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'''''Rude Britain''''' (subtitled ''100 Rudest Place Names in Britain'') is a [[2005 in literature|2005 book]] of [[British humour|humour]] and [[toponymy]]. The book (ISBN 0-7522-2581-2) is written by Rob Bailey and [[Ed Hurst]], and published in the [[United Kingdom]] by the [[Macmillan Publishers|Pan Macmillan]] [[imprint]] Boxtree.
'''''Rude Britain''''' (subtitled ''100 Rudest Place Names in Britain'') is a [[2005 in literature|2005 book]] of [[British humour|humour]] and [[toponymy]]. The book (ISBN 0-7522-2581-2) is written by Rob Bailey and Ed Hurst, and published in the [[United Kingdom]] by the [[Macmillan Publishers|Pan Macmillan]] [[imprint]] Boxtree.


Each of the 100 names chosen by the authors are accompanied by a photograph and a placename [[etymology]]. The etymologies are often due to [[Great Britain|the island's]] history of repeated invasion, occupation, and assimilation, combined with a human [[wikt:predilection|predilection]] for ''[[double entendre]]s''.
Each of the 100 names chosen by the authors are accompanied by a photograph and a placename [[etymology]]. The etymologies are often due to [[Great Britain|the island's]] history of repeated invasion, occupation, and assimilation, combined with a human [[wikt:predilection|predilection]] for ''[[double entendre]]s''.
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# Beaver Close, [[Surrey]], [[England]]
# Beaver Close, [[Surrey]], [[England]]
# Dick Court, [[Lanarkshire]], [[Scotland]]
# Dick Court, [[Lanarkshire]], [[Scotland]]
# [[Lickfold]], [[West Sussex]], [[England]]
# Lickfold, [[West Sussex]], [[England]]
# [[Rimswell]], [[East Riding of Yorkshire]], [[England]]
# [[Rimswell]], [[East Riding of Yorkshire]], [[England]]
# Spanker Lane, Nether Heage, Derbyshire
# Spanker Lane, Nether Heage, Derbyshire

Revision as of 10:46, 22 September 2008

Rude Britain (subtitled 100 Rudest Place Names in Britain) is a 2005 book of humour and toponymy. The book (ISBN 0-7522-2581-2) is written by Rob Bailey and Ed Hurst, and published in the United Kingdom by the Pan Macmillan imprint Boxtree.

Each of the 100 names chosen by the authors are accompanied by a photograph and a placename etymology. The etymologies are often due to the island's history of repeated invasion, occupation, and assimilation, combined with a human predilection for double entendres.

Top 24

Road sign pointing to Twatt

The following is the list of the top twenty one names from the book, many of which are street names and most of which incorporate body part or sexual slang:

  1. Cocks, Cornwall
  2. Minge Lane, Worcestershire, England
  3. Bell End, Birmingham, England
  4. Twatt, Shetland (note, there is another Twatt in Orkney)
  5. Sandy Balls, a long-established holiday centre in New Forest, Hampshire, England with a name dating back to Henry VIII
  6. Muff (now Eglinton), County Londonderry, Northern Ireland
  7. Fingringhoe, Essex, England
  8. Back Passage, City of London, an alleyway in the EC1 postal district
  9. Shitterton, Dorset, England
  10. Slag Lane, Merseyside, a residential street in Haydock, England
  11. Hole of Horcum, North York Moors, England
  12. Fanny Hands Lane, Lincolnshire, England
  13. Inchinnan Drive, Renfrewshire, Scotland
  14. Cockshoot Close, Oxfordshire, England
  15. Fanny Avenue, Derbyshire, England
  16. Beaver Close, Surrey, England
  17. Dick Court, Lanarkshire, Scotland
  18. Lickfold, West Sussex, England
  19. Rimswell, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
  20. Spanker Lane, Nether Heage, Derbyshire
  21. Cocknmouth Close, West End, Surrey
  22. Friars' Entry, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
  23. Butthole Road, Conisbrough, South Yorkshire
  24. Cockermouth, Allerdale, Cumbria

Other entries include North Piddle (from the Old English word pidele, meaning marsh), Pratt's Bottom, Ugley, and Spital-in-the-Street (a hamlet in Lincolnshire with a name based on the Middle English spitel, meaning hospital). Gropecunt Lane in Oxford has been renamed "Magpie Lane".

See also