PP's Regarding the "F" Word Locked Sticky

[wa3zrm]

I was going to post this there, however, the SOB locked it!!!!

Enjoy!

[sgreger1]

Awesome song lol.

[GoVegan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfVsfOSbJY0

[wa3zrm]

****ing, Austria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
****ing
— Village —
The frequently stolen traffic sign,[1] at the entrance to the village of ****ing.
****ing is located in Austria
****ing
Located in Austria 4 kilometers from the German border.
Coordinates: 48°04′02″N 12°51′49″ECoordinates: 48°04′02″N 12°51′49″E
Country Austria
State Upper Austria
Region Innviertel
Municipality Tarsdorf
Established since at least 1070
Named for 6th century nobleman named Focko
Population
• Total 104
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 5121
Area code(s) 06278
Licence plate BR

****ing (German pronunciation: [ˈfʊkɪŋ], rhymes with "booking"[2]) is an Austrian village[3] in the municipality of Tarsdorf,[4] in the Innviertel region of western Upper Austria. The village is 33 kilometres (21 mi) north of Salzburg, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) east of the German border.

Despite having a population of only 104, the village has become famous for its name in the English-speaking world. Its road signs are a popular visitor attraction, and were often stolen by souvenir-hunting tourists until 2005, when they were modified to be theft-resistant.
Contents

1 Etymology
2 Demographics and transportation
3 Name and notoriety
4 False rumours of name change
5 References
6 External links

Etymology

It is believed that the settlement was founded in the 6th century by Focko, a Bavarian nobleman. The existence of the village was documented for the first time in 1070 and historical records show that some twenty years later the lord was Adalpertus de Fucingin. The spelling of the name has evolved over the years; it is first recorded in historical sources with the spelling as Vucchingen in 1070, Fukching in 1303,[5] Fugkhing in 1532, and in the modern spelling ****ing in the 18th century,[6] which is pronounced with the vowel oo as in book.[2] The ending -ing is an old Germanic suffix indicating the people belonging to the root word to which it is attached, thus ****ing means "(place of) Focko's people."[7]
Demographics and transportation

The Austrian census of 2001 recorded that the village had a population of 93.[8] The Age reported in 2005 that it had 104 people and 32 houses.[6]

There is a bus service operated by OÖVV between Schärding and Eggerding which makes stops at Unter****ing (Lower ****ing) and Ober****ing (Upper ****ing). Bus route 2302 operates once a day from Monday to Friday.[9]
Name and notoriety

****ing's most famous feature is four traffic signs with its name on them, beside which tourists stop to have their photograph taken, owing to the identical spelling to the present participle of the English-language profanity ****. One version of the sign features the village name with an additional sign beneath it, with the words "Bitte – nicht so schnell!" ("Please — not so fast!"). The lower sign — which features an illustration of two children — is meant to advise drivers to watch their speed, but tourists see this as a double meaning coupled with the village name.[10]

British and American soldiers based in nearby Salzburg noticed the name after World War II, and began to travel to the village to have their photos taken beside the signs while striking various poses. The local residents, the ****ingers, were considerably bemused as they had not previously been aware of the meaning of their village's name when read as English.[6] Since then, the number of visitors to ****ing has increased, with the occasional visit by a tour bus.[2]

The village is especially popular with British tourists; as a local tour guide explained: "The Germans all want to see Mozart's house in Salzburg; the Americans want to see where The Sound of Music was filmed; the Japanese want Hitler's birthplace in Braunau; but for the British, it's all about ****ing."[11] Augustina Lindlbauer, the manager of an area guesthouse, noted that the area had lakes, forests, and vistas worth visiting, but there was an "obsession with ****ing". Lindlbauer recalled how she had to explain to a British female tourist "that there were no ****ing postcards."[12]

