Only in America...

Sorry folks, its time for the silly and offensive post! Many years ago, there was a Steve Bell carton, sometime around the Iran-Contra stuff I think, showing a panel of generals or stuff with names like "Peentangler" and the protagonist saying "the thing I really like about America is that you can succeed no matter how silly your name is!". Which is actually a good idea, when you stop and think about it.

Why do I bring this up? Because (via Chris Mooney I discover that there is a senator called "Crapo"! Doesn't "cr*p" mean the same in the US? Seems odd to me. While I'm on this, someone at work had a german colleague called "Fahrtleiter", and if you wonder why thats funny try typing it into google and see what it suggets. And when I told my wife this, she mentioned that she has a C book at work by someone called "Bumgardner", which is presumably a regrettable translation of "Baumgartner". Which reminds me that my father had a colleague at the bank called Harry Baum, who rejoiced in the nickname "Hairy Bum". Ah, english public school humour, we lead the world.

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Climate - something which Changes depending where you are what day it is and what time of day. Climate Change something that is changed by $US & Sheckels. The more dollars you spend at the pump the more the CO2 in the atmosphere (atmos - sphere). But it seems no matter how many sheckles you pay at The Temple nothing changes. The Big Guy has just stopped listenining to sheckle changers!

Why should He - They've stopped listening to Him

While doing some work on offshore environmental issues I can across the name "glory hole" as a pit that is dug in the ocean floor where infrastructure can be placed. Wanting more information I put glory hole into google - the results were not pretty!!!

[Gosh! Not not at all. I keep bees; I put large amounts of honey into special plastic tubs called "honey buckets"... you can try that in google too -W]

By John Cross (not verified) on 23 Mar 2006 #permalink

Sometime during World War II, a US military base was constructed really fast in Georgia, and the surveyors who laid out the map came in somewhat after the soldiers and equipment so they mapped what was there and used the names the soldiers used. That site was later converted to development and became upscale housing. My dad told me he went back there once to see what became of it and was amused to find one of the main streets is named "Honey Wagon Road."

Yep, that's the one that the trucks used to pump out the pit toilets.

By Hank Roberts (not verified) on 03 Jun 2007 #permalink

Washington State has a vendor for porta-potties called 'Honey Bucket'. Up there, it's evolved into a term, like 'Aspirin' or 'Kleenex'.

Best,

D

Bloom County also had a cartoon about people's names. It went something like "Would John Lennon have been as successful with a name like Lionel Fudputz" or something.

Apparently, there is someone in the US called Randy Wanker, but I remain mildly sceptical, whilst fully believing the possibility. I wonder if they've ever visited Blighty, and if so how they got on at their first official checkpoint?