So here’s some satisfyingly juvenile humour, for which I make little or no apology, since a little every now and again is ok.
One of the things I love about driving cross country in the USA is the sometimes amusing (or just downright strange) names you find that some towns have. My favourite is still Peculiar, in Missouri. I’ve driven past it three times now and every time I’ve been meaning to stop and go and see what it is like. I’ve been secretly hoping that the laws of Physics would not be quite right….not weirdly so…. just peculiar. But I have never stopped there, so I don’t know. (I just checked one of the city’s official websites. There’s a FAQ section with nothing in it, so far….You would think that would be the number one question. Anyway, here is a Wikipedia entry.)
Anyway, I’m still not entirely sure that this is not an early, or late, April Fool joke, but there are several stories in several newspapers about a town in Austria, called F***ing. (There are impressionable young people reading, so I’ve replaced three letters….) As you might imagine -if you know our sort- this is to the delight of the British tourists, who have been annoying the residents with their sign-stealing, questions, and general snorting and giggling. Here’s a link, and here’s another*. (Strangely I can’t find a link to an article in my old standby, the Guardian, so just to be bold, I’ll give you a link from the Telegraph.)
Some extracts, so that you get the idea of the tone of the discussion and reporting:
“It may be very amusing for you British, but F—ing is simply F—ing to us. What is this big F—ing joke? It is puerile.”
…also…
Local guide Andreas Behmueller said it was only the British that had a fixation with F—ing. “The Germans all want to see the Mozart house in Salzburg,” he explained. “Every American seems to care only about ‘The Sound of Music’ (the 1965 film shot around Salzburg). The occasional Japanese wants to see Hitler’s birthplace in Braunau. “But for the British, it’s all about F—ing.”
…and…
“Just this morning I had to tell an English lady who stopped by that there were no F—ing postcards.”
I really can’t think of anything else to say….
-cvj
*Thanks Cathy!
August 30th, 2005 at 7:58 pm
Very welcome.
August 30th, 2005 at 8:07 pm
British tourists are not, alas, the best advertisement for Britain.
August 30th, 2005 at 9:39 pm
This was totally hilarious! We’ve been laughing our heads off. Tom is planning a trip to Austria and now has put f***ing on the top of his agenda! I need pictures.
August 30th, 2005 at 9:50 pm
Well, Tom, good luck with that. But I don’t need to see the pictures.
August 30th, 2005 at 10:20 pm
JoAnne, Tell him to bring back a sign…..!
-cvj
August 30th, 2005 at 10:30 pm
Anyway I can assure you that it is real: I found it on a [very detailed] road map of Austria. I have not been able to find Windpassing, however.
I fail to see anything puerile in any of this, or anything specifically British. It’s funny, especially if you are not warned.
My favourite in this line was passed on to me by an Australian. Seems that a French explorer long ago named a certain bay there “Baie d’Espoir”. This has, sadly, been transmogrified into the Bay of Despair……
August 31st, 2005 at 12:16 am
I need the F…ing sign for my office, would be great above the couch!
August 31st, 2005 at 1:44 am
Place names are none thing but check the university webpage and resume of this unfortunately named gentleman who is a repected professor of geology in Brazil:
http://www.unb.br/ig/prof/ReinhardtAdolfoFuck.htm
At Google scholar you could check his publication list.
Love his email address too:)
August 31st, 2005 at 8:32 am
On NPR a while ago they had interviews with the author of this book: http://www.google.com&opacID=openworldcat&isbn=1580084567 . He came across some real winners in the US, but nothing as good as that town
August 31st, 2005 at 1:37 pm
The town is near Salzburg. Here’s some photos:
http://www.snopes.com/photos/signs/austria.asp
August 31st, 2005 at 2:28 pm
Thanks Wendy!
-cvj
August 31st, 2005 at 4:59 pm
One of the joys of hailing from West Viriginia is the absolutely absurd town names in my state. Big Ugly (don’t miss the link) may be the most famous, but may favorite is a town on the way to Blacksburg called simply Bland. I never stopped, but my friend and I always imagine it would be like a rap video with women in bikinis and Cristal spraying everywhere.
P.S. Stow-on-the-Wold is easily the most ridiculous name for a town I have ever heard. So there.