10. July 2024 at 12:05

Slovak Matters: What's in a town name?

If someone tells you to go to Prčice, is that a good place to visit?

author
Conrad Toft

Editorial

Many Slovak towns have quite descriptive names. Many Slovak towns have quite descriptive names. (source: macrovector on freepik)
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If you upset Slovaks as I often manage without even trying, there is a good chance that you'll be told to "Choď do pekla!" (Go to hell!), but that's not the only destination that could be recommended. I'm too polite to give a full description of where you're being told to go if someone says "Choď do riti!" but suffice it to say that a) you don't want to go there and b) you're probably sitting on it right now.

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A more pleasant place to be sent is Prčice, a small village in the Czech Republic, although people are being far from polite when they tell you to "Choď do Prčíc!" In fact they are using it as a euphemism, connected to female body parts - however, you can hear almost anyone say it. One former colleague of mine would often mumble "Do Prčíc!" to herself, and then give a shocked apology if she realised anyone was actually within hearing.

Town names often have a story behind them. For example, there is the Welsh village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll Llantysiliogogogoch, which translates to "St Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St Tysilio of the red cave". With a name like that the village should not be too hard to find. The name was artificially created in the 1880s to try and encourage tourism. It worked.

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