Silly Place Names

According to the Metro and BBC the residents of Sully, South Wales are outraged at the criticism they have been receiving since their new bilingual sign posts have gone up. You see, apparently the Welsh translation of ‘Sully’ is ‘Sili’ and residents have decided that they just can’t handle the jokes that this translation has caused and want the signs changed.

Now I don’t know about you but I don’t find anything particularly funny about a village called ‘Sili’. I know it sounds like ‘Silly’ but it’s not and even if it was, surely there are worse names for a town?

For instance my grandparents live beside a pleasant little Irish village called ‘Muff’. Now that is funny! Far from cowering at the moniker though the local people have embraced muff and in fact you can even pop along to the Muff Festival, the Muff Divers Association or even stop of at the local petrol station which proudly advertises itself as ‘Top Muff’.

Now I know the Welsh are rather famous for taking themselves a touch too seriously but up to now this isn’t a stereotype I’d found to be that true. However, if the residents of Sully go ahead and change their signs I may have to rethink that!