Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

[Andrea Morrow]

According to the story on NPR, the "you fish on your side" translation may
have been the creation of a newspaper editor.  Here's a link to the NPR
story, where you can hear a native of Webster, MA, say the lake's name as
well as listen to a 1950s song about it:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103295533

On Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 3:36 PM, Michael McKernan <mckernan at localnet.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Michael McKernan <mckernan at LOCALNET.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  My father, who grew up in eastern Massachusetts (b.1924) often spoke
> of this lake, translating the name as:=A0 "You fish on your side of the
> lake, we fish on our side of the lake, nobody fish in the middle of the
> lake."=A0 Seems like it might be a more accurate translation than the
> seemingly literal one quoted below.
>
>  Michael McKernan
>
>  Benson, Arizona Quoting Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0American Dialect Society <aDS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:=A0 =A0 =A0 Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ------
> >
> > from
> >
> >
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5198455/Longest-p=
> lace-name-in-US-spelt-wrongly.html<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5198455/Longest-p=%0Alace-name-in-US-spelt-wrongly.html>
> >
> > The longest place name in the United States, Lake
> > Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg.
> > By Sarah Knapton=A0 =A0 Last Updated: 12:10PM BST 22 Apr 2009
> >
> > The lake in Webster, Massachusetts - known as Webster Lake for short
> > - was always going to be a challenge for sign writers. But after
> > researching historical spelling combinations, the local newspaper the
> > Telegram & Gazette of Worcester said local Chamber of Commerce
> > officials agreed that some some signs at the lake were wrong.=A0 There
> > was an "o" at letter 20 where a "u" should have been, and an "h" at
> > letter 38 where an "n" should go.
> > The name comes from the language of the local Nipmuck tribe and
> > translates to "Englishmen at Manchaug at the fishing place at the
> > boundary although" and was applied in the 19th century when White
> > people built factories in the area.
> > The stretch of water has several alternative names is also shortened
> > to Lake Chaubunagungamaug to avoid the 45 letter tongue twister.
> > Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, the full-length
> > version of the name, is the longest place name in the United States
> > and 6th longest in the world. Its 17 uses of "g" are the most
> > instances of any letter in a word. The name also contains 10
> > instances of the letter "a" (not including the "a" in "lake"), more
> > than any word in the English language.
> >
> > TZ =96 Note that there are three =93awe=94 vowels in there.=A0 Those
> > =93awe-droppers=94 (who have dropped the phoneme =93awe=94 and replace
> it=
>
> > with =93ah=94) would not be saying this word right.=A0 But then again,
> wh=
> o
> > does.=A0 Probably only Nipmucks.
> > How would that be spelled phonetically?
> > Char-GOG-uh-gog---man-CHAW-guh-gog---chaw-BUN-uh-GUN-guh-mawg.
> > ~chaarggaagugaagmancchaugugaagchaubbunugungumaug.
> >
> >
> > Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
> > see truespel.com
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--
Andrea Morrow
Director of Writing Programs
Stephen M. Ross School of Business
The University of Michigan
Room R3478
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1234
aandrea at umich.edu
734.763.9317

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