Can anyone tell me why the county of Hampshire is abbreivated to Hants? Surely Hamps would be more appropriate.

[Peachy66]

[jackthehat]

Similarly, Northamptonshire becomes Northants................

[Peachy66]

Found it!!!

Why is Hampshire sometimes called Hants?

"Hampshire" is often abbreviated in written form to "Hants" and which sometimes gives rise to puzzlement. The abbreviated form is derived from the Old English Hantum plus Scir (meaning a district governed from the settlement now known as Southampton) and the Anglo-Saxons called it Hamtunschire. At the time of the Domesday Book (1086) this was compressed to Hantescire.

[another-view]

So why does Shropshire become Salop? That seems even stranger to me.

[jno]

Anglo-French 'Salopesberia'. Salop was the official name in the 1970s.

[fredpuli47]

Shropshire was indeed once known officially by the Normans as Salopesberia, which seems to be something of a Latinising of whatever name they heard.
Shrewsbury, the county town, was known to the Anglo-Saxons as Scrobbesburh ['Scrobb's fort' or ' the fort in the bushes' ].A county was a 'scir'. or 'scire' The county of Shrewsbury became, over time, Sciropscire and then Shropshire.
Meanwhile, in parallel, Salopsberia was being shortened to Salop.

[sophie_1003]

I feel very blonde now, up until I read this thread I thought all of the different names mentioned were different places! Shows how brilliant my geography is!

[Panic Button]

Oxfordshire becomes Oxon - what's that all about?

[Marvel]

Does anyone know why my City, Stoke on Trent is often referred to as a sh1t Hole.

[jno]

Oxonia was the Latin form of Oxfordshire (not in actual Roman days - as far as I know it was the classical scholars at the university who gave it the fancy name).

[zabado]

I'm with Marvel on this thread. Why is Man U known as the Scum.

[north star]

Why, if stoke-on-trent is commonly called Stoke and Stratford-upon-Avon is called Stratford, Why is Kingston-upon-Hill called Hull?

[Peter Pedant]

yeah.

I agree with all this

In Mandarin (Chinese), they say man che si ta for Manchester
but who chose the characters ?

and anyway shouldnt it be wan-king ?

like Pe king or bei jing or Nan king I hasten to add

[fredpuli47]

Hull didn't exist until the late C12. It was just an area of land by the River Hull until the monks of Meaux Abbey decided to bulid a new town there, no doubt seeing the potential of the site as a harbour . They called the new town Wyke upon Hull, after John Wyke, Archbishop of York. The locals ignored that name and called the town simply Hull, after the river. In 1299, Edward I granted the town a Royal Charter, whereupon it became King's Town- upon= Hull, and , in time, 'Kingston'- upon- Hull. The locals don't seem to have taken to that proper name either!

[fredpuli47]

Sorry, Marvel, but I've been unable to find why Stoke is called Sh!t Hole. Stoke is from Old English 'stoc' ['a place', often meaing specifically, ' a meeting place' or 'a dairy farm']. Even Domesday Book gives no connection with ordure, not that the Book doesn't show a sense of humour in the place-names.Beaumont in Beaumont -cum-Moze, in Essex means 'fine hill'. In fact, the place was more than a slightly raised piece of ground in a marsh ['moze'].! Locals in Stoke may be more accurate in their.local, naming than their distant ancestors !