The easternmost corner of the province of Ontario, between Ottawa and Montreal, is a mix of French- and English-speaking communities. L'Orignal is a French community along the Ottawa River. L'Orignal, translated into English, means The Moose. The English in the area had similar town naming proclivities. A nearby town is called Moose Creek.
The aforementioned French Canadian lass was driving on a main road, minding her own business, when a moose bolted out of the bush onto the road. She hit it. Hitting a moose is no joke. A lot of people have been killed in collisions like that. She was lucky, though. Her car was badly damaged, but she was unhurt. The moose wasn't so lucky.
Parked on the side of the road, shaking and emotional, she pulls out her cellphone and calls 911. Keep in mind, this entire conversation takes place in French.
She
tells her story, and they tell her they will send help. All is going
well until they ask her where she is parked. She tells them she is
close to L'Orignal (the moose). The operator does not understand that she means the town of L'Orignal, not the beast she accidentally killed. He
tries to soothe her emotions by telling her not to worry about the
poor departed moose. He asks her again for the name of the nearest town.
She replies with L'Orignal again and starts crying. The operator
still doesn't get it, and this goes back and forth until
another motorist stops and explains it all for her.
This, to me, is hysterically funny. Don't name towns after large animals, or this is what could happen.
