What's in a Prague street name

Ke Klínku was built in 1955. Despite the street sign, it’s partially in Podolí (we’re officially getting out of Podolí and officially getting into Braník in about ten days).

If you want a translation of ‘klín’, take your pick from the following non-exhaustive list: wedge / gore / gusset / lap / knees / crotch. Quite a range.

A ‘klínek’, meanwhile, could be translated as the first three of those – but also as ‘doorstop’.

Whichever of these you choose (I’m not willing to commit to one), it seems that the street leads to a place that, once upon a time, was known as Klínek. There are at least two villages called that elsewhere in the country.

In the 1920s, an emergency colony (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/09/08/prague-4-day-166-nad-ondrejovem/ or https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/06/05/prague-4-day-109-u-dekanky/) was founded.

It was called Na Klínku, had about ten houses, and existed until the 1960s. There’s a photo on https://www.bahnoprahy.cz/kolonie-na-pravem-brehu/nouzova-kolonie-na-klinku/, showing how it looked in the 1930s.