I was amused to read that embarrassed US officials have been forced to admit they've been spelling Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg wrongly for years.

The typos in America's longest place name were revealed by a local newspaper, The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, which has been shouting about the misspelling since 2003.

In order to resolve it, large amounts of research into the two dozen ways of spelling the lake, in Webster, Massachusetts, were undertaken. Eventually, it was determined that the 45-letter Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg was the correct spelling, and that the signs saying 'Lake Chargoggagoggmanchaoggagoggchaubunaguhgamaugg' were wrong, using an 'o' for a 'u' at position 20, and an 'h' for an 'n' at position 38.

They also found that the 49-letter variant, Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, was the second most common version.

The local Chamber of Commerce now has to attempt to find the original sign painter and get them to correct the signs.

• Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg is commonly referred to as Webster Lake by locals for obvious reasons.
• Of course we all know the UK's longest place name don't we? It's Wales's Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
• But did you know that Bangok is really called Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit, known to locals as Krungthep Mahanakhon and meaning City of Angels.
• However, the world's LONGEST place name in common usage is a 252 metre hill in New Zealand's Central Hawke's Bay,
  Taumata whaka tangi hanga koauau o tamatea turi pukakapi ki maunga horo nuku poka i whenua kitana tahu
  means 'place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as land-eater, played his flute to his loved one'. This is the one recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the longest in the world, as it is in everyday use, unlike Bangkok's pseudonym. It is sometimes written without the spaces as one long word.

Makes the (now corrected) 'North Lufenham' sign on the A47 look positively feeble in comparison.

By the way, you do know about Stamford's signwriter, Commercial Signs? Just click here for more information