Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate

America gets a bad rap for silly place names. We have towns named "Intercourse," "Truth or Consequences," "Assawoman," and "Big Bone Lick," to mention a few.

England is full of its own silly place names. One of the shortest streets in the country, Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate, is right here in York.

The street crosses The Pavement and The Stonebow. It begins where Colliergate ends and ends where Fossgate begins. The street is a mere 35 meters long, and most of it is a pedestrial crosswalk anyway. It's so short that it takes more space on the map to write it than the street actually occupies.

Why is it there? It's so silly that it is listed on Wikipedia's list of "interesting or unusual place names," but how did it get its name? "Whip" is a clue. It's where the city of York's pillory was once located, where criminals were publicly flogged. In the 16th century, the street was known as "Whitnourwhatnourgate," which means "what a street." Bizarre. It's actually a tourist attraction, which just highlights how little there is to do here.