London Underground anagram map
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A parody map of the London Underground with the station and line names replaced with anagrams was circulated on the web in February 2006 and featured on thousands of blogs before a Transport for London lawyer requested that the map be removed. It inspired some people to create anagram versions of their hometown's metro system with similar legal repercussions. The fact that it was appreciated internationally, despite some not knowing the stations behind the anagrams, is a recognition of Harry Beck's iconic Tube map design.
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[edit] Origin of the anagram map
The map was created by 'Barry Heck' using a photoshopped Tube map and an online anagram generator, on 7 February, 2006. On the 9 February, 2006 it appeared on BoingBoing where it received 31,000 hits within the next six days. (The name Barry Heck is a pseudonym chosen because it is an anagram and spoonerism of Harry Beck.)
Transport for London claimed the image was a copyright infringement and had one of their lawyers, Sallianne Cockerham, ask for the map to be removed from the web. The site hosting it complied and it was removed on the 22 February, 2006 with the censorship being reported on BoingBoing again.
Transport for London also censored other websites that hosted the image such as the www.geofftech.co.uk site. As a result Geoff Marshall, the site's owner, had an interview on Radio 5 with Chris Vallance about "map-mashing" (making parody maps) in which the London Underground anagram map was discussed. This was broadcast on 14 March, 2006.
A web search for "London Underground anagram map" or "Tube anagram map" and its copycat maps shows to what extent it became a popular meme or internet phenomenon. With BoingBoing reporting that Washington, Toronto, Amsterdam, Chicago, Oslo, Boston, Manhattan, Atlanta and Vienna also now had anagram maps of their metro systems after being inspired by the London one.
The anagram map was featured in thousands of blogs and its progress can be tracked at Technorati.com. Because of similarities with Neverwhere it was mentioned in the letters page of author Neil Gaiman's blog, with his fanbase ensuring over 1,700 others linked to it. But nearly 21,000 other blogs linked to BoingBoing's article alone.
[edit] Cognate anagrams
There are several cognate anagrams where the anagram has some relevance to the station name (for example: moon starer/astronomer). A Log Spoke/Gospel Oak, Written Mess/Westminster (referring to the laws passed in the Palace of Westminster), Hate Shamed Path/Hampstead Heath (referring to the area's gay cruising) and Concerning Torments/Mornington Crescent (referring to the complex and nonsensical Mornington Crescent game).
[edit] Anagram oddities
Blackwall and Hornchurch stations couldn't be properly anagrammatized and instead they were split into their component words and reversed to produce "Wall Black" and "Church Horn" respectively. Burch Chow/Chow Burch (from the gynaecological Burch procedure) was rejected as an anagram for Bow Church, because of a dislike for uncommon proper nouns, leaving it reversed as "Church Bow". The potentially problematic Bank station was anagrammatized into nabk; the edible berry of the Ziziphus lotus tree.
[edit] Pirate merchandise
Guessing that the anagram map would be a marketable product somebody opened up a Cafepress shop called 'tubemap' selling items with the map printed on them. This was closed after less than a day's trading by Transport for London lawyers.
[edit] Keywords in-joke
Barry Heck has paid recognition to the lawyer Sallianne Cockerham by including her name in the website's keywords as well as its unflattering anagram; "Melancholia Cankers", both of which have ensured a prime ranking for the London Underground anagram map on a Yahoo! search.
[edit] References
- BoingBoing's article on the anagram Tube map
- BoingBoing's article on the anagram Tube map censorship
- Times online's article about the map's censorship
- BoingBoing's article on the censorship of Geofftech's site
- Radio 5 Live's 'map-masher' interview with Geoff Marshall (MP3 file)
- Neil Gaiman's blog featuring the anagram map
- Technorati's search for blogs with the anagram map
- Cafepress' closed TubeMap store
