I know this is way the heck OT, but...........

[elevmike]

Speaking of name changes, there is rumors that the Louisiana state capital may have its name changed to "NEW ROUGE" or "BATON ORLEANS" so all of the new residents truly feel at home.

Tranlated to English that would be "New Red", or "Stick Orleans"; hardly makes sense to name a town after an adjective...

 

[akreel]

I hope they realize that they aren't allowed to park in front of your garage!...

LOL!
I think I'm going to cry.

 

[Leadfoot]

You should see some of the "UNUSUAL" names for parishes around here.

Many are FRENCH like RED STICK.

Many do not even sound like they are spelled.

 

[elevmike]

Baton Rouge is "Red Stick". I heard somewhere years ago that various landings were marked by poles painted various colors for the illiterate traders moving their wares down the river. Baton Rouge was marked with a red pole, (or stick) & the name stuck. Somehow St. Louis & New Orleans escaped the same fate, even though they were marked in similar fashion.

Edit: Wikipedia has a differnet story on the name:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baton_Rouge,_Louisiana#Establishment