Havin' A Ball @ Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggch LbNA #50759 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Oct 2, 2009 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Webster |
| County: | Worcester |
| State: | Massachusetts |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Planted by: | lookin4moose  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | S&ZRogers |
| Last found: | Apr 7, 2012 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFm |
| Last edited: | Dec 17, 2015 |
***MISSING***
One day, when I heading to the Christmas Tree Shop looking for some balls and tinsel, I made a wrong turn. I came across a really strange sign in the neighboring town announcing the town's lake, which intrigued me immensely.
Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg , a 45-letter alternative name for Webster Lake, is often cited as the longest place name in the United States and one of the longest in the world. Webster Lake may be the name most used, but some (including many residents of Webster), take pride in reeling off the longer versions. The name comes from Nipmuc, an Algonquian language, and is believed to mean, "Fishing Place at the Boundaries -- Neutral Meeting Grounds. This is different from the translation, "You fish on your side, I fish on my side, and nobody fish in the middle", a hoax believed to have been concocted by the late Laurence J. Daly, a Worcester newspaper correspondent. He wrote a humorous article in the 1920s about the lake and the disputes concerning the meaning of its name. It has met with so much popular acceptance that relatively little attention has been paid to the actual translation.
This lake has several alternative names. Lake Chaubunagungamaug is the name of the lake as recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior, however, many area residents, as well as the official website of the town of Webster, consider the longer version correct. The name comes from Nipmuc, an Algonquian language spoken by the local Nipmuc people. The lake was an important fishing spot on the borders of several tribal territories.
Algonquian-speaking peoples had several different names for the lake as recorded on old maps and historical records. However, all of these were similar in part and had almost the same translation. Among other early names were "Chabanaguncamogue" and "Chaubanagogum". Early town records show the name as "Chabunagungamaug Pond", also the name of the local Nipmuc town. This has been translated as 'boundary fishing place', but something close to "fishing place at the boundary" or "that which is a divided island lake" may be more accurate.
Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, the full-length version of the name, is the longest place name in the United States and 6th longest in the world. An even longer, 49-letter version of the name, "Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg" has been cited. Its 17 uses of "g" are the most instances of any letter in a word. The name also contains 10 instances of the letter "a" (not including the "a" in "lake"), more than any word in the English language.
This longest name means approximately "Englishmen at Manchaug at the fishing place at the boundary" and was applied in the 19th century when white people built factories in the area. "Manchaug" is derived from the "Monuhchogoks", a group of Nipmuck that lived by the lakeshore. Spellings of the long name vary, even on official signs near the lake; in 2009, the local Chamber of Commerce agreed to have the spelling corrected on its signs, where a 45-letter version of the name arrayed in a semicircle was used.
Two songs about the lake's name have been written. One was a regional song from the 1930s and the other was recorded by Ethel Merman and Ray Bolger and released in 1954 by Decca. The latter incorporates the tale about the lake's name according to Daly. A poem of doggerel verse was penned in the late 1950's which concludes:
"Touch not a g!" No impious hand
Shall wrest one from that noble name
Fifteen in all their glory stand
And ever shall the same.
For never shall that number down,
Tho Gogg and Magogg shout and thunder;
Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg's renown
Shall blaze, the beacon of the town,
While nations gaze and wonder.
(Wikipedia: Lake Chaubunagungamaug)
I-395 exit for RT-16 toward Webster/ Douglas. Turn right onto SR-16 / Gore Rd / E Main St 0.2 mi. Turn left onto SR-193 / Thompson Rd 0.4 mi.
Turn left into drive for the Webster Memorial Beach, located between the Police Station and Emergency Medical Services bldg.
During the summer you may have to pay a user's fee. Pass thru the pay station and head into the far parking lot next to the boat dock facing the beach house. Park in the last couple of spaces next to the crescent pond. Follow the cresent beach around onto a semi-wooded island. Follow the sandy path thru the woods to the point. Walk back up the incline about 10 paces and look for 2 large pine trees on your left. You'll be Havin' A Ball when you walk over to the 1st tree and look in its split under some bark and pine needles.
