And it got me thinking, these towns are small and their names aren't really known my question is out of the many major cities in the world, which one do you think has the worst name?
My vote goes for either Miami or Pittsburgh. I don't even know where the name Miami comes from or just, I don't know it sounds weird to me and I never thought it was right to name a city like an armpit...
type-rated From United States of America, joined Sep 1999, 4343 posts, RR: 21 Reply 1, posted (10 months 3 days 17 hours ago) and read 5356 times:
To tell you the truth, I never liked the name Chicago for a city. In the local Indian dialect of 160 years ago it meant "smelly onion". Why would you name a settlement after that?
Let's not forget
Intercourse, PA
Waterproof, LA
Ozona,TX (Out in the middle of the west Texas desert).
Fly North Central Airlines..The route of the Northliners!
aloges From Germany, joined Jan 2006, 8353 posts, RR: 47 Reply 5, posted (10 months 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 5299 times:
I've long since found "Rio de Janeiro" to be a particularly poor name for such an impressive city. "River of January", right, so where's the February issue?
Apart from that, I certainly wouldn't say "Augh!" if I had to go to Auckland some day.
Walk together, talk together all ye peoples of the earth. Then, and only then, shall ye have peace.
PlymSpotter From Spain, joined Jun 2004, 11113 posts, RR: 63 Reply 7, posted (10 months 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 5276 times:
Quoting lewis (Reply 4): I though the same for Bangalore - unless you use the more local Bengaluru as an alternative.
And perhaps Lahore too.
People may have thought twice before travelling to the Soviet city of Nukus during the Cold War. I've also heard jokes/puns made about Kutaisi, Moroni, Kunming etc...
GEEZER From United States of America, joined Aug 2010, 1404 posts, RR: 1 Reply 24, posted (10 months 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 5123 times:
Anybody ever been through "Junior" West Vagina ?
By the way, just as you go through "Intercourse, Pa., you end up three miles down the road in "Paradise" !
I used to have to go to New York State a lot; Used to deliver new Firebirds to "Osweego", "Otsego", "Otego", and "Owego", not to mention "Ossining", "Oneonta", Nisseqougue, Niskayuna, then the one I always had trouble finding, "Skaneateles", (which all the locals pronounce as"Skinny atlas" ). Further east, they have "Walkill", "Fishkill", ( and nearby in Pennsylvania is "Schuylkill". ( Which is not far from "Shickshinny".............)
Incidentally, Pennsylvania also has a "Woodcock", a "Steelcock", a "Stonecock, and a "Petcock" ! (not sure which is the largest)
Charley
Stupidity: Doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different result; Albert Einstein
25 EricR: I don't know why, but I always found Chittagong Bangladesh to be an odd name.
27 SmittyOne: I see what you did there! Love that one. Schenectady is no picnic either.
28 ouboy79: You are probably the only one who would make that connection. :-P Everyone else would just think Cedar Point. Shocked none here in Oklahoma made the
29 David L: And who was Oka? Wait... Am I missing something - [Whatever], West Vagina?
30 aer lingus: There a place called Bastardstown, Wexford, Ireland!
31 ANITIX87: The similarity in town names in close proximity is always amusing. Driving to my girlfriend's house, I pass by: Woodbridge Ridgewood Woodridge Westwo
32 northstardc4m: Hot Springs, NM don't count... they cheated We have the same problem with "york" in Toronto... yes i know it was called York but still: Yorkdale York
33 PHX787: Yeah ask Superfly or Doc about that Imafuku- a small town that has a good trucking industry in Japan A popular Japanese last name actually. my additi
34 David L: Actually... it's in the list referenced in the OP! My question is: when was the comma added? The best I can offer is Spittal in SE Glasgow.
35 PHX787: Yeah i saw that on the list after I posted
36 stasisLAX: Blue Ball, Ohio is a rather unfortunate name for a town.
37 PPVRA: The name comes from the month in which Guanabara bay was discovered by the Portuguese. I suppose they didn't name it right away, and referenced to it
38 DocLightning: The only solution to being stuck in Blue Ball, OH is to go to Wankers Corner, OR. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankers_Corner,_Oregon
39 September11: worst major city names?? fun question.. 20 USA city names (not all major cities) I can think now without looking at map Baltimore Little Rock Birmingh
40 type-rated: Probably a sister city to Blue Ball, PA, which is just down the road from Intercourse, PA in Amish country.
