"Rename Georgia ?" Topic

I wonder why Georgia wasn't renamed after the AWI, or was it a wink at Washington ?

What? More than half the place-names in the new USA were references to the old world. It would have taken them for ever.

Why didn't they rename Belgium after Julius Caesar anihilated the Belgae? Why allow England to be England, rather than 'New Normandy'? Why keep all those Pesky Indian Names like 'Catahuchicoochi River' when they had wiped the Native Americans out?

Pat

Nah, we should rename the one in Europe, instead.
-Kle.

Elven Safety;
We didn't get rid of the Native American names because it confuses the tourists.

Johnny Foreigner Tourist: Where does that road go?
Me: Millinocket
JFT: And where does that road go?
Me: Wittipitlock
JFT: And what about that road, where does it go?
Me: Passadumkeag

JFT's Spouse: Well, what did he say?
JFT: I have no idea, he doesn't speak English…

Eric

Reminds me of the story about Freedonia,PA getting in a lather due to one of the fictional countries in the Marx Bros. movie "Duck Soup" sharing it's name. Groucho suggested the town change it's name.

Intercourse, Pennsylvania

Because then they would have to hunt down all the old maps and change them. It is pretty rare to rename someplace, and it seldom sticks even if it is changed.

It is also easier just to call it whatever it was before.

There is a real Freedonia !

They could have made a fortune of the back of that movie.

Is there anything at all worth seeing in it? and if not, would they like to stage an annual pie fight at the town hall?

Dear DAF;
You have to go through Intercourse to get to Paradise, PA.

Funny enough, they don't have a Divorce, PA…

Eric

I thought there was a Blue Balls, PA too.

Single, Blue Ball. There's also a Blue Bell.

And the whole Township thing down here is just crackers.

I've been down here since 1994 and I'm still trying to sort this place out.

Eric

And then there's Virginia…

Anything with "Commonwealth" in the name….

Eric

There's an Intercourse in Illinois too. I drove through there the other day, but I didn't stay long. It was just a quickie.

We did change a lot of place names from "boro" to "ville" in honor of the French assistance.

And subsequently butchered French pronunciation of many names, such as Lafayette, TN, which is pronounced Luh-FAY-it.

Hey;

You want to get alternate American pronunciations? Ask a North Alabamian to tell you about Arab, Alabama.

Swab Jockey

AND, JUST FOR YUCKS…

Calais, Vermont. Pronounced "Callous"
Barre, Vermont. Pronounced "Barry"
Berlin, VT. Pronounced "Burr-lin", with the emphasis on the Burr!

Ashurman

Staunton, VA. Pronounced 'Stawnton' by for'ners and damyankees but Staa-a-anton by the locals

Beuna Vista, VA pronounced 'Boona' not 'Bwenna'

We have several Maidenheads that seem to attract comments from American visitors.

Ashurman;
Berlin in Massachusetts is pronounced the same way.

Eric

Here are some more thread hijacking old world names with unique local Pronunciation:

Versailes, IN = Ver-SAILS
New Madrid, MO = new MAD-rid
Cadiz, IL = KAY-diz

There is also a Fredonia in KY though it is spelled differently.

IIRC, a group of Irish-Americans in New England got the town of Huntington, CT, renamed because it was the Parliamentary seat of Oliver Cromwell.

Georgia was named for King George and renamed for George Washington after independence. New England is named for it's eye watering taxes and lousy weather.

Hey, we have great weather. We've got all four seasons: Winter, Mud, Summer, and Leaf-Peeper….

Eric
(who moved South because of Taxes and no jobs in NE or Canada…)

Beaufort, SC, pronounced "Bufort."

Or was it Throat-wobbler-mangrove?

Here in Illinois we have

Cairo – pronounced KA – ro

Athens – pronounced A – thens

Vienna – pronounced VI – en – na

Bourbonnais – pronounced as bər-BON-nəs for many years