4 ms·

How Tube stations got their unusual names (2017)

58 points by ohjeez 7y ago

rmbryan 7y ago
See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mornington_Crescent_(game) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mornington_Crescent_(game)
- aidenn0 7y ago
  I'll go first; are you okay with Central Standard rules? Stockwell
  - mindcrime 7y ago
    Nonsense... according to the Revised Standard Rules of 1892, subsection 19, paragraph A stroke 2, a player whose name starts with the letter 'a' may not play Stockwell on the first move of the game!
    - aidenn0 7y ago
      Can we have the ruling? There's an exception to that rule for gentlemen carrying a pocket-watch, but I'm unclear if it applies to Central Standard.
DyslexicAtheist 7y ago
quite funny when translating them into German: "London Underground Map Freely Translated into German" https://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/ubahn/m/londonundergroundmapgerman.html https://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/ubahn/m/londo...
- Freak_NL 7y ago
  Wasserklo made me chuckle.
- leipert 7y ago
  I sometimes do that for Berlin stations. E.g. Gesundbrunnen ⇨ Healthy fountain or well well. Hermannstr ⇨ man man street.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- peterburkimsher 7y ago
  That's great! I saw a similar map of the Sydney CityRail network, with anagrams. Icy Trail: https://transportsydney.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/icy-trail-map.jpg https://transportsydney.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/icy-trai... CityRail (original): https://berry.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/sydney-to-berry-train-south-coast-line.jpg https://berry.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/sydney-to-be...
  - yesenadam 7y ago
    Oh! Thank you, that's brilliant. (Hate Sperm here)
chrisseaton 7y ago
I wonder why this is positioned in terms of tube stations? The answer for every single one is: because that's the name of the area the tube station is in. So why isn't the article just about where do these places get their names from? Why the extra level of abstraction to make it about the tube stations?
- Digit-Al 7y ago
  Probably because a tube map is both familiar to many people and presents a much more restricted set of names to choose from.
- seanhunter 7y ago
  That's not exactly true or at least the truth is often a lot more complicated than that. For example: Turnham Green tube isn't at Turnham Green. It's at a park called Acton Green common (which also isn't in Acton, it's in Chiswick). Turnham Green (the actual green) is actually closer to Chiswick Park tube, which is also near a park which isn't called Chiswick Park. Turnham Green tube station is named that because it's where the battle of Turnham Green happened in the English Civil war.
  - chrisseaton 7y ago
    > The answer for every single one is: because that's the name of the area the tube station is in. > That's not exactly true It is exactly true! Covent Garden tube station is in Covent Garden. Elephant & Castle is in Elephant & Castle. Cockfosters tube station is in Cockfosters. Tooting Bec tube station is in Tooting Bec. Knightsbridge tube station is in Knightsbridge. Maida Vale tube station is in Maida Vale. Aldgate tube station is in Aldgate. Piccadilly Circus tube station is in Piccadilly Circus. Queensway tube station is on Queensway. Shepherd’s Bush tube station is in Shepherd’s Bush. > For example: Turnham Green That counter example isn't in the article! I didn't say anything about any tube station names not in the article.
ljm 7y ago
These place names are interesting no matter where you look. E.g you can look at the Moscow metro and the history of station names, and see how they’ve been updated over time and what they’re in reference to. E.g Октубрьская. Or in Barcelona where you have, say, Paral-lel, named so because the main avenue runs parallel to the equator.
- seanhunter 7y ago
  I heard that one of the Russian words for a train station comes from a misunderstanding. When a Russian delegation came to London to see the Victorian train network they were taken to see Vauxhall station. They asked what it was called (the station) and were told "Vauxhall", so in Russia stations are called "вокзальный" which sounds something like we in England would say Vauxhall.
  - georgecmu 7y ago
    Вокзал in Russian is the train station (or less commonly to large bus stations or to airports with appropriate modifiers: автовокзал, аэровокзал). For pronunciation and etymology refer to [1]: Borrowed from English Vauxhall (former site of a pleasure garden). The ending was influenced by зал (zal, “hall”). The spelling фоксал (foksal) attested in 1777 is from French facs-hall, from the same English source. The transportation sense derives from an epithet for the Pavlovsk train station building, which at one time served as both a passenger lounge and a place of entertainment. [1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BB https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%B7%D0%B...
pbhjpbhj 7y ago
The Infanta de Castile (Elephant & Castle) etymology is quite compelling, and could presumably be the origin of the cutler's trademark. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worshipful_Company_of_Cutlers https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worshipful_Company_of_Cutler... has a heraldic description of the cutler's arms which has "... at the top a head of an elephant [cut clean with red?] with golden tusks" (my own interpretation of the language used), no mention of a castle.
- TheGallopedHigh 7y ago
  The article directly states that this is station is named that because of the guilds coat of arms.
  - pbhjpbhj 7y ago
    Yes, I'm just saying it seems they could've got it backwards.
weinzierl 7y ago
I always wondered about Elephant & Castle. Turns out it is named after a medieval guild of craftsmen whose crest included an elephant carrying a castle. Who would have thought.
richrichardsson 7y ago
The note about what circus means in Picadilly Circus taught me something about where I grew up: the roundabout where some 5 (or 6 I forget) roads meet at one end of the high street in Tankerton, Kent is called Tankerton Circus.
- gerdesj 7y ago
  Here, Fiveways roundabout connects four roads. It's not grand enough for "circus". No-one knows exactly how many roads enter and leave the Magic Roundabout in Swindon. It changes with the phases of the moon and quantums.
tompccs 7y ago
Something I think I would miss if I ever moved to the US (particularly the west coast): all of your place names sound like they were made up by property developers or estate agents. Maplewood this and Ruby Valley that. In the Old World (or at least England), every place name has a story - Cheapside, Scunthorpe, Billericay, Westward Ho! (including he exclamation mark), etc. Maybe those don't sound like places you'd want to live, but then again it doesn't make every place feel like a product in a catalogue.
- aidenn0 7y ago
  Someone once defined suburbs as "The place where they name the streets after all the trees they cut down"

