What's Your Address?

I was filling up some paper forms the other day, and I was really annoyed, as I don't enjoy doing a lot of handwriting. What makes it worse is that some of the forms have to filled up in duplicates. I was actually wondering if there is a way I could somehow do a ctrl-c, ctrl-v with my hands.

I easily get impatient writing, especially those long address. But it made me smile thinking I don't live in that famous town on Anglesey, Wales, which is named Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. That's 58-letters, in case you counted. Actually, some character groups in Welsh are considered as one letter (i.e. ll, ng, ch) - so officially, that is only 51 letters long.

Literally it translates to: "Saint Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of Saint Tysilio of the red cave". It is generally agreed that this name was adopted in the mid-19th century, solely to have the distiction of having the longest name of any town in Britain. It was during this period that the railway came to town and the locals decided to instigate a campaign to attract more visitors and tourists.

The official name of the place is Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll, commonly abbreviated to Llanfairpwll or the somewhat jocular Llanfair PG. But do yourself a favor - learn to say the longer name so that next time you're at a party, you will amaze other people by saying you been to the place called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

In case your wondering, the place has an official website. Just for fun, I won't give you a link to it that you can click. type "http://www." then the name, then add ".co.uk". Don't use Ctrl-C!


In New Zealand, there is a hill named as Taumatawhakatangihanga- koauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu (85 letters. I have to hyphenate that, or it will mess up my blog layout). While in the U.S. there is a lake in Webster, Massachusetts named Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg (45 letters),

A very famous place in the U.S. is named "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula," ("The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels on the River Porciúncula"). Or in case you're wondering why I said famous, well, that place is also known as Los Angeles. Still, a lot of people find that name too long so they abbreviate it as L.A.

For the shortest name of places, the following are tied in first place:

Å - several places in Norway and Sweden
D - a river in Oregon, United States
O - name of several farms in Norway
Ö - name of four places in Sweden.
U - a place in Panama
Y - a place in Alaska, United States and in Somme, France

Random odds & ends:

• The formal ceremonial name for Bangkok, Thailand is "Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit"
• Q is the only letter that does not occur in the names of the states of the U.S.
• There is only one word beginning with X in Noah Webster's first dictionary (1806). The word is XEBEC.
• The letters Q and U are not used for naming hurricanes.
• The road intersecting Interstate 15 near Baker, California is named ZZYZX.