Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is the name of a town in Wales. It is true, in spite of it sounding like some kind of joke children might make up. The long form of the name is the longest officially recognized place name in the United Kingdom and one of the longest in the world. The name means “St Mary’s Church (Llanfair) of a hollow (pwll) of white hazel (gwyngyll) near (goger) the swirling whirlpool (y chwyrndrobwll) of the church of St Tysilio (llantysilio) with a red cave ([a]g ogo goch).”
The solemnity of this fact is somewhat ruined because the village was originally known as Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll and only in the 1860s was the longer name artificially contrived as a publicity stunt. Nonetheless, the name stands and as of this writing the Wikipedia article has a sound file demonstrating how the name is pronounced. Think you can say it?
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(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
Comments
Comment from Cadie
Time: February 7, 2010, 12:26 pm
It doesn’t sound as long when they guy says it. It also sounds a lot more interesting and un-silly than it looks when it’s written out.
the author's humorous novel.
Comment from Cadie
Time: February 7, 2010, 12:24 pm
When I first saw this post at a glance in my reader, I thought some spam had come through.
Yeah, the intrigue of a name like that is kind of ruined when it was contrived as a publicity stunt, even though it does actually mean something.