Bizarre World Names

[LeperColony]

What are the weirdest world names in Traveller? Here's a few:

iiiiii \ Spica 2922
Front Yards \ Spica 1139
Ninja \ Diaspora 0415
whereitsat \ Diaspora 1624

 

[agorski]

Normal \ Beyond \ The Darkling Regions \ 0309 Listed as a "GDW preserve" (non-canon)

 

[Dragoner]

I would nominate the sword worlds, esp the ones from tolkein; but there is also Motmos in the Spinward Marches which was the evil jello from Barbarella.

 

[Mithras]

Weirdest? Tee-tee-tee in Trin's Veil... but back in 1982 Tarkine in District 268 always reminded me of Star Wars (plus its governed by an imperial governor!)

 

[FreeTrav]

In a world where I've read stories where the author has called a world 'We Made It!', and where I can find towns with names like 'Normal' (IL, USA), 'Ho-Ho-Kus' (NJ, USA), and 'Southeast' (NY, USA), I'm not going to blink twice at any of those except maybe [FONT=arial,helvetica]'Iiiiii'[/FONT]

 

[aramis]

I'm not going to blink twice at any of those except maybe [FONT=arial,helvetica]'Iiiiii'[/FONT]

The only problem with it is distinguishing it from Iii, Iiii, and Iiiii...

Unless the name is in written in Ukrainian and they forgot the derisis... Іїїїїї (ih-eeyih-eeyih-eeyih-eeyih-eeyih)

 

[Mithras]

In a world where I've read stories where the author has called a world 'We Made It!', and where I can find towns with names like 'Normal' (IL, USA), 'Ho-Ho-Kus' (NJ, USA), and 'Southeast' (NY, USA), I'm not going to blink twice at any of those except maybe [FONT=arial,helvetica]'Iiiiii'[/FONT]

I remember a mountain in Niven's universe called Mount Lookithat. Was that on We Made it? I wonder??

 

[altasilvapuer]

I remember a mountain in Niven's universe called Mount Lookithat. Was that on We Made it? I wonder??

I'm not sure, but I have a funny feeling that it may have been.

-asp

 

[Blue Ghost]

Krypton.

 

[sayatmenace]

The age of imperialism produced some lovely toponyms through miscommunication... lots of intrepid explorers wandering around asking the locals what the name of a place is, either through multiple interpreters or, in some cases, by simply demanding in English or French a name then writing down whatever the native informant said.

Hence in various parts of the world you find old maps with places that mean (in local languages or the regional lingua franca) things like "Who are you?", "Why is he standing in my field?", "That's a marketplace", and one of my favorites, "He's pointing at something" (the latter from Venezuela, IIRC).

One of the more plausible etymologies for the name Yucatan is Mayan for "[yes,] that's what it's called" -- i.e., the confirmation of a name was recorded instead of the name itself.

What's even funnier is when the explorers and administrators failed to recognize their own languages being spoken back at them, though in pidgin or creolized form. There's a disproportionate number of rivers and lakes in former French Africa that were mapped with names like "Sidilo", "Sedlo", etc...

 

[Dragoner]

My favorite is: El Cerrito California, where there once was a little hill (go figure) that they called El Cerrito Hill or "Little Hill" Hill, which they bulldozed into the bay for fill.

 

[FreeTrav]

There's also, somewhere in the UK, Torpenhow Hill, which went through the process several times - Tor, Pen, and How are all words for 'Hill' in languages that were dominant in the area before English arrived.

 

[Dragoner]

This thread reminds me of the song "places named after numbers", which traveller has as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW1nbALCBlk

 

[WarriorKnight]

Maggie's Nipples/Beyond

 

[FreeTrav]

Maggie's Nipples/Beyond

/me shrugs at this. There's a mountain range in the United states called "Big <mammaries>". Admittedly, they did it in French, so it doesn't sound so bad, but...

 

[Zutroi]

/me shrugs at this. There's a mountain range in the United states called "Big <mammaries>". Admittedly, they did it in French, so it doesn't sound so bad, but...

...and a couple of year ago the local religious population (you obviously know the place, so you should know who I'm talking about!) finally figured out what that phrase means! suddenly they're demanding that places like <mammaries> Mall, and <mammaries> County and even Grand <mammaries> national Park change their names!

 

[FreeTrav]

I don't know which religious population you're talking about, but I can guess - and be somewhat surprised, as the population identified in my guess has a rep for telling jokes on themselves based on their beliefs second perhaps only to the Jews.

But as far as the name changes go, you can write "Tetons"; I just felt it might be appropriate to semi-censor the crude English translation thereof.

 

[Mithras]

My favorite is: El Cerrito California, where there once was a little hill (go figure) that they called El Cerrito Hill or "Little Hill" Hill, which they bulldozed into the bay for fill.

Yes, in Yorkshire we have Penhowe Hill, which is hill-hill hill..!

 

[Dragoner]

Yes, in Yorkshire we have Penhowe Hill, which is hill-hill hill..!

Haha

At least you didn't bulldoze it flat, El Cerrito is still there even if the Hill is gone.

 

[BlackBat242]

Maggie's Nipples/Beyond

/me shrugs at this. There's a mountain range in the United states called "Big <mammaries>". Admittedly, they did it in French, so it doesn't sound so bad, but...

Utah has perhaps the highest population of active religionists in the nation... but:
wikipedia: Mollie's Nipple

Mollie's Nipple or Molly's Nipple is the name given to as many as seven peaks, at least one butte, at least one well, and some other geological features in Utah. At least some of those names are attributed to John Kitchen – a pioneer of an early exploration of Utah, who named them to commemorate a nipple of his wife (or his bride according to some sources) Molly.

There is also a lake named "Nipple", but it does not specify whose nipple it was named for.


Note: the U.S. Board on Geographic Names discourages the use of the apostrophe in place names. This has not prevented some individuals and organizations from re-inserting apostrophes dropped from possessive place names on their own.

* USGS peak Mollies Nipple (5226 ft, Milford Flat quad, in Beaver county, National Elevation Dataset 38°22′30″N 113°04′27″W)

* USGS peak Mollies Nipple (6237 ft, Spanish Fork quad, in Utah county, National Elevation Dataset 40°00′15″N 111°43′17″W)

* USGS peak Mollies Nipple (7264 ft, Deer Range Point quad, in Kane county, National Elevation Dataset 37°16′15″N 112°03′19″W)
Nearby is Nipple Lake, where John Kitchen built his ranch... which still exists.

* USGS peak Mollies Nipple (7769 ft, Two Tom Hill quad, in Utah county, National Elevation Dataset 40°09′08″N 111°22′26″W)

* USGS peak Mollys Nipple (5328 ft, Antelope Island South quad, in Davis county, NAD27 40°52′30″N 112°11′17″W)

* USGS peak Mollies Nipple (4593 ft, Hurricane,Washington county, National Elevation Dataset 37°07′42″N 113°17′53″W)

* USGS peak Mollys Nipple (4865 ft, Ouray SE,Uintah county, National Elevation Dataset 40°03′25″N 109°34′14″W)