THIS JUST IN FROM THE AMAZING STEVE

Hi Dave,
In the course of my extensive research (cough cough) for those weekly 24 write-ups, I stumbled across a road sign which I felt honor-bound to report to you. I've attached a copy of the picture.
Steve

Comments

[ubetcha]

Yay Steve!

[crossgirl]

idly wonders what steve is flicking off that finger.

[a different dave]

So just where is that sign? At the corner of Booger Hill Rd. and what? Near what town and in what State? Just curious... (hides bag of tools under coat).

[Steve (The 24 Guy)]

It's near Danielsville, Georgia. Sure looked like someone tried to take that sign down too, from the way it was bent.

And that picture was taken by my Amazing Dad, using my not-so-amazing cell phone camera.

[Punkin Poo]

WOW! An etire hill of boogers!

[Punkin Poo]

ENTIRE

stupid not-yet-caffeinated fingers

[pogo]

Google Maps tells me Danielsville, Georgia is in north GA near commerce. I have pictures of a number odd road signs from N GA, including "Jot-em-down Rd", "Best Friend Rd", "Scufflegrit Rd", and "Hardscrabble Rd". A bit further south near Monticello is "Apt-to-miss Rd".

[pogo]

near Commerce, that is.

[Lou Bricant]

Great find Steve! It would be great if it intersected Flick Lane, or in honor of Dave, Beat Hwy (Booger Hill Beat WBAGNFARB as we all know).

[Siouxie]

YAY Steve!!!

and now you can put that finger down!! (cg, I think it may have been a winner.

[fivver]

pogo, we also have a 'Beaver Ruin Road' and 'North Druid Hills Road'. I once had an account on 'Tater Peeler Road' in Tennessee.

[Brian the Brain]

I'm in Georgia too...we have Ponce' de Leon.

Which in Georgia sounds nothing like the French pronouncation.

Also in Atlanta you can't throw a dead cat without hitting a street that has the word "peachtree" in it.

[Elvis Dingeldein]

Ah, excellent! Mr. The Amazing must be touring lovely and scenic Charlestown, MA, and stumbled happily upon a legendary Revolutionary War site. On June 17, 1775, British forces led by Major-General William Howe organized a massive assault against Revolutionary forces on Booger Hill, driving around the American’s left flank to take them roughly from the rear (in the 18th Century there was nothing at all gay about this, so kindly stop your sniggering; Not That There’s...etc.).

Howe began organizing his troops in the early predawn, but British troops were slow starters; by the time they’d put on all their fancy-pants clothing (such as their Fancy Pants), their shiny red coats (from which we historians derive the derogatory term for British soldiers, “Limey Foppish Assholes”), their various wigs and pantaloons (we have no idea what a “pantaloon” might be but it was something foppish), and their full field packs containing a massive drum for cleverly announcing your position to the enemy, by the time they’d done all this, the war was over and Abraham Lincoln was president. No, just kidding; his men were finally suited up and ready to fight by 2 p.m., which was rather unfortunately because by then it was Tea Time and most of the Americans had wandered over to Breed’s Hill, a much nicer but less military-sounding hill a few blocks from Booger Hill with a nice tavern on it. Grumpy and boiling hot under his field pack and enormous wig, Major-General Howe moved his troops off of Booger Hill and the battle for Breed’s Hill and its lovely chilled kegs of beer had begun.

This early battle in the American Revolution was a Pyrrhic victory* for the British; though they won the day, it was at a terrible cost, losing more than 1000 soldiers and -- as Howe himself wrote in his diary later -- “a sodding Royal assload” of British officers. In fact, of General Howe’s entire field staff, he was the only one that missed out on being shot, which was a shame because he was really hoping to get invalided back to Blighty for a pint and some bangers and mash, wot-wot! (Sorry, sometimes we slip inadvertently into Foptalk; this comes from watching too many Blackadder reruns.)

The Battle of Booger Hill lives on to this day as one of the great battles in a war most Americans couldn’t begin to tell you a thing about, except that it was fought to free the slaves and that we trounced the living crap out of the French. It’s sad that all there is left of this historic monument is a sagging road sign off a strip of 2-lane highway in the middle of nowhere; at least Breed’s Hill has a really good bar, and cold, cold beer.

______________
* Named for King Pyrrhus of Epirus, a Pyrrhic victory is one in which you win your battle by stabbing the enemy’s general through the neck with the mummified remains of King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who rather handily died wearing a Turkish helmet adorned with a 12-foot spike. When last seen, King Pyrrhus (of Epirus) was being boxed up and shipped c/o General D. Petraeus, Commander - Multi-National Force, Iraq (MNF-I), Baghdad.

[funniegrrl]

Yes, Atlanta native here ...

Of course, the confusion about all the Peachtrees is usually from tourists and transplants who fail to notice that Peachtree ROAD and Peachtree STREET are different ... and that all the other Peachtrees have other words, like Peachtree Battle, West Peachtree, etc.

