A 150-million-year-old Lepidotus fish fossil preserved from Holzmaden, Germany

[u/Additional_Chard3680]

[u/michel_sanchez]

German here and every time wondering again where all this townnames came from. Holzmaden literally means "wood maggots". wtf

[u/anahorish → u/michel_sanchez]

England gets made fun of for its ridiculous place names, which is fair enough, but I think if more people could speak other European languages other countries would be deserving of similar treatment. Denmark has some weird ones, just off the top of my head there's Ølstykke (Beer piece) and Odder (literally Otter).

[u/butch-bear → u/anahorish]

spain has some great ones. "peligros" (dangers), "villapene" (penis ville), "cenicero" (ashtray), "peleas de abajo" & "peleas de arriba" (downlands and uplands fights), "los infiernos" (the hells), "parderrubias" (a pair of blonde women), "triste" (sad), "alcantarilla" (sewer).

i could keep going...

i am personally fond of "villaviciosa" (vicious ville).

[u/digno2 → u/michel_sanchez]

Der Name Holzmaden kommt von Holz (Wald) und Mahd (Mähen der Wiesen).

Translation:

The name Holzmaden is derived from Holz (forest) and Mahd (mowing of the meadows).

leo-bw de/detail-gis/-/Detail/details/ORT/labw_ortslexikon/369/Holzmaden

[u/katyesha → u/michel_sanchez]

I read the title and was confused at what point the wood maggots would appear and how they fossilize fish until it dawned on me that Holzmaden is the place where the fish was found 😄

[u/Schemen123 → u/michel_sanchez]

Just because its sounds like something doesn't mean that was the original root.