The residents of a Canadian town voted in the last week to change its name from the ominous sounding Asbestos to the more poetic Val-des-Sources (English: “Valley of the Spring”) to diverge from its history, NPR reports.
Once the site of the largest chrysotile asbestos mine in the world, the Jeffrey Mine, the town decided it was time to disconnect from its connection to the cancer-causing mineral.
“Once upon a time, we have been very proud of that name, but now it’s very difficult because asbestos means a fiber that people are afraid of,” Louise Moisan-Coulombe, the town’s former mayor, told the CBC.
Some residents, however, were vehemently against the name change. Ginette Frichette, a lifelong resident of the town, said during the September debate that led to the vote, “I’m against the name change. I was born in Asbestos and I want to die in Asbestos.”
No word if the towns of Hell, Michigan; Pee Pee, Ohio; Anus, France; Cuntis, Spain; Assmannshausen, Germany; or Fucking, Austria will undertake similar moves.