And yes, Ponce de Leon (no accent marks) is SPANISH (not French) and in Atlanta is pronounced just like it looks. Ponce (silent e) du LEEEEEon. Oh yeah, and the town of La Fayette is also pronounced like it looks. La FAY ette. Pretty typical in the US, actually. Here in Nashville (where I live now) we have a street named after an early German settler, Demonbreun. Tourists who know German try to pronounce it in German and just get funny looks. Tourists who say "demon bruin" also get funny looks. The correct pronunciation -- as everyone knows -- is "de-MUN-bree-on."

In my little hometown of Hapeville in suburban Atlanta, we have a King Arnold street. As a kid who like history, I was puzzled that I'd never heard of King Arnold, and also was confused that a street in America would be named for a King. Later found out that the Founding Father, Dr. Hape, had two daughters, and one married a man with the last name of King, the other married a man with the last name of Arnold. Or so the story goes. Still funny that they couldn't find TWO streets to name and give each their own.

[CJrun]

Hip, hop, de-hibba
And you don't stop....

[DeskDiva]

Heh. In Illinois (yes, the "s" is SILENT), there is a Marseilles, which is pronounced "MarCELLus" and in Missouri (no, the final sound is not "uh"), we have Versailles, which is, of course, pronounced "VerSAILS." Not to mention El Dorado Springs (El DoRAYdo Springs).

Oops. I mentioned it.

[Clark Kent]

There is a small town in Arkansas actually called "Booger Hollow" which has a sign up near the city limits that says, "Population 47... including one coon dog"

The main business was a "Sammich Shop".....

[ScottMGS]

In Iowa, there is a county which is spelled "Buena Vista", a Spanish phrase for "pretty view". In Spanish, it is (roughly) pronounced "BWAY-na VEES-ta". In Iowa, it is pronounced phonetically in English as "BUE-na VIS-ta".

[Siouxie]

geez, youse gringos...

[ScottMGS]

Hi Siouxie. My grandfather taught Spanish in high school throughout the region for a long time. If he couldn't fix it, I wasn't even going to try!

[KentuckyFilly]

In Kentucky, we have Big Bone Lick State Park, which is on Beaver St, coincidentally... :)

[Tori Lennox]

Speaking of Arkansas, don't forget the wonderful town of Toad Suck. What I'd like to know is why someone would want to.....

[funniegrrl]

I was gonna mention Toad Suck and see I was beaten to it! And, not only is there a Toad Suck, but a Toad Suck Park.

Nashville was founded in this location in part because of a natural salt source, which of course are called salt licks. In addition to Herr Demonbreun, the original European settlers included some French trappers, and they settled in the area of the salt. While there is no street or anything named for this formation, there is a historical marker in north downtown commemorating the neighborhood and the location of the ... "French Lick."

[Glix]

Still want to arrange a trip to Big D!ck's Halfway Inn with some college buddies...

[WriterDude]

Lou Bricant! Ain't seen youse around here in far too long.

Steve: Excellent find. Snot every day... (I'll let Annie finish that one.)

DD: Thanks for resurrecting the memory of my misery in Missouri, being a Colorado transplant and having to learn all those "pronunciations" while announcing my first-ever tornado warning on the air! "VerSAILS" and Maries County (pronounced "Mary's") were the worst offenders. Dammit, someone shoulda warned me.

It was pure luck that I got Gasconade (rhymes with "Gatorade") County right. ;-)

[Steve (The 24 Guy)]

WriteDude: I'll try and finish it off...

Snot every day... you can pick out a sign like that?

[Wavey]

Apparently, Steve liked the sign so much, he permanently attached it to his head.

[Debra L Weaver]

Down here in southern Tennessee,there is also a Booger Hollow(pronounced Booger Holler).My favorite though is Penile Hill.Across the state line in Alabama is Butter and Egg Rd.,which just happens to run through the town of Lickskillet.

[AlanBoss]

I sent The Blog a picture of the Booger Hollow sign about a week ago. Humph! I guess I have to travel there and take pose in front of it to get The Blog to run it.

[AlanBoss]

Oh, and... Excellent find, Amazing Steve!

[Vila]

I just ran across this while reading back pages on the Neatorama site. As it happens, my family owns a farm on Booger Hill Road, outside of Danielsville, GA. I recognise the stretch of road in the photograph - Not too hard a task, since I have been using that road for nearly 38 years now.

The odd thing about the name is that it really isn't a reference to something that one would find in a used kleenex, but to a ghost. "Booger" in this case is a cognate of "Boogie Man", with a bit of regional dialect thrown in to shift the word's ending and drop the "Man". So "Booger" in the place name indicated that the hill was supposed to be haunted. Either by the ghosts of slaves, unfortunate lovers torn apart by feuding families, or civil war soldiers. I've heard all three stories from elderly neighbors, over the years.

As an aside, Booger Hill is said to be the "highest exposed point of land" in Madison county. As I child I often wondered about that word "exposed" that was always included in the quote. Did that imply that the second-highest point of land in the county was under water?

And yes, to forestall any budding humorists, Madison county does have several bridges. It is famous for one covered bridge in a local state park; Watson's Mill. The park is just a few miles past an estate owned by singer Kenny Rogers, outside the town of Colbert.

Thought you'd like to know,

Vila

[Sharon]

Just to let you know..I live in Danielsville, and in the picture, the sign is at the corner of Hwy 29 and Booger Hill Rd. If I remember correctly, there was a car accident there that damaged the sign.