外刊阅读：英国的街道名满是脏话？(3)

[Paragraph 6] When academics analysed 4,932 street names in four cities (London, New York, Paris and Vienna) last year, certain national traits became clear. While bohemian Parisians might stroll along Avenue Victor Hugo (artists are Paris’s most commemorated profession), London’s streets tend to toady to the monarchy and the military. London is also inward looking: in cosmopolitan Vienna, nearly half of street signs commemorate foreigners; in insular London, only 15% do; though in melting pot New York it is merely 3%.
[Paragraph 7] Not all names are political. Many, like gravestones, simply commemorate what lies dead underneath: the Meadow Streets and Grove Roads. Others are pure whimsy: in north London a burst of classical enthusiasm has led to residents living on Achilles Road, Ajax Road and the surely inauspicious Agamemnon Road. Others were proudly imperial: Rudyard Kipling named London’s Empire Way; in south London you can pass from Khyber Road to Cabul Road or walk along Jamaica Road.