One day, when I heading to the Christmas Tree Shop looking for some balls and tinsel, I made a wrong turn. I came across a really strange sign in the neighboring town announcing the town's lake, which intrigued me immensely.
Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg , a 45-letter alternative name for Webster Lake, is often cited as the longest place name in the United States and one of the longest in the world. Webster Lake may be the name most used, but some (including many residents of Webster), take pride in reeling off the longer versions. The name comes from Nipmuc, an Algonquian language, and is believed to mean, "Fishing Place at the Boundaries -- Neutral Meeting Grounds. This is different from the translation, "You fish on your side, I fish on my side, and nobody fish in the middle", a hoax believed to have been concocted by the late Laurence J. Daly, a Worcester newspaper correspondent. He wrote a humorous article in the 1920s about the lake and the disputes concerning the meaning of its name. It has met with so much popular acceptance that relatively little attention has been paid to the actual translation.
This lake has several alternative names. Lake Chaubunagungamaug is the name of the lake as recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior, however, many area residents, as well as the official website of the town of Webster, consider the longer version correct. The name comes from Nipmuc, an Algonquian language spoken by the local Nipmuc people. The lake was an important fishing spot on the borders of several tribal territories.
Algonquian-speaking peoples had several different names for the lake as recorded on old maps and historical records. However, all of these were similar in part and had almost the same translation. Among other early names were "Chabanaguncamogue" and "Chaubanagogum". Early town records show the name as "Chabunagungamaug Pond", also the name of the local Nipmuc town. This has been translated as 'boundary fishing place', but something close to "fishing place at the boundary" or "that which is a divided island lake" may be more accurate.
Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, the full-length version of the name, is the longest place name in the United States and 6th longest in the world. An even longer, 49-letter version of the name, "Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg" has been cited. Its 17 uses of "g" are the most instances of any letter in a word. The name also contains 10 instances of the letter "a" (not including the "a" in "lake"), more than any word in the English language.
This longest name means approximately "Englishmen at Manchaug at the fishing place at the boundary" and was applied in the 19th century when white people built factories in the area. "Manchaug" is derived from the "Monuhchogoks", a group of Nipmuck that lived by the lakeshore. Spellings of the long name vary, even on official signs near the lake; in 2009, the local Chamber of Commerce agreed to have the spelling corrected on its signs, where a 45-letter version of the name arrayed in a semicircle was used.
Two songs about the lake's name have been written. One was a regional song from the 1930s and the other was recorded by Ethel Merman and Ray Bolger and released in 1954 by Decca. The latter incorporates the tale about the lake's name according to Daly. A poem of doggerel verse was penned in the late 1950's which concludes:
"Touch not a g!" No impious hand
Shall wrest one from that noble name
Fifteen in all their glory stand
And ever shall the same.
For never shall that number down,
Tho Gogg and Magogg shout and thunder;
Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg's renown
Shall blaze, the beacon of the town,
While nations gaze and wonder.
(Wikipedia: Lake Chaubunagungamaug)
I-395 exit for RT-16 toward Webster/ Douglas. Turn right onto SR-16 / Gore Rd / E Main St 0.2 mi. Turn left onto SR-193 / Thompson Rd 0.4 mi.
Turn left into drive for the Webster Memorial Beach, located between the Police Station and Emergency Medical Services bldg.
During the summer you may have to pay a user's fee. Pass thru the pay station and head into the far parking lot next to the boat dock facing the beach house. Park in the last couple of spaces next to the crescent pond. Follow the cresent beach around onto a semi-wooded island. Follow the sandy path thru the woods to the point. Walk back up the incline about 10 paces and look for 2 large pine trees on your left. You'll be Havin' A Ball when you walk over to the 1st tree and look in its split under some bark and pine needles.