What's in a name?

Try telling your friends in London you've just bought a pad in Burpham, Pease Pottage or Fulking without cracking a smile.

And Knob Mill, Lickfold and Upper Dicker are bound to provoke sniggers from those unfamiliar with the county's charms.

But the Penguin Dictionary Of British Place Names, published yesterday, aims to shine a light on the history and meanings behind these gems.

And it will finally put an end to those dinnertime arguments about whether a move to Mount Harry would be a sensible one.

Martin Toseland, commissioning editor at Penguin Books, believes the book will be a hit with Sussex residents and visitors.

He said: "There's a lot of intrigue into the meaning of place names.

"People like to know what the name of their town means and it's hard to imagine where some of the more unusual ones come from.

"And the book will be great for people who are surprised by the weird and wonderful names they see as they drive through the Sussex countryside. There is normally a very innocent explanation but people will have a great laugh finding out."

Martin believes it will also make some high-flying city dwellers see their penthouse apartment in a completely different light.

He said: "My personal favourite is Chiswick in west London. It's now a very young, trendy and affluent area. But the name means a farm where cheese is made."

Author Adrian Room is a member of place name societies around the world. He has already penned books on Russian, English, Irish and African names. But this is the first book to contain British place names in a digestible form.

Adrian scoured the country tracking down explanations for places from the smokiest city to the leafiest village.

And he found some of the most humiliating places to live include Brown Willy in Cornwall and Pratt's Bottom in London.

But no county is filled with quirky names quite like our very own Sussex.

Don't say it too fast but Fulking, West Sussex, is a settlement of Folca's people. Folca was a common Old English man's name.

And Burpham is not your lunch repeating on you. A bur is a manor house and a ham is a farm settlement.

Upper and Lower Dicker refer to being above and underneath The Dicker. That's The Dicker, near Hailsham, of course. A dicker is a plot of land which costs ten iron rods in rent. Each rod would be used to make two horse shoes.

Pease Pottage, near Crawley, is "a place by muddy ground with the consistency of pea soup." It is unclear quite what the green bog near the little village was made up of.

But Allison Hunt, of Crawley Borough Council, said: "I know Crawley's name isn't very flattering. The original spelling, Crowlea, means a crow-infested clearing.

"As for Pease Pottage being near something like pea soup, I'm not sure about that one.

"It's a very small village so it would only have took one muddy puddle to give it that name."

Spithurst, near Lewes, is a wooded hill with a gap.

And Bognor Regis derives from the name Bucge's Shore. Bucge is a woman's name and Regis Latin for "of the king". Regis was added to the original name following the convalescence of George V at nearby Aldwick in 1929.

But once the tears of laughter are wiped away, there is a lot to be learnt from the book.

Dr Paul Cavill, of the English Place Names Society, explains how the words used tell us a lot about the area's history.

He said: "In the North and East we have a lot of by, thwaite and thorpe endings. This is because the Vikings settled there. The Celtic names are all over the West and Wales.

"And in the Fifth Century, the Anglo-Saxons invaded from the East. Most of their words are seen in names across Kent and Sussex."

So the Anglo-Saxons are to blame for Sussex's colourful place names.

He said: "Anglo-Saxon words are now almost extinct. Those remaining are often rather blunt and crude.

"That's why the place names in Sussex are some of the most bizarre."

But Dr Cavill says that despite having a huge influence across Britain, few French names have stuck. That is except Mount Harry.

He said: "The French always like their names to sound romantic."

So now we know.