Re: What is SO funny about Sheboygan?

I could retort with a simple "what ISN'T funny about Sheboygan?"

But I won't.

My grandfather published two books entitled "Odd and Peculiar," and "More Odd and Peculiar:" collections of strange place names, a couple from each state.

Sorry, but he didn't pick Sheboygan. In the first book, he picked Wauwatosa and...wait for it...Baraboo. In the sequel, he chose Beloit, Racine, and Allouez. Those names don't seem all that funny to us in Wisconsin (well, except for Baraboo), but to out-of-staters, they're just weird.

RE: What is SO Funny About Sheboygan?

About a year ago, I had the pleasure of meeting NRO's Jonah Goldberg after he spoke at Marquette University.

We spent about two minutes of the five I talked to him cracking jokes about "Sheboygan" and the way to say it.

It's funny what happens when you say the phrase, "Well, I've got to get going. Have an hour's drive to Sheboygan ahead of me."

Try it at parties with complete strangers not from Wisconsin. An amazing ice breaker I tell you.

What is SO Funny About Sheboygan?

I got a tsunami of funny place names, some of which I should have thought of myself, like Sheboyan, [sic] Walla Walla, and Azusa. Of course, Mona beat me to Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J., which always strikes me as a joke when I see it on a board at Penn Station, along with other New Jersey suburbs, like Mahwah or Perth Amboy. Then there's names that follow the rule that the "K" sound is inherently funny: Kalamazoo, Albuquerque (especially as pronounced by Bugs Bunny), Kokomo, Rancho Cucamonga, Lompoc, Kankakee, Poughkeepsie, Passaic, Tuscaloosa, Yakima, Nyack, Muskogee, Schwenksville (Pa.), and Apalachicola. As Yakov Smirnoff (who now lives and works at his own theater in Branson, Mo., of all places) said, "Every country has that one city that everyone makes fun of, even Russia. In Russia, we make fun of Cleveland." And just to round it out, how about Wausau [emphasis added], Puyallup, Yazoo City, and Chattanooga.

From: The Corner – Mark Krikorian (Re: Place Names)

There is an old joke about about Sheboygan, but I guess only Rep. Kagen can get away with telling that one.

Funny, I don't see the classic towns from Pennsylvania mentioned in his post.