What's in a Prague street name

Originally posted on Twitter on 28 May 2022.

Křivá was built in 1931.

Křivá means ‘crooked’, which is a reasonable representation of the street’s shape.

It can also mean ‘trumped up’, but, as proved by the photo above, this is not a street that I have invented.

Promise.

As with Luční yesterday (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/19/prague-3-day-34-lucni/), there was also a Křivá II, built in 1947; from 1947 onwards, Křivá became known as Křivá I.

In 1991, the two streets did the opposite of what Czechoslovakia would do on 1 January 1993, so now there’s just one Křivá, without a number.

Křivé svědectví is perjury; a křivé obvinění is a false accusation.

Křivé nohy, meanwhile, are bow legs.