“Horse Meat Forbidden in Japanese has a certain ring to it.”
Dan Ehl, Editor of the Kalona News
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| Photo by Karla Campos |
What’s a name worth? In Kalona, Iowa (population 2,511), about $681. That was top bid when the town put the naming rights for the creek currently known as “West Drainage Ditch” on eBay. They did it to find a more fitting name for the creek that runs through town and to raise funds to replace sidewalks. The winning name, “Baniku Kinshi Creek,” was submitted by “Phil from Virginia,” who said he placed the bid for a Japanese friend in honor of her great-grandfather. Not true. The folks in Iowa, who are not as gullible as recent political pundits suggest, did a little investigating and found that Baniku Kinshi means “Horse Meat Forbidden” and the winning bidder was actually “Phil from PETA”—People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The town declined the name, and the creek is back on eBay, where it will remain West Drainage Ditch until a new name is approved by the Kalona Town Council and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
Read more:
■ Kalona’s creek will not be named Horse Meat Forbidden in Japanese, Kalona News, December 26, 2011.
■ Stephanie Wise, Creek’s naming rights to hit eBay again, Iowa City Press Citizen, December 23, 2011.
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