It's pronounced "pennis-tun"

[nitrah55]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/world ... stone.html

An article about unfortunate town and street names in Britan.

Your inner fifth grader will enjoy this.

[wintergreen48]

Once whilst driving from Salisbury to Bath, we went through a town called 'Bulldog Bash.' I am positive that this was the place where they did things to bulldogs' faces to make them look the way they do.

My favorite sign was on Salisbury Plain, it was a warning sign that read 'Tank Crossing' (there's a military base nearby).

[ulysses5019]

The USC sports information director has a photo of a sign near an English village which says, "No Sports Coaches". It is probably referring to busses filled with soccer hooligans.

[MarleysGh0st]

My favorite sign was on Salisbury Plain, it was a warning sign that read 'Tank Crossing' (there's a military base nearby).

Well, if moonie thinks he had a close call with that deer...

[Jeemie]

These are like those towns in Pennsylvania- in the middle of Amish country:

Intercourse, Blue Ball, and Bird-in-Hand.

[minimetoo26]

Once whilst driving from Salisbury to Bath, we went through a town called 'Bulldog Bash.' I am positive that this was the place where they did things to bulldogs' faces to make them look the way they do.

My favorite sign was on Salisbury Plain, it was a warning sign that read 'Tank Crossing' (there's a military base nearby).

I think there's one on Route 460 where they fortified the asphalt with concrete where the tanks cross. Or was one 25 years ago. Or I just remembered where the tanks crossed because of the concrete. Fort Pickett? Fort AP Hill? I think that's the name. Boy, am I vague...

My favorite road sign is always Runaway Truck Ramp when we're going down a mountain. That always cracks me up.

My second favorite was No Jumping From Bridge. This was on Kauai. I've seen No Fishing, but never No Jumping.

[earendel]

Once whilst driving from Salisbury to Bath, we went through a town called 'Bulldog Bash.' I am positive that this was the place where they did things to bulldogs' faces to make them look the way they do.

My favorite sign was on Salisbury Plain, it was a warning sign that read 'Tank Crossing' (there's a military base nearby).

I think there's one on Route 460 where they fortified the asphalt with concrete where the tanks cross. Or was one 25 years ago. Or I just remembered where the tanks crossed because of the concrete. Fort Pickett? Fort AP Hill? I think that's the name. Boy, am I vague...

My favorite road sign is always Runaway Truck Ramp when we're going down a mountain. That always cracks me up.

My second favorite was No Jumping From Bridge. This was on Kauai. I've seen No Fishing, but never No Jumping.

Could they mean base jumping? How high is the bridge?

[andrewjackson]

We had this article in the Chron today as well but with the title, "No laughing: Offensive town names mean something else".

But they didn't explain the origin of most of the names.

So I looked up Penistone.

The most likely explanation is that it might have been originally Penstun from "penn" Celtic for hill or promontory and "tun" Old English for farm or village. The village was cleared out with all buildings razed after the Norman Conquest. The village was re-established at least by the 1300s. The current spelling probably results from an attempt at matching the oral tradition of the name.

I remembered the name Penistone from the Neal Stephenson novel, Quicksilver, in which King Charles II gave a Puritan the title Count Penistone so he couldn't write his name with first writing "penis".

[ulysses5019]

Once whilst driving from Salisbury to Bath, we went through a town called 'Bulldog Bash.' I am positive that this was the place where they did things to bulldogs' faces to make them look the way they do.

My favorite sign was on Salisbury Plain, it was a warning sign that read 'Tank Crossing' (there's a military base nearby).

I think there's one on Route 460 where they fortified the asphalt with concrete where the tanks cross. Or was one 25 years ago. Or I just remembered where the tanks crossed because of the concrete. Fort Pickett? Fort AP Hill? I think that's the name. Boy, am I vague...

My favorite road sign is always Runaway Truck Ramp when we're going down a mountain. That always cracks me up.

My second favorite was No Jumping From Bridge. This was on Kauai. I've seen No Fishing, but never No Jumping.

Could they mean base jumping? How high is the bridge?

I've seen the "no jumping" signs on pretty low bridges in places like Yosemite. I think it's because the river level varies with the seasons and even though it's a short drop, the water could be shallow.