58 points by ohjeez 7y ago

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mornington_Crescent_(game) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mornington_Crescent_(game)

aidenn0 7y ago
I'll go first; are you okay with Central Standard rules? Stockwell
- mindcrime 7y ago
  Nonsense... according to the Revised Standard Rules of 1892, subsection 19, paragraph A stroke 2, a player whose name starts with the letter 'a' may not play Stockwell on the first move of the game!
  - aidenn0 7y ago
    Can we have the ruling? There's an exception to that rule for gentlemen carrying a pocket-watch, but I'm unclear if it applies to Central Standard.

DyslexicAtheist 7y ago

quite funny when translating them into German: "London Underground Map Freely Translated into German" https://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/ubahn/m/londonundergroundmapgerman.html https://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/ubahn/m/londo...

Freak_NL 7y ago
Wasserklo made me chuckle.
leipert 7y ago
I sometimes do that for Berlin stations. E.g. Gesundbrunnen ⇨ Healthy fountain or well well. Hermannstr ⇨ man man street.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
peterburkimsher 7y ago
That's great! I saw a similar map of the Sydney CityRail network, with anagrams. Icy Trail: https://transportsydney.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/icy-trail-map.jpg https://transportsydney.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/icy-trai... CityRail (original): https://berry.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/sydney-to-berry-train-south-coast-line.jpg https://berry.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/sydney-to-be...
- yesenadam 7y ago
  Oh! Thank you, that's brilliant. (Hate Sperm here)

chrisseaton 7y ago

I wonder why this is positioned in terms of tube stations? The answer for every single one is: because that's the name of the area the tube station is in. So why isn't the article just about where do these places get their names from? Why the extra level of abstraction to make it about the tube stations?

