When counting seconds in my youth, I was always told to insert the word "Mississippi" between each number to approximate the actual passage of real time. But time is dragging so slowly today that I'm replacing Mississippi with Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which is the lengthy name of a town in Anglesey, Wales.
Apparently, the name means "St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool of Llantysilio of the red cave."
No doubt the inhabitants, afraid their mail might be delivered to the wrong address, added the red cave part to differentiate their village from other nearby villages also in white hazel populated hollows and adjacent to rapid whirlpools.
Personally, I find it helpful to have such distinguishing landmarks included in the name of a place. It makes giving directions to a location so much easier for all concerned. Compare, for instance, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch with a rather mundane place name like Boston.
"Boston" reveals nothing whatsoever about the destination, which, if you ask me, should be renamed with the Wampanoag tribal phrase meaning "city of two insurance office towers by the polluted harbor."
With luck, the resulting place name would be long enough to insert between numbers when counting seconds to provide a better approximation of the passage of real time. And perhaps it might even be long enough to accurately encompass the amount of real time you've wasted reading this blog post. But I doubt it.
