One was a river crossing point used by the Frankish tribes, the other was just this dude Frank that built a fort and was so awesome of a guy people just wanted to live around him.

SippyCup@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 54d

I can't tell if this is a joke. If you were German I would know it's not one but there's no earthly way to tell otherwise

nandeEbisu@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 55d (4 replies)

New England is the worst with this. They just each stole British city names, but as long as they were in different states it worked out. There's a million Burlingtons in the US alone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlington

Soggy@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 54d (2 replies)

"Stole" is a strong word for the very common behavior of naming things after a favored place or person, or aspirationally with something greater. There's a lot of recognizable city names in the Americas because a bunch of Europeans came over all at once, but it happened in Australia too (hence names like Victoria and New South Wales) and all over Africa (There's a Worcester in South Africa, a Sussex in Sierra Leone) but a modern push to decolonize names like that has made them somewhat less common. And there's a million places named after saints or monarchs.

nandeEbisu@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 54d (1 reply)

It's more a metaphorical usage of that phrase. Every word is stolen from another language.

It's more that it can get a bit confusing, have had multiple times living there where they thought I was talking about the city in one state and I meant a different one.

Soggy@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 54d

"Stole" carries a lot of moral baggage, it implies illicit or underhanded behavior.

Dozzi92@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 53d

We have five Washingtons in New Jersey. And Jersey ain't big.

Dicska@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 55d (2 replies)

I'm still salty about the Geoguessr game where I found the city name on the street sign and still missed by 3000 miles.

But speaking of the wrong Portland, just wait until you learn about Springfield.

Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 55d

Springfield, Springfield, it's a hell of a town

gandalf_der_12te@feddit.org · 3 pts · 54d

oh my

over_clox@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 55d (16 replies)

There is also a New York, Texas:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York,_Texas

That was a brainfuck to me as well, I had no idea until Louis Rossmann moved from New York to Texas...

Summzashi@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 55d (9 replies)

about 11 miles east of Athens.

I'm sorry, what?

over_clox@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 55d (7 replies)

Damn yo, I didn't even know that much about it.

I guess Texas is just that big, that it includes New York and Athens, Greece..

WTF indeed...

greygore@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 55d (5 replies)

Don’t forget Paris!

trk@aussie.zone · 16 pts · 55d (2 replies)

We went there during a trip to the US and I made hilarious Facebook posts about "oh no, we accidentally flew to the wrong Paris" with the little Eiffel Tower with a cowboy hat on it in the background.

Got like 7 likes. Shit was so cash.

KurtVonnegut@mander.xyz · 7 pts · 55d

You're on 6 likes here now. You might get to relive your dream.

vatlark@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 55d

I giggled

massive_bereavement@fedia.io · 2 pts · 55d (1 reply)

Fantastic movie and even better soundtrack.

SexualPolytope@lemmy.sdf.org · 3 pts · 55d

Love it. It's a shame that Wim Wenders is a douche tho.

Edit: I had forgotten about the soundtrack. Just gave it a listen. It reminds me a lot of another one of my favorites, Cat Sticks.

dgdft@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 55d

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine%2C_Texas

cmbabul@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 54d

I got another. Athens, Georgia is only 246 miles from Cairo, Georgia. No they don’t pronounce the latter like in Egypt

Allero@lemmy.today · 5 pts · 55d (2 replies)

I have something bigger:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York,_Ukraine

Was quite unsettled to hear that Russian troops have entered New York

spitfire@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 55d (1 reply)

Or Georgia

Allero@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 55d

Classic

Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 55d

If we're listing weird town names taken from other states, may I present the town of Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania?

Which, as it happens, is over 2 hours away from New Jersey and its only shores are on rivers.

The story on the Wikipedia page is that the men who planned out the settlement (originally called Waynesburg) had moved there from New Jersey. There was a rivalry with the town on the opposite side of the river, so the people in that town started calling Waynesburg the "Jersey Shore." The nickname held on, and the town officially adopted the name in 1826.

Though I can only imagine how the residents felt about the name during the dark times of 2009-2012.

kaotic@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 54d (1 reply)

Also San Diego, Texas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego,_Texas

myrrh@ttrpg.network · 1 pts · 52d

[ removed ]

pedz@lemmy.ca · 12 pts · 55d

Random fact: it's because of a rich entrepreneur from Portland that my small native town in Québec got a railway in 1850. The first international railway was between Portland and Montréal. It still exists.

The line was proposed as a connection between Portland and Sherbrooke, Canada East, in 1844 by Portland entrepreneur John A. Poor. Portland was desperate to connect its ice-free port with Montreal, and Maine was at risk of being eclipsed by a similar proposal running from nearby Boston, Massachusetts.

funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 54d (3 replies)

Portland OR was named after Portland ME because a guy won a coin toss and named it after his home town. The other guy wanted to name it "Boston."

Before that it was known as "The Clearing".

Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de · 4 pts · 53d (2 replies)

americans try to come up with a new name challenge

Dozzi92@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 53d (1 reply)

Springfield. No, Washington!

Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de · 2 pts · 53d

"how about we call the state washington and the city can be springfield?"
"Jeremiah you're a genius, now let's go kill some natives to celebrate"

Diddlydee@feddit.uk · 6 pts · 55d

Named after the Isle of Portland in Dorset

melsaskca@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 55d (1 reply)

Where does the cement come from?

Twinklebreeze@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 54d

Home depot.

kaotic@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 54d

I traveled out to Portland OR, in 2018 to watch the finish of the Motorcycle Cannonball run when. They ran between these two cities. It was limited to pre-1929 antique motorcycles.

https://motorcyclecannonball.com/routes/?route_year=2018

https://motorcyclecannonball.com/gallery/2018/

neuroneiro@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 54d

Has the symmetry gone unnoticed?