Missouri is definitely a unique place. And we just see things a little differently, I suppose. Check out some of the funniest, weirdest, and just strange town names here in the Show Me State! 

1.  Licking

All I can think is: THEY SHOULD HAVE A LOLLIPOP FACTORY! Or maybe an ice cream cone facility! Get on it, Licking. You're welcome.  It was actually named for a nearby mineral lick (something that happens in nature that animals use, exactly like a salt lick, only with iron or phosphorous or something). It was originally called Buffalo Lick, which is even better.

2.  Tightwad

Tightwad was originally called Edgewood, for the woods near the original town site. The village's unusual name is said to stem from an episode in which a store owner cheated a customer, who was a postman, by charging him an extra 50 cents for a better watermelon. Some sources claim the transaction involved a rooster rather than a watermelon. I am well familiar with Tightwad, because someone in my family had a red t-shirt that read, "Eat, Drink, and Be Merry... For Tomorrow You May Be in Tightwad, Missouri".

3. Vulcan

This was actually named for a nearby iron works back in 1895. OR WAS IT. Maybe Mr Spock traveled back in time! I knew you had it in you, Leonard.

4. Braggadocio

Yes, this is real. There's some debate on where the name came from. From a University of Missouri website:

Three theories about the origin of the name are held in the vicinity. One is that the first settler was a man named Bragg who combined his name with that of his wife, Docio, and so named the settlement. The second theory is similar: a man of this settlement was continually bragging about his wife Docio – about her beauty, wit, and merit, so that people mockingly named the place for the man who was always "bragging on Docio." The third theory is that the early settlers were such boastful people that this name grew up as descriptive of the settlers. The first two of these theories are of the familiar type known as "aetiological" or "ex post facto" explanations and may be safely disregarded [Editor: How many women do you know named Docio?], though they are widely repeated. The third is more plausible. Mocking names of this type are fairly common in Missouri; Cf. Gasconade, said to have received its name for precisely the same reason.

5. Devil's Elbow

So... somebody must not have liked this place. Although I guess there are worse parts of the body to be named after. I just can't imagine anything on the Devil would be pleasant. I did a little digging, though. It is situated on the Big Piney River and is named for a particularly bad place in the river known as a "devil of an elbow". So. Yeah.

6. Blue Eye

So this town was supposedly named after the very blue eyes of their first Postmaster, Elbert Butler. But... why? I mean, if you're gonna name your town after a dude, why not use his name? Those must have been some next level, supernatural blue eyes. Not that we'll ever know, I'm sure poor Elbert is long dead. I wonder if the local newspaper is called "Behind Blue Eyes". If not, you can have it, Blue Eye. You're welcome.

We've all learned a little something today, I hope.

Strangely yours,
Behka

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