From Fun and Focus:

WEEKLY SPECIAL: WHAT’S IN A NAME?

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Everything! Each person’s name is important to him / her as it is associated with the ‘self’ or ‘ego’. Even little kids get annoyed when you mishear their lisping, “My name is…” and address them wrongly. Don’t you get irritated if someone misspells or mispronounces your name?

This attachment extends to the names of pets, roads, villages and cities. The more ridiculous the name, the more tightly people cling to it, with reasons ranging from tradition to nostalgia.

Here are some place names I found highly entertaining.

For e.g., would you like to live in a place named Dull? How about Nasty? How Boring! Or perhaps, if you are Peculiar, you would prefer to settle down at Crackpot – or vice versa!

Believe me, the words highlighted in italics are all place names in different parts of the world.  

Would it thrill you to live in a place called Monkey’s Eyebrow or Ugley? My choice of residence is Louis de Ha! Ha! It appears to have a sense of humour!

People who love to go shopping might wish to reside at Shop. And I am sure residents of Cherrapunji, the rainiest place on earth, would vote with both hands for Waterproof.

Sleepyheads can choose between Little Snoring and Great Snoring. Spies can stay at Enigma, scientists at Experiment, businessmen… Plain Dealing and students at Can do, Cutoff, Competition, or Success. And wrongdoers might have to face the Truth or Consequences before the Climax!

Whew! I think I need a break. Shall we head for some Tea or Hot Coffee at Half.com? You will get the Best here, if not the Veribest!

Incidentally, the study of place names is called ‘toponymy’.

The village with the shortest place name in the world is Å. And there are 4 contenders for the place with the World’s longest name!

The first is a lake in the US. Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaibunagungamaugg is called Webster Lake by people who can’t spell or are frightened by the length of the name. It supposedly means, “You fish on your side, I’ll fish on my side, nobody fish in the middle.”

The second is a town: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch in Anglesy, North Wales. Loosely translated, it means, "The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio's of the red cave" in Welsh. Try getting that into the limited ‘address’ space on an inland cover!

The third and stronger contender is a hill in New Zealand which goes by an equally unpronounceable name: 

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu. 

This is Maori for  "the place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as 'landeater,' played his flute to his loved one." I wonder how tall the hill is!

But the undisputed winner, which made its way into the Guinness Book of World Records, is Bangkok or Krungthep. Surprised? Well, it appears its original Thai name is - hold your breath! –

Krungthep mahanakohn amorn rattanakosin mahintara yudthaya mahadilok pohp noparat rajathanee bureerom udomrajniwes mahasatarn udomrajniwes mahasatarn sakatattiya visanukram prasit.

This means: 

“The land of angels, the great city of immortality, of various divine gems, the great angelic, unconquerable land of nine noble, divine gems, the royal city, the pleasant capital place of the grand royal palace, forever land of angels and reincarnated spirits predestined and created by the highest Devas.”

Name change in a UK village, from short to long

I think that is Enough!