Visit beautiful Cape Goodenough

Or as I like to call it, Cape Fuckthiswearegoinghome.

Sadly, Antarctica's Cape Goodenough (pictured here on National Geographic's Political Map of the World) was not named by a less-then-intrepid band of explorers who decided that seeing the coastline of Antarctica was plenty of adventure for them, thankyouverymuch.

Instead, it's named for William Goodenough, admiral in the British Royal Navy. Yes. Admiral Goodenough. I'm sure the troops were enthused.

But wait, there's more. In the 1930s and 1940s, the admiral was apparently involved in the creation of comfortable, dormitory-style housing for international post-graduate students in London. Today, the buildings are known as ... Goodenough College.

Maggie Koerth-Baker is the science editor at BoingBoing.net. She writes a monthly column for The New York Times Magazine and is the author of Before the Lights Go Out, a book about electricity, infrastructure, and the future of energy. You can find Maggie on Twitter and Facebook.

Maggie goes places and talks to people. Find out where she'll be speaking next.

MORE: Antarctica • geography • History • Science • silly names

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http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BOOM27DBLMZQIJVK4BQLE7K5YA Nagurski

The Russians claim to have been there first, and call it Cape Badenoff, after their beloved spy.
Ashley Yakeley

I mean, who bakes koerths anyway?
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OAUXAA362EXWLYVMPJOKLFB5JQ Incipient Madness
  
  I agree. Nothing like traditional Texas-style pan fried koreth. German settlers brought over the recipe.
  
  And getting back on topic, I think you could do worse than go to a Goodenough college.
  - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
    
    Exactly, it’s good enough, what more do you need?
  - http://maggiekb.com/ Maggie Koerth-Baker
    
    Points to Incipient Madness for accurately tying any Koerth-eating traditions back to south Texas Germans.
brerrabbit23

Beats the heck out of Cape Disappointment?
http://twitter.com/AbelUndercity Abel Undercity

Goodenough College would have been a good fit for Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average.
StCredZero

Less than!
joshhaglund

General Perfection is the enemy of Admiral Goodenough.
- Gulliver
  
  Their rivalry was overshadowed by the more famous tension between Major Payne and Rear Admiral Mark E. Butts.
jimbuck

Reminds me of “The Outerbridge Crossing” which connects Staten Island and NJ — it’s named after Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge. Till just now, I thought it was George W Outerbridge — but all HE got was an Appalachian Trail shelter!
- jhertzli
  
  Don’t forget Mt. Everest. It sounds like it was named for its majestic eternal-looking grandeur instead of Sir George Everest.
PhosPhorious

Cape Goodenough? Isn’t that near Notbad Atoll?
- Felton / Moderator
  
  Yes, not too far from Dam Strait.
  - DXMachina
    
    And Ifanyonekan, Yukon.
    - http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
      
      and quite far from Ratherpleasant Bay
d4l3d

Makes you wonder what his ancestors did that was just good enough.
gumbowing

I’d rather go to Carefree, Arizona.
yish

hey, my family and I lived at the goodenough college for five years. after 3 months, you run out of goodenough jokes and get on with your life. its a really nice place. if you’re thinking of studying in London – check it out.
b.t.w. the real funny bit is that they call it a college, given that it’s a students residence hall.
- Olorwen
  
  The latter bit doesn’t seem to be terribly uncommon (didn’t it start with Oxbridge?), though it is funny – I’m doing grad work at a school in the northeast US, and have been trying to wrap my head around the ‘residential colleges’ where the undergrads live. In my undergrad state school, we called them *dorms*.
  - http://twitter.com/chrisjar Christian Ridley
    
    Except Oxbridge colleges aren’t just residential, they are also the site of most undergraduate teaching, via supervisions.
niktemadur

Reminds me of that very old SNL sketch when the Lord of Sandwich met the Lord of Douchebag, “Give me a Sandwich and a Douchebag and there’s nothing I cannot do”.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  http://snltranscripts.jt.org/79/79tdouchebag.phtml
  Lord Salisbury: Would you like some dressing with that?
  Lady Douchebag: Just some vinegar and water, thank you.
  - niktemadur
    
    Great pull from the interwebs!
    Lord Douchebag: Buck Henry.
    See, I did NOT remember that.
    Also, Earl of Sandwich, not Lord.
GertaLives

Yeah, well the Russians put a whole fucking university on an ice shelf. Eat that, you pasty Brits.
Meiles02

Well while we’re here to make fun of Antarctic placenames, what about the eyewatering ‘Cape Circumcision? I kid you not.

Usually far to cold to properly get the job done, I imagine…
- Ipo
  
  Perfect conditions there. The unwanted bit snaps right off, making a little “plick” sound.
Henry Pootel

C is for cape, that’s goodenough for me.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=601684471 Marjo Aho

I was diving at Goodenough Island in Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, and can report that the diving was better than good enough. In fact, Milne Bay probably has more biodiversity than any other spot on the planet. There is also a “Goodenough’s Island” in Rangiroa.
Guido

There was a book about Plant Propagation that I used to read for my classes, its author was “Alan Toogood”. We thought it was an excellent porn name.

http://www.amazon.com/Plant-Propagation-Alan-Toogood/dp/078945520X
- http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
  
  One time I was doing data-entry and came across a Mr. Sausagedriver
http://singedrac.livejournal.com Singe

Goodenough was actually one of my grandmother’s maiden names.
Carl Maltby

Is it not pronounced “goo-day-no”?
Apologies for the oversimplification and lack of funny.
- http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
  
  “The Bouquet Residence, the lady of the house speaking!”
  - Mrs. Bucket
- dragonfrog
  
  If you’re Scottish you can pronounce it “gude enow”, but that’s just how Scots say “good enough”
http://redesigned.com redesigned

Damn, what i wouldn’t give to have a degree on the wall from Goodenough College. I’d hang that sucker with pride and a smile.
http://www.earwicker.com Daniel Earwicker

The inspiration for the Beachcomber character, Captain Foulenough?
tw1515tw

I knew a Derek Bytheway. He’d say “my name is Derek Bytheway” on the phone and you can guess the rest.

Cape Tribulation, Queensland was named by Captain Cook after his ship hit a reef as it passed over it.
- kiwidebz
  
  Taylor’s Mistake near Christchurch, New Zealand, has a similar story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor%27s_Mistake
- kiwidebz
  
  Courtesy of Cook we also have Poverty Bay http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_Bay, and Young Nick’s Head http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Nick%27s_Head.
seanmchugh

Perhaps he also started the consolation for high school dropouts: Good Enough Diploma.