Sister cities – Dull and Boring

Although normally associated with feelings or moods about something, Dull and Boring are actually sister cities. Boring is a small town in the state of Oregon in the US while Dull is a village hailing from Scotland. Historically, sister cities are brought about because of a common name or to promote cultural ties. However, in this case it seems to be along the lines of an underlying humour.

Boring is a community named after its founder William H. Boring who fought on the side of the Union during the American Civil War. Its residents have used its name as a way to market themselves to visitors. Its slogan is ‘the most exciting place to live’. Dull is a small village with less than 100 residents and its meaning in Gaelic is ‘meadow’ or it may have been derived from ‘Dul’ which means snare or harness in the same language. On August 9th 2013, the state of Oregon pronounced it to be Dull and Boring day to commemorate the day the places were twinned. With a population of over 12000 though, Boring is too large to be officially tied with Dull. This doesn’t deter the residents however as for the first time last year in October, a party from Boring made its away to its sister community to officially respect the ties.

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