15. Avenue Road

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Avenue Road is a major north-to-south running street in Toronto, Ontario.
The road is a continuation of University Avenue, linked to it via Queen's
Park Circle East and West.  Many Canadians consider the name of the street
unusual and contradictory-sounding.  Robert Fulford once wrote that it
"sounded like an identity crisis with pavement."  There is a joke about how
Avenue Road got its name.  According to local legend, Lieutenant Governor
John Graves Simcoe was surveying the old town of York and came to a
spot on Bloor Street and pointed north.  He said (in an English accent),
"Let's 'av a new road!"

However, Avenue Road is a common street name elsewhere, notably
London, where at least 40 streets bear this name.  The word Avenue in
British-English means a row of trees, hence Avenue Road means a street
lined with trees.  In Canadian English avenue is synonymous with the word
street.

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg is a lake
located in the town of Webster, Massachusetts.  The lake is near the
Connecticut border.  It holds the longest place name in the U.S. and the 6th
longest in the world.  Many people refer to the body of water as Lake
Chaubunagungamaug or Webster Lake.  The original name comes from
Nipmuc, an Algonquian language, and is believed to mean, "Fishing Place at
the Boundaries -- Neutral Meeting Grounds.”

The lake was an important fishing spot on the borders of several tribal
territories.  Many paths of the Great Trail system start and end at the lake.
For this reason the area was often used as a meeting place.  Webster Lake
has 7 or 8 islands.  Some of the islands have houses and are habitable,
while others are extremely small and uninhabitable.

DISH, Texas is a small town located in the U.S. state of Texas.  On
November 16, 2005 the town’s name was changed from Clark to DISH.  In
exchange for renaming the town to DISH, all 181 residents were given free
basic television service for ten years.  They were also given free DVR
technology from DISH Network.  At the time, there was no formal opposition
to renaming Clark, and twelve citizens attended the council meeting to
support the measure.

12. Knob Lick

Location: St. Francois County, Missouri

Knob Lick is an unincorporated community in southern St. Francois County,
Missouri.  It is located on U.S. Route 67 about eight miles south of
Farmington.  The community was named in 1876 for the nearby Knob Lick
Mountain.  In the Ozarks, knob typically refers to an isolated summit, and lick
is a natural salt lick or salt spring.  In the past, the St Louis and Iron Mountain
Railroad had a stop at Knob Lick that was a shipping point for granite mines.

11. Lost

Location: Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Lost is a tiny village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population of less than
two dozen people.  It lies 40 miles west of Aberdeen in the Cairngorm
Mountains.  Despite its small population, the families of Lost are famed for
their strength and fighting honor.  The name comes from the Gaelic word for
“inn”.  Today the hamlet has a few houses, a war memorial and a farm.

Due to its unusual name and the fact that it is in the middle of nowhere, the
area has received unwanted publicity through tourist guidebooks.  The town
has also suffered from regular thefts of street signs.  Each street sign costs
approximately £100 (US$200) to replace.  As a result, the Aberdeenshire
Council tried to change its name to Lost Farm; however, in the face of strong
local opposition, the village’s traditional name was reinstated.

10. Westward Ho!

Location: Devon, England

Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England.  The
village’s name comes from the title of Charles Kingsley's novel Westward
Ho! (1855).  The exclamation mark in the name is intentional and it is the
only such place in the British Isles with that emphasis, although Saint-Louis-
du-Ha! Ha!, Quebec, shares the distinction of having an exclamation mark in
its name.  Development of the village began ten years after the 1855
Kingsley novel was published, in order to satisfy the Victorian's passion for
seaside vacations.

9. Truth or Consequences

Location: Sierra County, New Mexico

Truth or Consequences is a spa city located in Sierra County, New Mexico.
As of the 2000 census, the population was 7,289.  The town was originally
named Hot Springs, however the city changed its name to Truth or
Consequences, the title of a popular NBC radio program.  In 1950, Ralph
Edwards, the host of the radio quiz show Truth or Consequences announced
that he would air the program from the first town that renamed itself after the
show.

Hot Springs, NM won the honor.  Ralph Edwards traveled to the city during
the first weekend of May for the next fifty years.  The annual event was
called "Fiesta" and included a beauty contest, a parade, and a stage show.
The city still celebrates Fiesta each year during the first weekend of May.

8. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Location: Island of Anglesey in Wales

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is a village and
community on the island of Anglesey in Wales, situated on the Menai Strait
next to the Britannia Bridge and across from Bangor.  The town‘s name is
commonly shortened to Llanfair PG or Llanfairpwll.  The village is best known
for its name, the longest place name in Europe and one of the longest in the
world.  According to the 2001 census, the population of the village is 3,040,
with 76% of the people speaking Welsh fluently.

It is the fifth largest settlement on Anglesey Island by population.  Tourists
often stop at the railway station to be photographed next to the station sign.
People also like to visit the nearby Visitors' Centre or have their passports
stamped at a local shop.  The name of the village officially means: St Mary's
Church in the hollow of the white hazel near the swirling whirlpool of the
church of St Tysilio with a red cave. 

