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BGN Geekery: New name proposals
BGN Geekery: The Apostrophe Problem
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Good Stuff: 3/28/08
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Geeking out with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names
Tuesday, April 22, 2008   12:20 AM

Thanks to a recent Mighty Red Pen post on Alaskan place names, I've just discovered the wonders of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names website. There's too much good stuff to excerpt in one post, so let's start with a brief BGN primer from their awesome FAQ:

The Board is responsible by law for standardizing geographic names throughout the Federal Government, and discourages name changes unless necessary. Further, the Board states that, "changing a name merely to correct or re-establish historical usage is not in and of itself a reason to change a name."

That last sentence really makes things interesting. More BGN geekery:

New name proposals
The Apostrophe Problem
Trivia roundup

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Argh. I hate the BGN. Their disdain for diacritics and the impossibility of recovering many originals thanks to their wacky transliteration systems is infuriating. I know they have a hard job, but they could show a little respect for the languages they deal with...

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