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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/20/offensive-road-names
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| Banning ‘likely to offend’ road names is fun-spoiling officiousness | Banning ‘likely to offend’ road names is fun-spoiling officiousness |
| (4 months later) | |
| Curly Dick Road. You don’t get more wonderfully speak-as-I-find descriptive than that in naming a road. But if the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales (NSW) gets its heavy-handed way, the name will be banned for being "likely to offend" under their proposed new policy. The same might happen to Titswobble Road, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. | Curly Dick Road. You don’t get more wonderfully speak-as-I-find descriptive than that in naming a road. But if the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales (NSW) gets its heavy-handed way, the name will be banned for being "likely to offend" under their proposed new policy. The same might happen to Titswobble Road, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. |
| But who does it offend, exactly? Even as a (relatively) slender man, I can vouch for the fact that my mini man-boobs wobble when descending rough terrain. I know – it’s a delightful image. Which is why NSW must keep its call-a-spade-a-spade reputation when it comes to entirely innocuous fun like this. | But who does it offend, exactly? Even as a (relatively) slender man, I can vouch for the fact that my mini man-boobs wobble when descending rough terrain. I know – it’s a delightful image. Which is why NSW must keep its call-a-spade-a-spade reputation when it comes to entirely innocuous fun like this. |
| Idiosyncratic road names are part and parcel of the panache of life. The best Facebook pictures always seem to be of your friends hilariously posing next to a road name which is a camp, blush-inducing double entendre. The standard road-sign picture involves the poster goofily pointing at said sign to enhance the humour, followed by a mandatory "LOL" to labour the fact that they’re alerting you to a comical post. My newsfeed would be a duller place without them. | Idiosyncratic road names are part and parcel of the panache of life. The best Facebook pictures always seem to be of your friends hilariously posing next to a road name which is a camp, blush-inducing double entendre. The standard road-sign picture involves the poster goofily pointing at said sign to enhance the humour, followed by a mandatory "LOL" to labour the fact that they’re alerting you to a comical post. My newsfeed would be a duller place without them. |
| And it’s not just the likely-to-offend road names which are under threat. Confusing or hard-to-pronounce names will also come under scrutiny. Apparently, the days of Flannel Flower Fairway are numbered. I for one will not stand for such alliteration-crushing vandalism. I’ll happily protest, armed with face cloths and pansies fashioned into a protest sign, until the Board drops its priggish new naming proposals. | And it’s not just the likely-to-offend road names which are under threat. Confusing or hard-to-pronounce names will also come under scrutiny. Apparently, the days of Flannel Flower Fairway are numbered. I for one will not stand for such alliteration-crushing vandalism. I’ll happily protest, armed with face cloths and pansies fashioned into a protest sign, until the Board drops its priggish new naming proposals. |
| Besides, mouthfuls can be big business. Take the otherwise-forgotten Welsh town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll llantysiliogogogoch, which has created an entire tourist industry based solely on the length of the sign announcing its railway station stop. Corporate names for roads are also due to be censored if the new policy is adopted – the only sensible part of the proposals. I’d sooner live on Titwank Terrace than Coles Cul-desac. | Besides, mouthfuls can be big business. Take the otherwise-forgotten Welsh town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll llantysiliogogogoch, which has created an entire tourist industry based solely on the length of the sign announcing its railway station stop. Corporate names for roads are also due to be censored if the new policy is adopted – the only sensible part of the proposals. I’d sooner live on Titwank Terrace than Coles Cul-desac. |
| Creative and cheeky language is part of Australia’s DNA. There’s no other country I can think of which undercuts the power-hungry egos of their parliamentary representatives by breezily calling them "pollies". Road names should reflect this playfulness, not mute it. | Creative and cheeky language is part of Australia’s DNA. There’s no other country I can think of which undercuts the power-hungry egos of their parliamentary representatives by breezily calling them "pollies". Road names should reflect this playfulness, not mute it. |
| Let’s reserve politeness for places where it’s genuinely important to not cause offence. And in a two-fingered salute to the Geographical Names Board’s proposals, let’s list all the best cheeky or mouthful road names below – and celebrate their quirkiness. | Let’s reserve politeness for places where it’s genuinely important to not cause offence. And in a two-fingered salute to the Geographical Names Board’s proposals, let’s list all the best cheeky or mouthful road names below – and celebrate their quirkiness. |
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