# Strangely named places you've been to **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 18, 2019, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629 "2019-11-18T22:20:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [November 18, 2019, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/1 "2019-11-18T22:20:14Z")
This is a bit of an offshoot of the thread about strange things about towns you know, which I think should be self explanatory from the thread title. I’ve been to Cool, California on a hot day. I’ve passed through Weed, California on the way to Oregon. It’s legal here now! And yes, businesses there sell souvenirs playing up the slang meaning of the town’s name. I once went wine tasting in Fair Play, California. That town’s so small it doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page. I think I was treated fairly there. I’ve also driven through Rescue, California. It’s another really tiny town, but it has a post office, a school, and a fire station that I’m sure will rescue if needed. (There are a lot of small towns with interesting names in California, aren’t there? Most of them probably date from the Gold Rush.) For one not in California, I mailed some postcards and took a selfie in Hell, Norway, which I’m told actually means something perfectly innocent in Norwegian, although I’m sure all the residents are well aware of what it means in English. Really sending a postcard from Hell is pretty much the only reason tourists go to Hell. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/2 "2019-11-18T23:16:50Z")
St. Louis du Ha! Ha! in Quebec East Oostburg, WI (It is east of Oostburg, which translates from the dutch as Eastburg, so I’ve really been to East Eastburg. I live east of East Eastburg.) Felch, MI. Spread Eagle, WI. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/3 "2019-11-18T23:41:25Z")
I vacationed in Bumpass, Virginia. I think it’s pronounced Bum Pass, but of course we referred to it at Bump Ass all week. Also been to Hell, Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/4 "2019-11-18T23:58:35Z")
Intercourse, PA. Sent my HS teacher a postcard from there. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/5 "2019-11-19T00:20:32Z")
I spend a fair amount of time in Newfoundland, so… Dildo (you don’t believe me? Check [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i62RnsIQHM) out) Joe Batt’s Arm Exploits There are plenty more. Whoever got there first and named places way back when had a sense of humor, apparently. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2019, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/6 "2019-11-19T00:45:32Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Joe Batt’s Arm According to a guide in Alaska “arm” was a term English sailors used for a long, narrow inlet. Basically it means the same thing as a fjord. So I would assume Joe Batt’s Arm was a narrow inlet named after someone named Joe Batt. But it definitely is a funny sounding name. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2019, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/7 "2019-11-19T00:49:07Z")
Blue-eye, Arkansas. At least I think it’s in Arkansas. Very close to the Missouri border. DogPatch, Arkansas. ‘Mixdenny’ probably knows a bunch. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/8 "2019-11-19T01:02:43Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > I spend a fair amount of time in Newfoundland, so… > > Dildo (you don’t believe me? Check [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i62RnsIQHM) out) > Joe Batt’s Arm > Exploits > There are plenty more. Whoever got there first and named places way back when had a sense of humor, apparently. I passed by the Dildo sign in Newfoundland. I’ve been to Come by Chance and Witless Bay there. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/9 "2019-11-19T01:07:29Z")
While on TDY @ Barksdale AFB earlier in the year, my coworker and I took a drive up to Caddo Lake. On the west side of the lake was a little town called **Uncertain, TX**. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/10 "2019-11-19T01:31:20Z")
Slapout, Oklahoma Beck you can’t count Dogpatch, that’s like counting Truth or Consequences NM, it’s a commercially sponsored name. Unlike Slapout, Oklahoma. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2019, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/11 "2019-11-19T01:34:11Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Slapout, Oklahoma > > Beck you can’t count Dogpatch, that’s like counting Truth or Consequences NM, it’s a commercially sponsored name. > > Unlike Slapout, Oklahoma. Dang it. ---
**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 19, 2019, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/12 "2019-11-19T01:36:59Z")
**Dead Horse Point State Park** in Utah. **French King Bridge** , Massachusetts. Couldn’t they make up their minds about _which_ French King they were naming it after? Apparently the name comes from _French King Rock_, which is visible from the bridge. But that just transposes the question back one step without answering it. > **[French King Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_King_Bridge)** > > The French King Bridge is the three-span "cantilever arch" bridge that crosses the Connecticut River on the border between the towns of Erving and Gill, Massachusetts, United States. The bridge, part of Massachusetts Route 2, carries automobile, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic and is owned and managed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). > The French King Bridge (FKB) was opened to traffic on September 10, 1932. It was named the "Most Beautiful Steel Bridge" of 1932 by the... ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/13 "2019-11-19T02:28:13Z")
Slippery Dick’s Halfway Inn in Alaska. Backlick Road in Virginia. Boring, OR and Drain, OR. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/14 "2019-11-19T02:31:27Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Intercourse, PA. Sent my HS teacher a postcard from there. I have ridden the road from Blue Balls to Intercourse, on my mobile vibrator. I mean motorcycle. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2019, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/15 "2019-11-19T02:40:16Z")
[Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-Smashed-In_Buffalo_Jump) in Alberta, Canada. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/16 "2019-11-19T02:45:13Z")
Wartrace, Tennessee. I always read the name as Wart race. Some say it’s supposed to be War trace. I say that’s no fun. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/17 "2019-11-19T02:51:25Z")
I went thru Virginville last week. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/18 "2019-11-19T03:04:32Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **French King Bridge** , Massachusetts. Couldn’t they make up their minds about _which_ French King they were naming it after? I thought it was named after the nearby French King Motel. ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/19 "2019-11-19T03:58:28Z")
I once went to East Aurora, New York, which happens to be 98 miles WEST of Aurora, New York. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2019, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629/20 "2019-11-19T05:08:06Z")
Ragged Ass Road, Yellowknife, NWT [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strangely-named-places-youve-been-to/843629.md?page=2)