43 GEEZER: Where on earth did you ever hear about Blue Ball, Ohio from ? I was born and raised in Middletown, and Blue Ball, (population about 2 dozen) is just
44 zippyjet: How about Accident, Maryland? Never liked the name Menominee, Michigan. Or, Fon Du Loc
45 vikkyvik: Only one I can think of offhand: Belchertown, MA Interesting, I never knew what "Rio de Janeiro" meant! Thank you! I thought I was the only one! I mea
46 PHX787: Everytime I pass that joint with my dad he always exclaims "LETS SEND YOU TO BIG BONE LICK COMMUNITY COLLEGE!!" which actually exists there apparentl
49 type-rated: I always wondered what a Menominee was. I think there is also a Menominee Falls to somewhere. Actually a Menominee is a tribe of Indians that used to
50 Superfly: Lots of great trip report ideas. My vote goes to Lahore and Bangalore. Right now I live in Bangkok. Nearby is Bang Ken but I prefer Bang Sue. Other od
51 oldeuropean: The name of my city is actually "Colony". Once a German village, when founded as a city, it was called "CCAA" – "Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium"
52 hOmsaR: Sorry, but my AR self can't let this go. First, it's Fond du Lac, WI. Also, if we're thinking of the Wisconsin town again, it's Menomonee Falls (as o
53 Revelation: I always thought "Walla Walla, Washington" was a sucky name. Why stop at two Wallas? I hear they specialize in plastics, ceramics, wood working (bewar
54 Superfly: I once got gas there. Everytime I think of Oconomowoc, I always think of this story. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,253602,00.html
56 PHX787: Apparently the person who named it was high on something....in all seriousness!
57 817Dreamliiner: Hmmm surprised no one said Penistone, Yorkshire. I know a guy from there lol. He usually refers to it as Penis town
58 GEEZER: Speaking of names which bear absolutely no resemblance to the place they describe................... Back in the early 50's my ship ( U.S.S. Fulton )
59 bohica: Norfolk, VA We don't drink, we don't smoke, Norf*ck.
60 FRAspotter: It's bad enough when the IATA code for Fukuoka Airport is FUK...
62 Ryan h: What about Asbestos in Canada? Closer to home for me is a place outside of the small fishing town of Port Lincoln on the Eyre Pensinsula in South Aust
63 dc9northwest: Pula, Croatia... But that works for Romanians only I guess. Anyway, Doc might like it there It literally means "dick". The most vulgar word for "dick"
64 bristolflyer: Here's a few that I think are weird... Truth or Consequences, New Mexico Chevy Chase, Maryland A couple from England... Ruyton XI Towns, Shropshire Ne
65 bjorn14: There is a Menomonie, WI in the western part of the state. Home to UW-Stout. Stout was a lumber baron back in the day and built a replica course of S
66 oldeuropean: But I assume that, unlike the French, native English speakers have some problems to pronounce the "Ö" correctly. [Edited 2012-07-23 08:11:40]
67 AirPacific747: No one mentioned Addis Ababa yet.. And what about Copenhagen.. in Danish København which means 'buy-a-harbour' but refers to Copenhagen the city for
68 mandala499: My vote out of those two goes to Fukuoka... Now, imagine if there's a flight from Fukuoka to Offut? FUK-OFF?
70 johnkrist: And Hell is a town in Norway... And is probably the only way to use that word in these forums without getting a ban We have lot of funny names in Swe
71 kiwirob: the 1990 Miss Universe came from Hell Some other goodies are: Dead Chinaman, Papua New Guinea Pussy creek Ohio, USA Cockburn, Western Australia Midde
72 threeifbyair: Scunthorpe, UK doesn't make me want to visit. There's also the Scunthorpe problem
76 GAIsweetGAI: This is what my mom told me about the Iceland/Greenland thing - and I'm inclined to believe her, mostly because it makes some sense: When the Vikings
77 HELyes: In Finnish language Pula means "shortage" [Edited 2012-07-23 17:14:27]
78 zippyjet: It's not a city or town but the nams Ursinus (College) and Chamanade suck name wise. The former sounds like a nasal disease complete with snot and the
79 777: In Italy we have this one that is pretty famous... unfortunately "bastardo" (that translation of "bastard" in Italian) is also a surname for a very li
80 MD11Engineer: In former East Prussia (today the Russian Oblast Kaliningrad) there exists a river called Pissa. Back during the 19th century the inhabitants of the t
81 NoWorries: Liverpool doesn't sound very apetizing -- maybe it should form an alliance with Chicago (smelly onions).
83 bjorn14: Another story I heard was that the Vikings named it that to keep people away as they were running from the law in Norway and who would want to go to
84 Revelation: Did it smell funny? Did you let one rip in honor of the town's name?
87 Ideekay: Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu in New Zealand, I mean how did you got that name? :d And Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndro
88 RussianJet: Blimey, about 80% of posts here off topic, given that the title clearly says 'major cities'. In keeping with this monumental point-missing exercise, I
90 Quokkas: Another "major city" that isn't (in fact no one lives there at all - it's just a former railway halt), here in Western Australia we have Damboring and
91 NZ107: I could only find Damboring Lake... Mind you it'd probably be damn boring seeing it looks like a semi dry salt lake!
92 Quokkas: The country around there is pretty flat and in summer looks very weary. The lake takes on a pinkish colour as a result of the high salt level, alga D
94 Viscount724: Newfoundland and Labrador has many interesting place names. A few others that come to mind: Come By Chance Conception Bay Blow Me Down Black Tickle C
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Actually, from what I hear, Bangkok is a very appropriate name for it.
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