# 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:** 6
**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, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/101 "2023-09-11T19:39:35Z")
Nice! ---
**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, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/102 "2023-09-11T20:23:08Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > bomb on Bikini Atoll, and decided to go with that. You’ve got to admit the swimsuit really exploded on the scene. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/103 "2023-09-11T23:58:30Z")
People were always waiting to see if something would fall out. Back to the topic at hand…what does bikini _mean_ in whatever language was spoken by the people who named it? ---
**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 12, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/104 "2023-09-12T00:05:01Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > People were always waiting to see if something would fall out. I’m sure a lot of interpersonal fusion occurred as a direct result of all that fallout. Perhaps even some daughter species were produced. > [@silenus](#): > > what does bikini _mean_ in whatever language was spoken by the people who named it? Literally the very first sentence of the article: > **[Bikini Atoll](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_Atoll)** > > Bikini Atoll (/ˈbɪkɪˌniː/ or /bɪˈkiːni/; Marshallese: Pikinni, \[pʲiɡinnʲi\], meaning "coconut place"), known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 1800s and 1946, is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a 229.4-square-mile (594.1 km2) central lagoon. The Atoll is at the northern end of the Ralik Chain, approximately 530 miles (850 km) northwest of the capital Majuro. > After the Second World War, the atoll was chosen by the United States as a nuclear weapon testin... ---
**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 12, 2023, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/105 "2023-09-12T00:08:50Z")
Coconut place? That seems… fitting. At least for the top portion of the garment. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/106 "2023-09-12T00:54:41Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > You forgot [Knob Lick, Missouri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knob_Lick,_Missouri) which has been around since at least 1870. And don’t forget Bald Knob, Arkansas. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/107 "2023-09-12T00:56:57Z")
There’s a Goobertown, Arkansas founded by some peanut farmers in the 1800s. I here there isn’t much there anymore since the store was torn down recently. ---
**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 12, 2023, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/108 "2023-09-12T01:04:42Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Gobbler’s Knob, Utah And Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, of Groundhog Day fame. ---
**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 12, 2023, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/109 "2023-09-12T01:18:01Z")
Arkansas seems resplendent of funny named places. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/110 "2023-09-12T01:40:27Z")
Can you get from Fucket to Hell? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/111 "2023-09-12T06:34:57Z")
Round Bottom WV. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/112 "2023-09-12T07:12:12Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > [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. That’s not far from me, actually—maybe a thirty or forty minute drive. I’ve been to it; it has an impressive interpretive centre, in addition to the cliff itself. Recommended, and worth the drive from Calgary or Lethbridge. Another offering: Seldom Seen, Ontario. I lived in Stouffville, Ontario for a few years, and the local public library had a great collection of works on local history. Sure, they mentioned nearby places with ordinary names like Ringwood, Gormley, Musselman’s Lake, and Lincolnville; but then there was Seldom Seen. That part of Ontario had some impressive pine forests back in the 1800s, and there was a move to harvest as much lumber as possible, to aid in building the city of Toronto. One of the villages that sprang up to house lumber workers was Seldom Seen. Problem was, that while the trees were easy to get at, a deep river valley meant that there was only one road to get the lumber out to the railway at Stouffville. It could be done, but at an almost-greater cost than the lumber was worth. So the trees around the little place that became known as Seldom Seen, because nobody went there unless they had to, and was thus seldom seen, pretty much stayed in place, and people moved away. But not everybody. I’ve been to Seldom Seen, because I got curious one day. It’s quite small, and is pretty much only residential. A few streets, houses, and that’s about it. But it still retains its name, and as I understand things, residents are rather proud that their little village remains … Seldom Seen. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/113 "2023-09-12T08:19:01Z")
May I just add a note for Scunthorpe? It’s instructive to google ‘the scunthorpe problem’. ---
**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 12, 2023, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/114 "2023-09-12T12:06:33Z")
[Mollie’s Nipple](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mollie%27s_Nipple), a mountain peak (or a pair, or several) - it’s a butte! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/115 "2023-09-12T16:56:46Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > .[Mollie’s Nipple](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mollie%27s_Nipple), a mountain peak (or a pair, or several) - it’s a butte! And right purty too! ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/116 "2023-09-13T05:29:10Z")
The province of Newfoundland and Labrador has a number of odd names, including: Come By Chance The aforementioned Dildo Happy Adventure Heart’s Content, Heart’s Delight, and Heart’s Desire Jackson’s Arm, Joe Batt’s Arm, and multiple other Arms Leading Tickle Lushes Bight Petty Harbour River of Ponds Witless Bay (Arms, Tickles, and Bights are all ocean inlets.) ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/117 "2023-09-13T06:14:41Z")
Anybody want to go to a concert at [Wankdorf Stadium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankdorf_Stadium)? According to [here](https://www.dicconbewes.com/2010/03/31/what-the-swiss-get-up-to-when-they-go-to-wankdorf/) it means village on a green meadow. Afterwards you might want to stop at [Brig](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brig-Glis) (bridge). ---
**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 13, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/118 "2023-09-13T16:21:45Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > Jackson’s Arm, Joe Batt’s Arm, and multiple other Arms Those make sense when you realize “arm” used to mean a long, narrow bay (basically the sort of thing we’d call a fjord if it were in Norway). ---
**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 14, 2023, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/119 "2023-09-14T10:28:33Z")
Have we done French Lick (IN) yet? I don’t recall seeing it (but there’s a lot I don’t recall!) ---
**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 14, 2023, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654/120 "2023-09-14T12:05:48Z")
Just once near the beginning: > [@mbh](#): > > French Lick, Indiana, was originally a French trading post built near a spring and a salt lick. It’s not hard to search. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-with-funny-names-with-completely-innocent-origins/989654.md?page=7)