Fucking, Austria - Definition

Sign underneath town name translates to "Please, not so fast!", in reference to driving

Fucking (the first vowel is pronounced similar to the "oo" in the word "look"; IPA: [ˈfʊkɪŋ], SAMPA: ["fUkIN]) is a small settlement (population c. 150) in the Innviertel region of southwestern Upper Austria, located at 48°04' N, 12°51' E, bordering Bavaria. It is near the city of Salzburg. The village is known to have existed as "Fucking" since at least 1070 and is named after a man from the 6th century called Focko.

The town's name, spelled identically to the gerund form of the English profanity "fuck", is often found amusing by Anglophones.

The settlement's only significant feature is a traffic sign with its name on it at which English-speaking tourists invariably stop to have their photograph taken. The sign is the most stolen street sign in Austria. A considerable portion of Fucking's budget is spent on replacing the stolen signs.

In 2004, the residents voted on changing the name (owing to the stolen signs and embarrassment over the name), but decided against doing so.

See also

• Condom, France
• Dildo, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Hell, Norway
• Intercourse, Pennsylvania
• Lost, Scotland
• Pussy, France
• Wank, Germany
• Windpassing, Austria
• List of interesting or unusual place names
• Street sign theft

External links

• Evidence that this is not an (http://www.snopes.com/photos/austria.asp) urban myth
• Fucking.at (http://www.fucking.at)
• Map (http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/MapCenter/Map.aspx?__VIEWSTATE=dDwyOTk3Nzk2MTM7Oz4=&TextLatitude=24.9853376751425&TextLongitude=-40.0293243208645&TextAltitude=0&TextSelectedEntity=39070&SearchEnc=false&search=Fucking) (Encarta)
• A detailed Fucking tourism page (http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/108df/50a96/)
• F*cking villagers vote against name change (http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_981264.html) (Ananova)
• Village is cursed (http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=14315184&method=full&siteid=89488&headline=village-is-cursed-name_page.html) (Daily Record, 09 June 2004)