Brits driving Austrians bonkers over rude village name

AFP/Yahoo ^ | Sun Aug 28, 6:33 PM ET

[martin_fierro]

Brits driving Austrians bonkers over rude village name

Sun Aug 28, 6:33 PM ET

LONDON (AFP) - British tourists have left the residents of one charming Austrian village effing and blinding by constantly stealing the signs for their oddly-named village. ADVERTISEMENT

While British visitors are finding it hilarious, the residents of F---ing are failing to see the funny side, The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.

Only one kind of criminal ever stalks the sleepy 32-house village near Salzburg on the German border -- cheeky British tourists armed with a sense of humour and a screwdriver.

But the local authorities are hitting back and with the signs now set in concrete, police chief Kommandant Schmidtberger is on the lookout.

"We will not stand for the F---ing signs being removed," the officer told the broadsheet.

"It may be very amusing for you British, but F---ing is simply F---ing to us. What is this big F---ing joke? It is puerile."

Local guide Andreas Behmueller said it was only the British that had a fixation with F---ing.

"The Germans all want to see the Mozart house in Salzburg," he explained.

"Every American seems to care only about 'The Sound of Music' (the 1965 film shot around Salzburg). The occasional Japanese wants to see Hitler's birthplace in Braunau.

"But for the British, it's all about F---ing."

Guesthouse boss Augustina Lindlbauer described the village's breathtaking lakes, forests and vistas.

"Yet still there is this obsession with F---ing," she said.

"Just this morning I had to tell an English lady who stopped by that there were no F---ing postcards."

[martin_fierro]

Nope. Not gonna post the picture.

[martin_fierro]

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[Choose Ye This Day]

You gotta be kidding me.

How long has this town had this...f-ing name?

What does...it mean in German?

[Choose Ye This Day]

Wow. I had no idea. If anyone wants to see the sign, or the origin of the town name, here ya go:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/signs/austria.asp

[Milton Friedman]

If they get caught they are going straight to the F-ing jail.

[martin_fierro]

Similar votes on a name change have taken place recently in neighbouring Austrian towns Wank am see and Petting, as well as in Vomitville and Windpassing.

[Mike Darancette]

There is an Effen Street about 2 miles from my house.

[Choose Ye This Day]

The town could make a lot of F---ing money if they just made a bunch of replicas of the street signs and sold them.

Of course, they'd have to sell them in the pubs, if they want the Brits to buy them.

[xp38]

With only 32 houses there might not be any F---ing pubs.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Only 32 households? They ought to be sued for false advertising.

[Cowman]

Well, you started it

[llevrok]

In a "fjord" called Quatsino Inlet on the west coast of Canada's Vancouver Island, there is a small island called Friggin Island.

Not surprisingly, it is dead center of the inlet's entrance.

[SunkenCiv]

There's a Climax, Michigan. The standard joke is, a married couple approaches the highway exit -- the sign reads "Climax, 1 mile". Wife sez, "finally, we're going to get there at the same time."

Irrelevant sidebar... Michigan has Hell (well known) and Paradise (oddly, on the shore of Lake Superior). Also has Romulus and Remus, and has Montague, but as far as I know, no Capulet.

[SunkenCiv]

The second sign carries the hilarity even further: "Bitte — nicht so schnell!" is German for "Please — not so fast!" (Evidently this type of sign is a commonplace reminder in those parts for drivers to keep their speed down to protect children, but the unintended double meaning in this case is particularly amusing.)