Signs Of The Times

‘IT was only when Allied soldiers arrived in 1945 that residents of one Austrian place realised that their town’s name meant something in English.

No place like home

Spokesman Siegfried Hoeppl says that the name of his hometown came from Mr Fuck and his family who settled in the area 100 years ago, and added ‘ing’, meaning village or settlement.

“Everyone here knows what it means in English, but for us Fucking is Fucking - and it’s going to stay Fucking - even though the signs keep getting stolen.’

And those thefts – usually by British tourists – led to a public debate about whether the town should be renamed. The votes were cast and the result is that it will remain as Fucking.

And that can be no bad thing…’

Posted: 18th, June 2004 | In: Strange But True Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink