# Wagga Wagga! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 3, 2015, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082 "2015-03-03T08:42:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/61 "2015-03-16T12:29:24Z")
> [@Philliam](#): > > Don’t forget Wanker’s Corner (near Stafford). And post #18 mentions per a Wiki quote: Wankum, Germany. To continue with this theme: Germany also has Wankendorf; and India, Wankaner. Hwange in Zimbabwe was fully-and-officially named Wankie, throughout the country’s time as [Southern] Rhodesia. One would guess that some of the town’s white inhabitants were pleased at the change of name, irrespective of other developments at that time. Wanking, in China, is unfortunately mythical; presumably it would nowadays be spelt differently anyway. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/62 "2015-03-16T12:35:52Z")
Angola has some cities with names that a 8 year old boy would love - [Baía Farta](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba%C3%ADa_Farta), [Dongo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongo,_Angola), and [Mungo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mungo,_Angola). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/63 "2015-03-16T13:00:08Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > A list: Humpty Doo, Innaloo, Nowhere Else, Mooball, Yorkey’s Knob, Cock Wash, Diapur (pronounced just as you’d expect), Rooty Hill, Sunshine, Surfer’s Paradise, Wychproof, Eggs and Bacon Bay, Yass, Nyah, Wagga Wagga, Wonglepong, Foul Bay, Banana (they don’t grow bananas there), Cockburn, Come By Chance, Dog Wash, Tumbi Umbi. I have long wanted to visit [Suggan Buggan](https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.9613556,148.3407381,13z). ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/64 "2015-03-16T19:03:12Z")
> [@funky\_little\_lee](#): > > Semi-OT, but with the Pennsylvania situation you have to know the rest of the towns. > > Blue Ball > Bird-in-Hand > Intercourse > Paradise > > Unfortunately they are not all on the same road, but they are within several miles of each other. Always good for a chuckle, that. Don’t forget Mount Joy and Virginville. Some of these towns have installed large and heavy welcome signs to discourage drunk college students from stealing them again. Once you get bored of Pennsylvania, you can try to find love in [Loveladies, NJ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loveladies,_New_Jersey). ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/65 "2015-03-16T19:30:47Z")
And Oregon has [Boring](https://www.google.com/search?q=boring,+oregon&biw=1556&bih=946&tbm=isch&imgil=uP5nlVUjHiWVbM%253A%253BPbjjkoveq2 __mM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.forbes.com%25252Fsites%25252Fdavidthier%25252F2012%25252F04%25252F26%25252Fscottish-village-of-dull-moves-to-partner-with-boring-oregon%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=uP5nlVUjHiWVbM%253A%252CPbjjkoveq2__ mM%252C_&usg= __X3dns5NqvCzlFz85b-MS6yHRq14%3D&ved=0CD0Qyjc&ei=0y4HVfnnHtLZoASjzIC4Cw#imgrc=uP5nlVUjHiWVbM%253A%3BPbjjkoveq2__ mM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fblogs-images.forbes.com%252Fdavidthier%252Ffiles%252F2012%252F04%252FFileBoringorcity.jpeg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.forbes.com%252Fsites%252Fdavidthier%252F2012%252F04%252F26%252Fscottish-village-of-dull-moves-to-partner-with-boring-oregon%252F%3B250%3B188). It’s funny, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me had a question this week about a newly invented musical instrument from Australia, and one of the possible answers had Wagga Wagga as part of the instrument’s name. Due to having seen this thread, I thought that was the correct answer, but in fact it was something else. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/66 "2015-03-16T20:17:27Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Then there’s the fact that a major early explorer and entrepreneur in Victoria was John Batman, so there are plenty of people who live or work on Batman Street or Batman Road, or who commute through Batman Station, or drive down Batman Highway. Turkey has you beat there: [Batman Province](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_Province) whose capital is also [Batman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman,_Turkey) which is near the [Batman River](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_River) > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > And Oregon has [Boring](https://www.google.com/search?q=boring,+oregon&biw=1556&bih=946&tbm=isch&imgil=uP5nlVUjHiWVbM%253A%253BPbjjkoveq2 __mM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.forbes.com%25252Fsites%25252Fdavidthier%25252F2012%25252F04%25252F26%25252Fscottish-village-of-dull-moves-to-partner-with-boring-oregon%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=uP5nlVUjHiWVbM%253A%252CPbjjkoveq2__ mM%252C_&usg= __X3dns5NqvCzlFz85b-MS6yHRq14%3D&ved=0CD0Qyjc&ei=0y4HVfnnHtLZoASjzIC4Cw#imgrc=uP5nlVUjHiWVbM%253A%3BPbjjkoveq2__ mM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fblogs-images.forbes.com%252Fdavidthier%252Ffiles%252F2012%252F04%252FFileBoringorcity.jpeg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.forbes.com%252Fsites%252Fdavidthier%252F2012%252F04%252F26%252Fscottish-village-of-dull-moves-to-partner-with-boring-oregon%252F%3B250%3B188). That’s been mentioned a couple times already in this thread. And that url you gave should be taken out and shot. Oregon also has the town of Bandon. It’s down along the southern coast, not too far south of Coos Bay. Any large vessel based in that town would be known as (wait for it) … A BANDON SHIP… ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/67 "2015-03-17T05:48:10Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > Through work I’ve a list of around 20,000 locality names across Australia. A quick scan through that brings up these rippers: > > Boomahnoomoonah, Bang Bang, Budgee Budgee, Googa Googa, Goonoo Goonoo, Mungerdegunyidie and the rather pleasant sounding Mud Island. 