1 Cockburn, Western Australia
Although this name is often pronounced "Coburn" by those who stand to lose from its awfulness, who actually reads that when they see this word? Oh, how it burns.
2 Twatt, Orkney, Shetland Islands, Scotland
The Shetland Islands, pronounced "Shitland Islands" by the locals. Oh the pride...
3 Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapok-
aiwhenuakitanatahu, New Zealand
Locals call this hill in Hawke's Bay "Taumata" because... Well. Just because.
4 Muff, Ireland
They have a town called Muff. Har har har.
5 Looneyville, Texas, United States
Little Looneyville was named for storekeeper John Looney in the early 1870s. But who gives a ****. This is a hilarious name for a town in the state that brought us Dallas, the Bush Twins and Waco. How awkward must that be when you go to college? "Hey guys, my name's Johnny and I'm from Looneyville!"
6 Titty Hill, Sussex, England
Falling squarely into the extensive Stupid Place Names From England category, Titty Hill is probably located just north of...
7 Thong, Kent, England
Which actually is south-east of...
8 Gravesend, Kent, England
Oh, come on, England. Graves End? What a nasty, depressing little name. You could have at least gone all the way with this one and called it Corpse Feet.
9 Wetwang, Yorkshire... yep! England again!
Okay, so I'll cut England some slack. It's an old country. You know, if the United States is Google, then England is IBM. Their country is older than freakin dirt. They can't be blamed for having names that sound funny in 2007. But this is kind of ridiculous. Wetwang? I'm surprised they don't have towns called Squishy Vagina or Infected Scrotum.
10 Spread Eagle, Wisconsin
If I were mayor of Spread Eagle, I'd be making diplomatic advances towards the city leaders over in Wetwang to form a Sister-City relationship. Or maybe more of a Platonic-Friends-City relationship. After that, we'd just take thing slow and see what happened.
11 Bald Knob, Arkansas, United States
Well, I guess it's better than Hairy Knob. I assume England already has that one covered.
12 Cockup, Cumbria, England
Cumbria is a county in the very north-west of England. What the backwoods of Alabama are to America is what Cumbria is to Britain. They talk funny up there. Thus, it isn't thoroughly surprising that they have a town called Cockup. What do you call someone from this place? A Cockupper? Cockupeleite? Cockuppian? Cockupican? I suppose it's mildly better than Wetwangger.
13 Whiskey Dick Mountain, Washington State, United States
As hard as America tries, it can't compete with Britain's high standards. This was a good effort, though. Well done, Washington.
14 Hookersville, West Virginia
Undoubtedly named before "hooker" meant "prostitute who picks men up on street corners," Hookersville combines two crimes of place-naming. One, a dirty sounding adjective (they couldn't have chosen "Pleasant"? "Sunny"? "Happy"?) And two, they added "ville" to the end of the town's name. Affixing "ville" to the end of a town's name is like dressing your silly little dog in a cardigan and letting him carry his leash around in his mouth. It just makes the poor animal look stupid.
15 Hell, Michigan, United States
The people in this town at least seem to have a good sense of humor about their home's unfortunate name. Although, I'm sure there's some midwestern idiots in Hell who get all offended and defensive when the town shows up on lists like this. I'm looking forward to reading their insightful emails and comments.
16 Toad Suck, Arkansas, United States
So that's what they do down in the big AR.
17 Middelfart, Denmark
I guess it's not so funny to them, but how do we know that "Seattle" doesn't mean "Big Fat Stinking Turd" in Danish? That's right, we don't. And it probably does. 18 Horneytown, North Carolina, United States
Its proximity to Hookersville, West Virginia is no coincidence. I also assume that, like Hookersville, the naming of Horneytown took place before "horney" meant "aching for a hot piece of ***" with an extra "e". But I'm starting to wonder why, pride and tradition aside, the townspeople in these little places never saw it fit to change their homes' names? Do they enjoy being ridiculed by the entire English-speaking world?
19 Shitterton, Dorset, England
I wonder if they bleep out the first part of Shitterton's name if it's mentioned on the Disney Channel?
20 Disappointment, Kentucky, United States
Le sigh. Never mind. You live in a small town in Kentucky. At least it was appropriately named.
21 *******, Austria
The idiots who live in *******, Austria had a vote in 2004 to determine whether or not they should change the town's name, and you know what they did? They voted against it, preferring instead to put up with international ridicule, numerous stolen road-signs and horrific Google results.
