“We need to talk about Tristan da Cunha’s place names”
Who doesn’t love a silly place name? There are thousands of them across the globe, like the NSFW pair of Twatt in Scotland and Fucking in Austria, as well as just plain daft ones, such as Boring, Oregon and My Large Intestine, Texas – yes, that’s real.
It seems, however, that a considerable number of oddly named places are clumped together on the island of Tristan da Cunha, and historian Dan Snow brought it to our attention.
I think we need to talk about Tristan da Cunha's place names. pic.twitter.com/2H5PMmcZfc
— Dan Snow (@thehistoryguy) January 25, 2020
He highlighted some of the names in a thread:
It starts off pretty tame.
Conventional Mt minor royal. So far so good. pic.twitter.com/8s7gXp3Ney
— Dan Snow (@thehistoryguy) 25 January 2020
Included some downright dull.
Uninaginative. pic.twitter.com/6yNweQy8EE
— Dan Snow (@thehistoryguy) 25 January 2020
But also had some absolute gold.
Absolutely out there. Best capital name in the world. By far. pic.twitter.com/UB7MKvOMxI
— Dan Snow (@thehistoryguy) 25 January 2020
That goat has left an imprint on earth’s geography. I won’t. I’m cool with it. pic.twitter.com/JP1JhOCj6r
— Dan Snow (@thehistoryguy) 25 January 2020
Trump level crazy. pic.twitter.com/R2dQvahC2q
— Dan Snow (@thehistoryguy) 25 January 2020
In a beautiful Twitter moment, the grandson of the cartographer had an explanation for the oddities.
Blame my grandfather for using the real, day-to-day names the islanders used when he mapped it! pic.twitter.com/d9iFwwOqZ8
— Bryant Crawford (@bryantcrawford) 26 January 2020
Comedian Natt Tapley was brave enough to mention the elephant in the room.
I think we need to talk about the colors chosen for the different levels of relief on this map.
(And buttholes) https://t.co/UqSjZvTBK2
— Nathaniel Tapley (@Natt) January 25, 2020
Perhaps this is the origin of Noel Edmonds’ Crinkley Bottom.
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These maps of the rudest place names in Britain should take the edge off the New Year