The road signs were commonly stolen as souvenirs[10] — the only crime which has been reported in the village.[13] It cost some 300 Euros to replace each stolen sign, and the costs were reflected in the taxes that local residents pay.[6] In 2004, owing mainly to the stolen signs, a vote was held on changing the village's name, but the residents voted against doing so.[7] Tarsdorf municipality's mayor Siegfried Höppl stated that it was decided to keep the name as it had existed for 800 years,[7] and further stated that "[e]veryone here knows what it means in English, but for us ****ing is ****ing — and it's going to stay ****ing."[14]

After a spate of thefts, which included the theft of all four signs in one night, and a total of fifteen over a period of several years, in August, 2005, the road signs were replaced with theft-resistant signs welded to steel and secured in concrete to prevent them being stolen.[6][15] Mayor Höppl said that officials were fed up with English-speaking tourists stealing the signs, and noted that with the newly-installed signs it would take all night to steal one. Höppl said that tourists, and the money they bring to the area, were welcome, but locals were sick of replacing the signs.[1][16] Kommandant Schmitzberger, the local police chief, also hinted at other avenues to stop what he calls "foreign criminals" from disturbing order in the village. Regarding these "other avenues", Schmitzberger stated, "[w]hat they are, I am not at liberty to disclose, but we will not stand for the ****ing signs being removed. It may be very amusing for you British, but ****ing is simply ****ing to us. What is this big ****ing joke? It is puerile."[13][17]

A local resident of the village, Josef Winkler, attempted to cash in on the village's fame by setting up a website (www.****ing.at), on which he sold t-shirts featuring the village road signs, with the slogan "I like ****ing in Austria" printed on them. According to Winkler, they were selling well, and he was in negotiations with Maxim regarding possible promotions, but was forced to stop his venture after being shouted at and threatened in the street. Winkler said, "It was a bit of fun that didn't hurt anyone, but I found out that in this region you just can't do something like that. The whole thing became a real trial for me and I had to stop. People are very traditional here."[13]

In November 2008, the village hosted the Festival of the **** Bands music festival, which featured bands ****ed Up, Holy ****, **** and **** Buttons.[18]

In July 2009, it was announced that the village would be installing CCTV cameras in an attempt to deter summertime tourists from filming themselves having sexual intercourse in front of the ****ing signs. A resident of the village said that installing cameras around the village may make tourists think twice and instead choose to only have a photograph taken in front of the sign.[19] Juergen Stoll, the operator of a guesthouse at Wank, close to the Austrian-German border, stated that the residents of ****ing should be cashing in on its name, although Mayor Franz Meindl states: "We don't find it funny. We just want to be left alone. We don't harm anyone and just want to live in peace."[20] — and added that he would prefer not to see the village being featured in the press anymore.[21] Meindl appears to have the opposite view of former Mayor Höppl, by proclaiming that residents wish for their village to be left alone by tourists.[15]

Putting the problem in context, however, tz-online notes that numerous villages across the border in Germany have names that are "unfortunate" even in German, including Affendorf (Monkey Village), Faulebutter (Putrid Butter), Fickmühlen (**** Mill), Himmelreich (Kingdom of Heaven), Katzenhirn (Cat Brain), Plöd (Stupid), Regenmantel (Raincoat), Sklavenhaus (Slave House) and Warzen (Warts).[22]

In 2009, the European Union's OHIM trademarks agency forbade a German brewery to market a beer called "****ing Hell". It appealed, and was granted permission in January 2010 to market the beer.[23] It claims the beer is named after the Austrian village ****ing and the German term for pale lager, Hell.[24]
False rumours of name change

Rumours spread through international news media in April 2012 that the townspeople were thinking about changing the name of the town, or had actually voted to change it. The satirical website The Spoof! published a story on 18 April saying that the townspeople were fed up and wanted to change the name.[25] This minor satire was expanded upon and appeared on the same day in the Daily Mirror newspaper[26] and elsewhere during the following week as a genuine news item, and was repeated by The Guardian and The Huffington Post, who reported that a vote had taken place to change the name to Fugging, but it was discovered that a village with that name already existed just west of Herzogenburg.[27][28] The irritated mayor of ****ing denied these false stories when contacted.[29]