A real estate developer has used Game of Thrones as the inspiration for a dozen street names in a development in Geelong Victoria. The names include Catelyn Rd, Stannis St, Winterfell Rd, Greyjoy St, Baelish Drive and Tywin St. The weird part (naming streets after TV shows is normal, right?) comes with the developer also revealing that the name of one of the streets caused an objection due to associations with incest by characters in the story. Even changing the spelling from the correct Lannister wasn’t enough to avoid the ire of the moral guardians charged with nomenclature purity. The Office of Geographic Names (for real), determined that Lannaster (even mis-spelled) was not compliant with the rules; as it might cause offence to the general public. Names “must not be detrimental to the preservation of longstanding community values”, according to the City of Greater Geelong, whose officers have surely much better things with which to occupy their time.
The reasoning must be that anyone living in Lannaster Rd, or even just seeing the name in Google Maps, would be stricken with lurid fantasies regarding their blood kin. Act out on them even. I can relate to this because I have a weird urge to grab a football every time I drive on Punt Road.
So you’d be pardoned for thinking that the Registrar of Geographic Names (not joking) seriously dropped the ball on Titwobble Lane in Wedderburn Victoria. Nothing offensive in titwobble though, because a tit is a bird and birds wobble; don’t they?
With the example of titwobble fresh in our minds, it’s hard to credit the Geelong developer’s reasoning that original names were becoming harder to find. “We wanted original names as everything is already taken in Geelong, you have to think outside the circle.” Which I guess means so far out of the box as to be outside the circle which apparently surrounds the box. I think.
If we’re going to use TV as a source there could be no objection, surely, to names inspired by say Master Chef. “Braising Road” perhaps, or (my favourite) “Sous-vide Boulevarde”. Feel free to add your own suggestions on TV inspired street names in the comments below.
This story should serve as a warning, in these dark times, to all developers contemplating street names inspired by “Fifty Shades of Grey” or “The Flash”, or even “Peppa Pig”.
photo: Fotokvadrat via ShutterStock.com