Fjuckby

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**Fjuckby**
	City arms
	59°58′ N 17°36′ E
	Charter
	Municipality	Uppsala Municipality
	County	Uppsala County
	Province	Uppland
	Population	65 as of 2000

Fjuckby (help·info) (IPA: ['fjukbi]; UN/LOCODE:SE UPP) is a village in Uppsala Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden, located about 15 km north of the central city Uppsala along European route E4. The village has a population of 65 people (as of 2000) within an area of 18 hectares. Known as a site for rune stones, the village's name has generated worldwide interest in the village.

1 History
2 Location
3 Culture
4 See also
5 References and notes
6 External links

[edit] History

Prior to the 1930s, the village was known as Fjukeby.^[1] In the 1930s, the spelling of the name of this small historic town was changed to Fjuckby.^[2] With globalization, many English-speaking visitors traveled to Fjuckby to giggle and engage in worse behavior.^[3] Inhabitants of Fjuckby endured years of ridicule over the name, which is not only similar to "fuck", a common English expletive, but includes the word "juck", the Swedish equivalent of the same expletive.^[1]^[4]

Over time, residents grew weary from constantly having to take a tiresome defensive stance, and suffered from constant teasing.^[5]^[1] In addition, the name Fjuckby made it difficult to sell property or run a successful business.^[1] Globalization has made those associated with Fjuckby an international laughing stock and the butt of rude English-language jokes.^[6]

In December 2006 the inhabitants of Fjuckby applied to change the name of their village.^[5] The request was sent to the Swedish government surveyors' office, and requested that the office grant permission for the name to be changed back to Fjukeby.^[1]^[7] The request complained of suffering from an epidemic of "weariness, embarrassment and conditioned shame."^[5] In particular, the place name 'Fjuckby' arouses ridicule, teasing and hilarity in the general public and spontaneously and repeatedly leads to associations concerning certain carnal activities between people and between animals.^[1]^[7] The change was not allowed as only 15 of 50 residents were in favour of the change.

[edit] Location

Fjuckby is located north of Uppsala in Uppsala County. Uppsala County is located on Sweden's east coast, where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic Sea. (Coordinates: 59°58′N 17°36′E.)

[edit] Culture

Fjuckby contains rune stones, on which the location of death might be inscribed to commemorate the person at home.^[8] A recently discovered runic section inside a main runic band on a rune stone in Fjuckby contains an inscription that commemorates a son who died in Greece.^[8] In particular, the stone reads:

Captain Liut erected this stone in memory of his sons. One was called Aki, who was lost overseas. <?) captained a merchant ship. He reached Greek harbours. At home he died.^[9]

In a study by Fred Wulf, Wulf proposes that the added message emphasizes that the sponsor's other son Hafnir died at home.^[8]

[edit] See also

Anusviken, Sweden^[1]
Arslet, Sweden^[1]
Dicken, Sweden^[1]
Fucking, Austria
Kräkånger, Sweden (Kräkånger means "vomit regret" in Swedish)^[7]

[edit] References and notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ O'Mahony, Paul. (December 14, 2006) The Local. Residents of Fjuckby demand new name.
^ Daily Record (Scotland) (December 16, 2006) Bad spell for village. Section: News, Page 5
^ Olbermann, Keith. (December 14, 2006) MSNBC News. 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Dec. 14. Part 1. (reporting, " But now, here are COUNTDOWN‘s top three newsmakers of this day. ... Number two, residents of a small historic town in Sweden who have to get government permission to change the name of the place after years of silent suffering -- Fjuckby, F-J-U-C-K-B-Y, Fjuckby. They say globalization has made this necessary. Too many English-speaking visitors coming by Fjuckby and giggling, or worse.")
^ Gold Coast Bulletin (December 16, 2006) Call for F-Word Change; Village voices opposition to name that's no joke. Section: B - Main; page 103.
^ ^a ^b ^c The Independent (December 15, 2006) Fjuckby villagers tire of ridicule. Section: EUROPE; Page 30. (writing, " Residents of a Swedish hamlet complain that they are suffering from an epidemic of "weariness, embarrassment and conditioned shame" and need official help to escape being constantly "forced to take a tiresome defensive stance". The inhabitants of Fjuckby say that the global spread of English means that they suffer constant teasing and low self-esteem. Now they want permission to change the village name -to Fjukeby. After enduring years of ridicule the inhabitants of the Swedish village of Fjuckby have handed in an application to Swedish authorities to have the hamlet's name changed to Fjukeby.")
^ Kranes, Marsha. (December 19, 2006) New York Post Weird but true. Section: News; Page 37.
^ ^a ^b ^c Reuters (December 14, 2006) Tired of ridicule, Fjuckby seeks name change.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wicker, Nancy L. (July 1, 2000) Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study. Blandade runstudier 2. Volume 72; Issue 2, Page 232.
^ Ian, Raymond. (1995) Chronicles of the Vikings: records, memorials, and myths. Published by University of Toronto Press. Page 84. ISBN 0-80207-165-1