I still remember how surprised I was when I learned that Nantucket was a real place.
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mhoye (mhoye@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:20:50 JST
mhoye
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mhoye (mhoye@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:20:52 JST
mhoye
What is the most made-up-sounding place name you know? I know they’re all made up but you know what I mean.
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GreenSkyOverMe (Monika) (greenskyoverme@ohai.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:32:42 JST
GreenSkyOverMe (Monika)
@mhoye Fucking, village in Austria.
Amerika, village (now part of a town) in Saxony, Germany.
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Chris Mackay 🇨🇦 (tantramar@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:33:13 JST
Chris Mackay 🇨🇦
@mhoye Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
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Peter Drake (peterdrake@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:33:19 JST
Peter Drake
@htdrake grew up near Boring, Oregon, which is a sister city of Dull, Scotland.
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Reg Braithwaite 🍓 (raganwald@social.bau-ha.us)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:33:20 JST
Reg Braithwaite 🍓
@mhoye https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Louis-du-Ha!_Ha!
And yes, the exclamation marks are part of the name.
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gms (gms@gladtech.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:34:09 JST
gms
@mhoye big bone lick, Kentucky
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Aaron Priven (aaronpriven@sfba.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:34:32 JST
Aaron Priven
@mhoye well California was the name of a place in a novel before it was used for a real place…
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Bujold (bujold@dice.camp)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:34:38 JST
Bujold
@mhoye For some reason I've never managed to figure out, there's a lot of villages at the northern end of the Gaspe peninsula with very "fantasy RPG location" types of names. Translated loosely, highlights include Bone Cape, Griffin's Cove (the preposition used in French makes it clear that we're talking mythical creature and not surname here) and my favorite, Sword Hilt. Further down the southern side, you also have one that translates (a bit more loosely) as Good Adventure
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scmbradley (scmbradley@mathstodon.xyz)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:34:48 JST
scmbradley
@mhoye I live near "Street Lane"
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scmbradley (scmbradley@mathstodon.xyz)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:34:52 JST
scmbradley
@mhoye near here there are villages with names like Giggleswick, Eldroth, Feizor and Penistone.
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neoluddite (neoluddite@aus.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:35:10 JST
neoluddite
@mhoye in Australia it's a toss up between Batman and Boggabilla
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Derek Martin (lo_fye@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:35:26 JST
Derek Martin
@mhoye Dildo, Newfoundland
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May Likes Toronto (mayintoronto@beige.party)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:35:28 JST
May Likes Toronto
@lo_fye There's a whole song! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ssrm-aLGNw
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Peter Bindels (dascandy@infosec.exchange)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:35:57 JST
Peter Bindels
@mhoye we used to have a test route from Kissing, Germany to Fucking, Austria. Takes about 2 hours.
Until those Fuckers changed their village name to Fugging.
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Rocketman (slothrop@chaos.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:36:23 JST
Rocketman
@mhoye As for silly place names, I’m quite fond of the German towns Linsengericht (Lentil dish) and Hüttengesäß (hut butt)
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Paul (plwt@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:36:28 JST
Paul
@mhoye There is a well known railway station at Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
Slightly further away from North Wales are the villages of Over Wallop, Middle Wallop and Nether Wallop.
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🇨🇦 Joey Eremondi (joey@mathstodon.xyz)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:36:44 JST
🇨🇦 Joey Eremondi
@mhoye Saskatchewan has Eyebrow, Elbow, Moose Jaw, and Climax
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Lee Dohm (leedohm@techhub.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:36:54 JST
Lee Dohm
@mhoye Weed, California
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Ben Aveling (benaveling@mastodon.ie)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:37:06 JST
Ben Aveling
@mhoye Leopardstown
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Rachel Rawlings (linuxandyarn@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:37:08 JST
Rachel Rawlings
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Michael Newton (mavnn@mastodon.sdf.org)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:37:09 JST
Michael Newton
@mhoye Nether Wallop https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nether_Wallop
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Rachel Rawlings (linuxandyarn@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:37:43 JST
Rachel Rawlings
@leedohm @mhoye Pennsylvania has a bunch of them. Most noticeable in Amish Country: Intercourse and Bird-In-Hand. Now if we also had Jilloff and Vibe, we could make pretty much everyone happy.
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stephen (dmaonr@mastodon.online)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:37:51 JST
stephen
@mhoye Nova Scotia loves prefixes to place names like Upper, Middle, Lower, or East, West, etc. This is carried out to extremes in Lower East Pubnico to Upper West Pubnico. Why is there a Center East Pubnico and a Middle East Pubnico? Does East Pubnico include Lower/Middle/Center/Upper East Pubnico?? And Pubnico??? what is that?
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TerrorflonTrout :bc: he/him (teflontrout@beige.party)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:37:55 JST
TerrorflonTrout :bc: he/him
@mhoye Poughkeepsie
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Ken Milmore (kbm0@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:38:05 JST
Ken Milmore
@mhoye There's a pit village near me called No Place.
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Si Dawson (sidawson@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:38:08 JST
Si Dawson
@mhoye When I was a child I read an (Australian) kids book that mentioned Moonee Ponds.
Which - of course - was fictional.
Until maybe 40 years later I ended up living in the suburb over, in Melbourne.
Blew my mind.
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fraggle (fraggle@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:38:25 JST
fraggle
@mhoye City of Industry, CA
Edit: or Street, UK - hq of the Clark's shoe manufacturing company
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Phredd Groves (phredd@dice.camp)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:38:42 JST
Phredd Groves
@mhoye Catbrain
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Craig (craigcook@techhub.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:38:42 JST
Craig
@mhoye Timbuktu
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jbaggs (jbaggs@infosec.exchange)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:58:00 JST
jbaggs
@mhoye Zzyzx, though it could be argued that one is more made up than most.
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AspiringLuddite (aspiringluddite@medievalist.masto.host)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:59:05 JST
AspiringLuddite
Little Snoring
and
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paramnesiac (paramnesiac@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 17-Sep-2025 15:59:09 JST
paramnesiac
@mhoye Zzyzx, California
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Hraban (fiëé visuëlle) (fiee@literatur.social)'s status on Thursday, 18-Sep-2025 05:31:17 JST
Hraban (fiëé visuëlle)
@GreenSkyOverMe @mhoye Oh, we have a lot of funny names in Germany:
– Katzenhirn (cat’s brain)
– Spinnenhirn (spider’s brain)
– Pups (fart)
– Kuchen (cake)
– Langweiler (bore)
– Husten (cough) & Niesen (sneeze)
– Jucken (itch)
– Hundeluft (dog air)
– Kloschwitz (loo sweat)
– Kotzen (vomit)
– Pinkler (wee-er)
…(Often the name actually means something else, e.g. Langweiler = long hamlet, or the origin got lost.)
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