Digit-Al 7y ago
Probably because a tube map is both familiar to many people and presents a much more restricted set of names to choose from.
seanhunter 7y ago
That's not exactly true or at least the truth is often a lot more complicated than that. For example: Turnham Green tube isn't at Turnham Green. It's at a park called Acton Green common (which also isn't in Acton, it's in Chiswick). Turnham Green (the actual green) is actually closer to Chiswick Park tube, which is also near a park which isn't called Chiswick Park. Turnham Green tube station is named that because it's where the battle of Turnham Green happened in the English Civil war.
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  > The answer for every single one is: because that's the name of the area the tube station is in. > That's not exactly true It is exactly true! Covent Garden tube station is in Covent Garden. Elephant & Castle is in Elephant & Castle. Cockfosters tube station is in Cockfosters. Tooting Bec tube station is in Tooting Bec. Knightsbridge tube station is in Knightsbridge. Maida Vale tube station is in Maida Vale. Aldgate tube station is in Aldgate. Piccadilly Circus tube station is in Piccadilly Circus. Queensway tube station is on Queensway. Shepherd’s Bush tube station is in Shepherd’s Bush. > For example: Turnham Green That counter example isn't in the article! I didn't say anything about any tube station names not in the article.

ljm 7y ago

These place names are interesting no matter where you look. E.g you can look at the Moscow metro and the history of station names, and see how they’ve been updated over time and what they’re in reference to. E.g Октубрьская. Or in Barcelona where you have, say, Paral-lel, named so because the main avenue runs parallel to the equator.

seanhunter 7y ago
I heard that one of the Russian words for a train station comes from a misunderstanding. When a Russian delegation came to London to see the Victorian train network they were taken to see Vauxhall station. They asked what it was called (the station) and were told "Vauxhall", so in Russia stations are called "вокзальный" which sounds something like we in England would say Vauxhall.
- georgecmu 7y ago
  Вокзал in Russian is the train station (or less commonly to large bus stations or to airports with appropriate modifiers: автовокзал, аэровокзал). For pronunciation and etymology refer to [1]: Borrowed from English Vauxhall (former site of a pleasure garden). The ending was influenced by зал (zal, “hall”). The spelling фоксал (foksal) attested in 1777 is from French facs-hall, from the same English source. The transportation sense derives from an epithet for the Pavlovsk train station building, which at one time served as both a passenger lounge and a place of entertainment. [1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BB https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%B7%D0%B...

pbhjpbhj 7y ago

The Infanta de Castile (Elephant & Castle) etymology is quite compelling, and could presumably be the origin of the cutler's trademark. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worshipful_Company_of_Cutlers https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worshipful_Company_of_Cutler... has a heraldic description of the cutler's arms which has "... at the top a head of an elephant [cut clean with red?] with golden tusks" (my own interpretation of the language used), no mention of a castle.

TheGallopedHigh 7y ago
The article directly states that this is station is named that because of the guilds coat of arms.
- pbhjpbhj 7y ago
  Yes, I'm just saying it seems they could've got it backwards.

weinzierl 7y ago

I always wondered about Elephant & Castle. Turns out it is named after a medieval guild of craftsmen whose crest included an elephant carrying a castle. Who would have thought.

richrichardsson 7y ago

The note about what circus means in Picadilly Circus taught me something about where I grew up: the roundabout where some 5 (or 6 I forget) roads meet at one end of the high street in Tankerton, Kent is called Tankerton Circus.

gerdesj 7y ago
Here, Fiveways roundabout connects four roads. It's not grand enough for "circus". No-one knows exactly how many roads enter and leave the Magic Roundabout in Swindon. It changes with the phases of the moon and quantums.

tompccs 7y ago

Something I think I would miss if I ever moved to the US (particularly the west coast): all of your place names sound like they were made up by property developers or estate agents. Maplewood this and Ruby Valley that. In the Old World (or at least England), every place name has a story - Cheapside, Scunthorpe, Billericay, Westward Ho! (including he exclamation mark), etc. Maybe those don't sound like places you'd want to live, but then again it doesn't make every place feel like a product in a catalogue.

aidenn0 7y ago
Someone once defined suburbs as "The place where they name the streets after all the trees they cut down"