(Spoiler alert – if you’re under 18 or offended by very naughty words please don’t read this diary entry).
On a recent visit to Ireland I found myself laughing at the breakfast table. An article in the Sunday Tribune (apparently Europe’s best designed weekly newspaper) caught my eye. It’s headline was: “Fucking villagers vote against name change.”
The article continued: ‘Residents of an Austrian village called Fucking have voted against changing the name. The 150 or so people who live in the village debated the issue after road signs kept being stolen – many by British tourists. A spokesman said: “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.”‘
The article concluded with this useful final sentence for people interested in Austrian cartography: ‘Similar votes on a name change have recently taken place in Austrian towns Wank Am See and Petting, as well as in Vomitville and Windpassing.’
Of course you’d NEVER find an article like this in the Sunday paper here. And if you were offended by this you certainly don’t want to hear what the Irish think of George W. Bush and his mob. Note to self: get a subscription to the Sunday Tribune right away.