 years to kill bison by driving them off the 35-foot high cliff. But it’s not the buffalo whose heads are referred to in the name. According to legend, a young Blackfoot wanted to watch the bison plunge off the cliff from below, but was buried underneath the falling animals. He was later found dead under the pile of carcasses, where he had his head smashed in. And now you know… the _rest_ of the story. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/84 "2023-09-09T01:08:09Z")
Too late for edit: Oh wow. I was ninja’d all up and down in post #27 by Chronos. But I did at least add why the name is not quite what it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/85 "2023-09-10T19:58:36Z")
There’s a [River Piddle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Piddle) in Dorset in the UK. (This isn’t going to fly if “piddle” isn’t used in American English. Piddle as in _to pee unimpressively_ - it’s not a very impressive river). There are also a number of towns along it which used to be named for the river - [Turner’s Piddle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turners_Puddle), is an example - which have been bowdlerised to -puddle. Surprisingly, this happened in the last 50 or so years. I know this because my father worked with a man called Turner, and on a family holiday we had to divert via Turner’s Piddle to take a photo. He thought it was hilarious. This also gives me the chance to say, _I am my own cite_. Always wanted to do that. j Aside for historians: Tolpuddle, as in the Tolpuddle martyrs, is one of those towns. I can find plenty of sites on the 'net which argue that they should properly be called the Tolpiddle martyrs - but I don’t fully trust any of them. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/86 "2023-09-10T20:35:50Z")
Drove by this place earlier today. > **[Bitche · 57230, France](https://maps.app.goo.gl/Jzp7GDo6R532MBYC8)** > > 57230, France ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/87 "2023-09-10T20:59:02Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > There’s a [River Piddle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Piddle) in Dorset in the UK. (This isn’t going to fly if “piddle” isn’t used in American English. Piddle as in _to pee unimpressively_ - it’s not a very impressive river). That meaning is used in American. I recall years ago (long before the internet) that The Times published a letter from someone from Piddletrenthide and lots of others readers were amused by there being a town with that name. I didn’t (and still don’t) read the Times, but the whole episode was written up in another publication. ---
**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 11, 2023, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/88 "2023-09-11T02:11:15Z")
Americans also use “piddling” to refer to something small, insignificant, or inadequate. e.g. - He’s from Smalllvile, a piddling nowhere in Kansas. - That’s a really piddling excuse you’ve got there Smithers; you’re fired! - That cheapskate wouldn’t even pay the piddling $3 for better seats at the show. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/89 "2023-09-11T02:15:22Z")
I’m not sure why, but to me “piddling” evokes a mental image of a puppy peeing, rather than a human. e.g. “Oh, no, Rover piddled on the rug!” ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/90 "2023-09-11T13:44:47Z")
British TV has made me aware of Cockfosters, which is apparently a well-known tube station on the London Underground. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/91 "2023-09-11T14:27:33Z")
Well, I’m pleased to see that piddling is used in US English as well. Now, > [@MrAtoz](#): > > British TV has made me aware of Cockfosters, which is apparently a well-known tube station on the London Underground. Lord knows Fosters lager is dreadful, but it did give the world one splendid joke, delivered with panache by Paul Hogan. The commercial it appears in has the sort of cultural stereotyping (which isn’t actually relevant to the joke) which was acceptable back in the day but not so much now; so I’ll present it as script rather than linking. Scene: A London Underground station. A foreign tourist is puzzling over an underground map. He turns to Hogan and asks: Tourist: Excuse me please - can you tell me the way to Cockfosters? Hogan: Yeah, drink it warm mate. (To camera): Funny question… j ---
**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 11, 2023, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/92 "2023-09-11T14:44:16Z")
There’s an old story about an airman who won the local golf tournament while stationed at Morón Air Base in Spain. But he was always reluctant to show off his trophy, on which was inscribed: FIRST PRIZE MORON. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/93 "2023-09-11T16:40:59Z")
And that just reminded me that one of the light rail lines in Sacramento has a stop called Manlove. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/94 "2023-09-11T17:11:30Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Without leaving Pennsylvania, you can go from Blue Ball to Intercourse to [Climax](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climax,_Pennsylvania). Do you pass thru [Big Beaver](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Beaver,_Pennsylvania)? ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/95 "2023-09-11T17:40:49Z")
Toad Suck Arkansas ---
**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 11, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/96 "2023-09-11T18:22:34Z")
See also from 50 posts and a week ago: > [@InternetLegend](#): > > 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:** ![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 11, 2023, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/97 "2023-09-11T18:40:29Z")
> **[Thong, Kent](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thong,_Kent)** > > Thong is a hamlet southeast of Gravesend in Kent, England. The population of the hamlet is included in the civil parish of Shorne. > It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names and appeared as a question answer for Round Britain Quiz on BBC Radio 4. > The name 'Thong' is first attested in the Registrum Roffense of circa 1200, where it appears as Thuange. The name may correspond with the Middle Low German dwenge meaning 'trap', but this cannot be confirmed. ---
**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 11, 2023, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/98 "2023-09-11T19:06:35Z")
If we’re doing clothing there’s _Bikini atoll_ ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/99 "2023-09-11T19:12:35Z")
In that instance the swimsuit was actually named after the island. Supposedly the French (I think) fashion designer who invented the two piece woman’s swimsuit in the 1950s was trying to think of a name for this new piece of clothing, and heard a news report about the Americans testing the first hydrogen bomb on Bikini Atoll, and decided to go with that. ---
**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 11, 2023, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/100 "2023-09-11T19:27:40Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > If we’re doing clothing there’s _Bikini atoll_ Which is not to be confused with the “No Bikini Atoll,” from _Beany and Cecil_. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/88QOmxSa-IE/sddefault.jpg) ](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/88QOmxSa-IE/sddefault.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654.md?page=6)