🙂 Another island in Moreton Bay with a euphonious appellation is Coochiemudlo. > [@mhendo](#): > > I love some of the Aussie place-names. > > Back when i lived in Australia, i had a long-term relationship with a woman who lived in Tumbarumba, and my best mate from my high-school days is from Quandialla. I spent a year, as a kid, living just outside Mullumbimby (apparently now best-known as the place where Iggy Azalea grew up). Mullumbimby is on the New South Wales north coast, just south of Billinudgel and the aforementioned Mooball. It is in a region generally near Byron Bay where hippies congregate; locally Mullumbimby is also pretty well known for “Mullumbimby Madness”, a strain of weed that is (or was) apparently admired. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/68 "2015-03-17T06:25:21Z")
> [@Noel\_Prosequi](#): > > Mullumbimby is on the New South Wales north coast, just south of Billinudgel and the aforementioned Mooball. It is in a region generally near Byron Bay where hippies congregate; locally Mullumbimby is also pretty well known for “Mullumbimby Madness”, a strain of weed that is (or was) apparently admired. Whilst once upon a time there might have been hippies aplenty in Byron Bay, alas the real-estate prices now have priced them out of the market. Have you seen what joints\* are going for there now?? Absolutely crazy! \*Joints of the residential, not the herbal kind. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/69 "2015-03-17T08:27:53Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > I live near Koo Wee Rup, Poowong and Nar Nar Goon. I used to live closer to Won Wron, former home of the Won Wron Prison Farm and nothing else. I had no idea you were in that area! I rode passed Poowong (and did have an immature chuckle) just a couple of weeks ago on my way to Phillip Island! Next time I’ll wave in your direction 🙂 > [@GuanoLad](#): > > I have long wanted to visit [Suggan Buggan](https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.9613556,148.3407381,13z). It’s… underwhelming. Blink and you’ll miss it. My last project involved a lot of maps of regional NSW and several team members were from overseas, leading to lots of giggles and “how do you even say that???”'s I have live in Woy Woy, Budgewoi, Mt Kuring-gai and am now living in Yarramalong. My friends now say I moved to Yarramalongwayaway 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/70 "2015-03-17T09:48:13Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Back when i lived in Australia, i had a long-term relationship with a woman who lived in Tumbarumba… Belatedly noted via another post, and topic-drifting somewhat: I recall on British television in the 1950s, a charming Australian lady called Shirley Abicair, who played the zither and sang and told stories for kids. Some of the stories were about the doings of three little Aboriginal boys called Tea-cup, Clothes-Peg, and Tumbarumba – this last, presumably named after the town. It would all, likely, be nowadays reckoned dreadfully patronising and unacceptable; but from what I remember it seemed to us kids at the time, gentle and agreeable fun. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/71 "2015-03-18T03:50:49Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > After I discovered that it wasn’t a computer or clerical error at work and there _really is_ an Australian town called 1770, I got interested in some of what this great country has to offer. A list: Humpty Doo, Innaloo, Nowhere Else, Mooball, Yorkey’s Knob, Cock Wash, Diapur (pronounced just as you’d expect), Rooty Hill, Sunshine, Surfer’s Paradise, Wychproof, Eggs and Bacon Bay, Yass, Nyah, Wagga Wagga, Wonglepong, Foul Bay, Banana (they don’t grow bananas there), Cockburn, Come By Chance, Dog Wash, Tumbi Umbi. > > Then there is, in my opinion, the holy trifecta: Humpybong, Tittibong, and Bong Bong. > > Then there’s the fact that a major early explorer and entrepreneur in Victoria was John Batman, so there are plenty of people who live or work on Batman Street or Batman Road, or who commute through Batman Station, or drive down Batman Highway. I’m sorry, but if you haven’t found the delightful settlement of Watanobbi you haven’t plumbed the heights of Australian comedy place names. On the downside there’s a place called Collector, which is half way between Sydney and Melbourne. Supposedly it’s where the tax collectors extracted tariffs from the passing trade between the two largest towns of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/72 "2015-03-18T09:06:28Z")
There is a Bum Bum Creek not far from Crows Nest. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/73 "2015-03-18T09:22:36Z")
