Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

[Kari Castor]

You're probably thinking of
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
 I have photos of the railway station sign buried somewhere at home, but I'm
on campus, so it'll have to be Wikipedia to the rescue right now:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch



On Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 3:07 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 3:36 PM -0400 4/23/09, Michael McKernan wrote:
> >  My father, who grew up in eastern Massachusetts (b.1924) often spoke
> >of this lake, translating the name as:  "You fish on your side of the
> >lake, we fish on our side of the lake, nobody fish in the middle of the
> >lake."  Seems like it might be a more accurate translation than the
> >seemingly literal one quoted below.
> >
> >  Michael McKernan
>
> Yup, and it is so recorded in _The Book of
> Amazing Facts_, which I grew up with.  (There was
> also a town in Wales, complete with a railway
> station, that had an even longer name, which I
> can no longer recall if indeed I ever could.)
>
> LH
>
> P.S.  I recall it as "You Fish On Your Side, We
> Fish On Our Side, Nobody Fish in the Middle",
> which always struck me as echt American Indian,
> as we used to say.
>
> >
> >  Benson, Arizona Quoting Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>:
> >
> >>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> >>Sender:       American Dialect Society <aDS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >>Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> >>Subject:      Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
>
> >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >>from
> >>
> >>
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5198455/Longest-place-name-in-US-spelt-wrongly.html
> >>
> >>The longest place name in the United States, Lake
> >>Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg.
> >>By Sarah Knapton    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.  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 – Note that there are three “awe” vowels in there.  Those
> >>“awe-droppers” (who have dropped the phoneme “awe” and replace it
> >>with “ah”) would not be saying this word right.  But then again, who
> >>does.  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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