7. Toad Suck

Location: Perry County, Arkansas

Toad Suck is an unincorporated community in Perry County, Arkansas,
United States.  According to a local website, the town got its name from a
common quotation in regards to the captains and crew of steamboats that
traveled the Arkansas River, "They suck on the bottle 'til they swell up like
toads."  Toad Suck Daze is an annual fair that raises funds for scholarships.
It is held in Conway, Arkansas.  The fair was first organized in 1982 and has
been held annually since.

6. Blue Balls

Location: Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Blue Ball is an unincorporated community in Lancaster County, near the town
of New Holland, Pennsylvania.  The name, though often considered sexually
suggestive, actually comes from the Blue Ball Hotel, which stood on the
southeast corner of the PA 23-US 322 crossroads.  The inn is no longer
standing and was torn down in 1997 after more than 200 years in service.  A
popular t-shirt in the 1990s read “It’s hard living in Blue Balls, Pennsylvania.”
That’s not true.

5. Dildo

Location: Newfoundland and Labrador

Dildo is a town on the island of Newfoundland in the province of
Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.  Dildo has a long history, going as far
back as 2000 BC when aboriginal people resided at Anderson's Cove. Dildo
has a fast-growing tourist industry, on account of the town's unusual name.
Dildo offers great scenery and fun, with several bed and breakfasts, eating
establishments, and the Dildo Museum interpretive centre. 

4. Shades of Death Road

Location: Warren County, New Jersey

3. Gropecunt Lane

Gropecunt Lane was a street name used in English towns and cities during
the Middle Ages.  It is believed to be a reference to the prostitution rings that
were centered in those areas.  The earliest known use of the word was
1230.  It appears to have been derived as a compound of the two words.
Both of these words were commonly used during the Middle Ages until the
eighteenth century.

Streets that were given the name were often in the busiest parts of medieval
towns.  The name was once common in England.  However, changes in
attitude resulted in it being replaced by more innocuous versions such as
Grape Lane.  Gropecunt was last recorded as a street name in 1561. Magpie
Lane in Oxford was once known as Gropecunt Lane. 

2. No Place

Location: County Durham, England

No Place is a small village near the town of Stanley in County Durham,
England.  It is home to an award-winning real ale pub, the Beamish Mary Inn
and lies near the Beamish Mary coal pit.  The origin of the village's unusual
name is uncertain; however, theories have suggested a shortening of "North
Place,” "Near Place,” or "Nigh Place.”  Other people have pointed out that
the original houses of the village stood on a boundary between two parishes,
neither of which would accept the village.

The Derwentside Council tried to change the name of the village to Co-
operative Villas in 1983; however, they were met with strong protests from
local residents.  Today the city signs read both No Place and Co-operative
Villas.

Fucking is a town in the municipality of Tarsdorf, in western Upper Austria.
The village is located 33 kilometres (21 mi) north of Salzburg and four
kilometres (2.5 mi) east of the German border.  Despite having a population
of only 104 people, the village has become famous for its name, particularly
in the English-speaking world.  Its road signs are a popular attraction for
visitors, and the signs were often stolen by souvenir-hunting tourists until
2005 when they were modified to be theft-resistant.  It is believed that the
settlement was founded around the 6th century by Focko, a Bavarian
nobleman.  The existence of the village was documented for the first time in
1070 and historical records show that some twenty years later the lord’s
name was Adalpertus de Fucingin.

Fucking's most famous feature are four traffic signs with its name on it,
beside which tourists still stop to have their photograph taken.  The local
residents, the Fuckingers, did not become aware of the notoriety of their
town’s name until World War II when American and British soldiers started
coming around to take pictures.  In July 2009 it was announced that the
village would be installing numerous CCTV cameras in an attempt to deter
summertime tourists from filming themselves having sexual intercourse in
front of the Fucking signs.  In 2010, a German brewery began marketing a
beer named "Fucking Hell.”  They claim the beer is actually named after the
Austrian village Fucking and the German term for pale lager, Hell. 

Disappointment, Kentucky

Blowhard, Australia

Clit, Romania

Punkeydoodles Corners, Ontario

Upper Dicker, East Sussex

Pity Me, Durham, England

Boogertown, North Carolina

Nameless, Tennessee

Nasty, Hertfordshire, England

Paint Lick, Kentucky

Intercourse, Pennsylvania

Cockburn, Western Australia

Al-Qaeda, Yemen

Swastika, Ontario

Middelfart, Denmark

Asbestos,Quebec

Boring, Oregon

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Big Bone Lick State Park

Location: Boone County, Kentucky

Big Bone Lick State Park is located at Big Bone in Boone County, Kentucky.
It is located on Beaver Road and between the communities of Beaverlick
and Rabbit Hash.  The name of the park comes from the Pleistocene
megafauna fossils found there.  In 2002, the National Park Service
designated Big Bone Lick State Park as an official Lewis and Clark Heritage
Trail Site.  The Park was also listed in 1972 on the National Register of
Historic Places.

Arnold - October 8, 2010

You missed a good one in Tokyo Japan, a long narrow street called Havashita
Street.