I used to ski on a New Zealand skifield called Whakapapa. (Wh is pronounced roughly F). You had to drive through Bulls to get there. Keep going north and you’ll finally reach Waipu (why poo). ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/74 "2015-03-18T10:41:58Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > Belatedly noted via another post, and topic-drifting somewhat: I recall on British television in the 1950s, a charming Australian lady called Shirley Abicair, who played the zither and sang and told stories for kids. Some of the stories were about the doings of three little Aboriginal boys called Tea-cup, Clothes-Peg, and Tumbarumba – this last, presumably named after the town. It would all, likely, be nowadays reckoned dreadfully patronising and unacceptable; but from what I remember it seemed to us kids at the time, gentle and agreeable fun. Sadly, it used to be the case that rural station owners or their staff got to name aboriginal kids born on the station, and the namers were not uncommonly hopelessly lazy and named children after nearby objects such as Sunlight (a brand of soap), other detergents, product names on boxes, and so on. Tea cup and Clothes Peg are, I suspect, informed by that tradition. There is a family whose surname is Lectricmotor - I don’t know if the misspelling is a consequence of the illiteracy of the person who named the family or of blurring in the passing of the name through generations or some other reason. ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/75 "2015-03-18T10:51:33Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > So even being a native-born Aussie, I learned something new today. > > Goonoo Goonoo is pronounced GUNNAGANOO. > > And Mogill Mogill is pronounced Mogul-maGILL. > > There ya go! 🙂 I always used Goonoo Goonoo and Ariah Park as examples of why, when you move to a new town, you need to ask how pronounce names. Nobody ever gets either right first go, but a few did luck into saying Nunjikompita right. ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/76 "2015-03-18T10:54:49Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Then there’s the fact that a major early explorer and entrepreneur in Victoria was John Batman, so there are plenty of people who live or work on Batman Street or Batman Road, or who commute through Batman Station, or drive down Batman Highway. Melbourne, Victoria’s capital, was nearly named Batmania. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/77 "2015-03-20T19:02:07Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > Belatedly noted via another post, and topic-drifting somewhat: I recall on British television in the 1950s, a charming Australian lady called Shirley Abicair, who played the zither and sang and told stories for kids. Some of the stories were about the doings of three little Aboriginal boys called Tea-cup, Clothes-Peg, and Tumbarumba – this last, presumably named after the town. It would all, likely, be nowadays reckoned dreadfully patronising and unacceptable; but from what I remember it seemed to us kids at the time, gentle and agreeable fun. > [@Noel\_Prosequi](#): > > Sadly, it used to be the case that rural station owners or their staff got to name aboriginal kids born on the station, and the namers were not uncommonly hopelessly lazy and named children after nearby objects such as Sunlight (a brand of soap), other detergents, product names on boxes, and so on. Tea cup and Clothes Peg are, I suspect, informed by that tradition. There is a family whose surname is Lectricmotor - I don’t know if the misspelling is a consequence of the illiteracy of the person who named the family or of blurring in the passing of the name through generations or some other reason. Oh, dear, that’s – not good. Hearing the stories as a kid, I vaguely assumed – on the model of cowboys-and-Indians lore – that, as often with Native Americans, T-C and T-P would have had “proper” Aboriginal names (quite possibly, unpronounceable for the likes of us), and their English-language names in parallel. What you describe is: well, disrespectful, to put it no more strongly. ---
**Author:** ![Fossil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/47e85d/32.png) [@Fossil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fossil)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/78 "2015-03-21T12:00:31Z")
Australia also has a town named 1770. That’s right, its just a number, it pronounced seventeen seventy. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/79 "2015-03-21T12:24:48Z")
The best Aussie town name is still Humpty Doo. > **[Humpty Doo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpty_Doo)** > > Humpty Doo is a small town in Australia's Northern Territory, situated just south of the Arnhem Highway, approximately 40 km from Darwin. At the 2016 census, Humpty Doo had a population of 4,313 people. Its local government area is Litchfield Municipality. The town is a popular stopping point for tourists travelling between Darwin and Kakadu National Park, and boasts many attractions of its own. The main industries are agriculture and tourism; however, most residents commute to Darwin or Palme... ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082/80 "2015-03-21T13:26:20Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > On the downside there’s a place called Collector, which is half way between Sydney and Melbourne. Supposedly it’s where the tax collectors extracted tariffs from the passing trade between the two largest towns of the time. Bzzzzzz … wrong. Even a cursory look at a map shows Collector is between Goulburn and Canberra. So it’s 230km from Sydney and about 650km from Melbourne. The town closest to the mid point of a Sydney-Melbourne trip is Tarcutta, over 200km south. The nearest customs house was, obviously enough on the NSW/Vic border at Albury, over 300km south of Collector. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagga-wagga/714082.md?page=5)