As I said earlier, I’d be having lunch this week with Austria’s ambassador to the United States, Hans Peter Manz, who’s been on the job for a mere five or so months. Needless to say, he wants to make a good impression, and he certainly doesn’t want to make any waves. But I did ask him about the little village of Fucking. He sort of rolled his eyes (as if to say “alright, let’s get this part over with”) and shared his personal opinion on the matter. Unfortunately the lunch was strictly off the record.
It is worth noting, however, that despite the insistence by the town of Fugging that there can only be one Fugging, there are many places in Austria (as in the United States) that share the same name. At the moment, the other town has decided to keep Fucking.
But the debate reminded me of an earlier post at weeklystandard.com in which I lamented the name of a local politician, Eileen Filler-Corn, and others, such as Olympic breast-stroker Staciana Stitts. One reader chimed in with Alabama State Treasurer Young Boozer, which is not nearly as bad as another’s last name that happens to be Rectanus.
To top things off, I recently received an email from Gallup about a discussion of the World Bank’s new Global Index. One of the featured speakers is a World Bank chief economist and policy director, Asli Demirguc-Kunt.
Update 11:03 a.m.: How could I forget Blue Ball, Pennsylvania? Blog friend K.F. reminded me it’s not all that far from Intercourse, Pa.