You Can Call It Llanfairpw--Oh, Forget It!
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LONDON — The longest place name in the United Kingdom, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwryndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, has been trimmed by 38 letters, council official Dafyd Orwig said today.
Documents, maps and signs will refer to the Welsh village as plain Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll from now on.
“All we have done is some tidying up,” Orwig said. “Anybody is still free to call the village whatever they like.”
Local history has it that the name, which means St. Mary’s church in the hollow of the white hazels near to the rapid whirlpool of Llantysilio by the red cave, was coined by an enterprising Victorian innkeeper to attract tourists.
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