Longest place name in US spelt wrongly

The longest place name in the United States, Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, has been spelt incorrectly for years, local officials have discovered.

The lake in Webster, Massachusetts - known as Webster Lake for short - was always going to be a challenge for sign writers.

But after researching historical spelling combinations, the local newspaper the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester said local Chamber of Commerce officials agreed that some signs at the lake were wrong.

There was an "o" at letter 20 where a "u" should have been, and an "h" at letter 38 where an "n" should go.

The name comes from the language of the local Nipmuck tribe and translates to "Englishmen at Manchaug at the fishing place at the boundary although" and was applied in the 19th century when White people built factories in the area.

One debunked myth suggested the actual words were "You fish on your side, I fish on my side, and nobody fish in the middle."

It is believed the latter was a hoax believed to have been concocted by the late Larry Daly, the editor of The Webster Times.

The stretch of water has several alternative names is also shortened to Lake Chaubunagungamaug to avoid the 45 letter tongue twister.

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, the full-length version of the name, is the longest place name in the United States and 6th longest in the world. Its 17 uses of "g" are the most instances of any letter in a word. The name also contains 10 instances of the letter "a" (not including the "a" in "lake"), more than any word in the English language.