22 Last but not least: Whakapapa
Why is this the worst place name in the world? In Maori, the native language of New Zealand, the "wh" sound is pronounced "f". Say it aloud in your office and see what happens.
23. Climax, Minn
Quite a popular name apparently, Climax is the name of 9 American towns and 1 Canadian. Climax appears to have been around since 1896 and gains its name from a company that produced chewing tobacco. It is claimed that when a visitor from Fertile, a settlement over the border in Iowa, unfortunately lost her life in an car crash, a local paper reported: ‘Fertile woman dies in Climax.’
24. ****
**** is a small village in Germany, with just 28 houses, and plenty of problems with british tourists that are stealing their signs. The sign has been replaced 27 times already and the village’s small budget is taking quite a beating because of it.
25. Dildo, Canada and Dildo Island
Dildo is a small town in Canada, and quite a nice one, as it got an award for being one of the ten prettiest small towns in Canada. Some residents have tried to change the name several times but to no avail. One person stated, "It was good enough for our forefathers so it’s good enough for us."
26. Condom, France
Given the more widespread social use, in the English language, of the word condom, it is interesting to note that the town is located on the river Baïse; baise, without the diaeresis, is a French vulgarism for a sex act. In French language however, a condom is usually called préservatif and seldom condom. The city is a popular target for street sign stealing tourists. It is also home to a museum of famous population-control devices.
27. Cocks, United Kingdom
Cocks location on the map
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=176500&y=52500&z=3&sv=176500,52500&st=OSGrid&lu=N&tl=~&ar=y&bi=~&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf
A small village as seen on the map. Couldn’t find other information about Cocks.
28. Puke, Albania
It seems that the region of Puke is actually considered one of the cleanest and pitoresque from Albania. And yes, those three dots on the sign are bullet holes.
29. Beaver Lick
Beaver Lick is a town from Kentucky, with a history of mineral deposits of salt, and it seems that many towns with such a history have the word Lick in them. None as appropriate as this one though.
30. Intercourse
With a population of 1,000, the town of Intercourse is located in Pennsylvania. When it was named, in 1814, intercourse had commercial connotations as related to business transactions, and people hoped it would become a trading center. Boy, were they wrong.
31. Sexmoan, Philippines
32. Tong ***, Hong Kong
Located on Lantau Island, in Hong Kong, Tong *** is a small village, quite popular for holiday recreation (I’m not surprised). The main attraction of the area is the Tong *** Beach, where houses can be rented.
Here's More (sorry for any repeats. I didn't feel like checking if I posted any of the one listed below:
French Lick, Indiana
Intercourse, Pennsylvania
Boring, Oregon
Dildo, Newfoundland, Canada
Why, Arizona
Hell, Michigan
Climax, Michigan
Gay, Michigan
Waterproof, Louisiana
Weed, New Mexico
Crappo, Maryland
Mud Lick, Kentucky
Blowhard, Australia
Blue Ball, Pennsylvania
Flushing, New York
Gas, Kansas
Normal, Illinois
Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico
Boysack (Tayside, Scot.)
Oatmeal, Texas
Santa Claus, Indiana
Happyland, Oklahoma
Monkey's Eyebrow, Arizona
Gaysport, Ohio
Gayville, South Dakota
North, South Carolina
Shoulderblade, Kentucky
Stalker, Pennsylvania
Bangs, Texas
Hot Coffee, Mississippi
Last Chance, Colorado
Two Egg, Florida
Quicksand, Kentucky
Dead Horse, Alaska
Earth, Texas
Gun Barrel City, Texas
Humptulips, Washington
Oddville, Kentucky
Paradox, Colorado
Yeehaw Junction, Florida
Christmas, Florida
Crackport (County unknown) See picture in Keepers' Colloquy
Experiment, Georgia
Elmo, Missouri
Hygiene, Colorado
Apes Hall (Norfolk)
Big Bone Lick State Park
Bobo, Mississippi
Boring, Maryland
Bumpass, Virginia
Cut and Shoot, Texas
Dry Prong, Louisiana
Frostproof, Florida
Novelty, Missouri
Odd, West Virginia
Ordinary, Kentucky
Petroleum, Kentucky
Poop Creek, Oregon
Sac City, Iowa
Walla Walla, Washington
Zap, North Dakota
Bird in Hand, New Mexico
California, Maryland
Dripping Springs, Texas
Enigma, Georgia
Frognot, Texas
Krypton, Kentucky
Man, West Virginia
Mary's Igloo, Alaska
Picnic, Florida
Ready, Kentucky
Relief, Kentu