Hear Profanity in Eatery's Name? City Gives OK to Its Sign

Officials in a New Hampshire city have approved a restaurant sign that initially was removed over concerns that it sounded like profanity. The name of the Vietnamese restaurant in a public building next to City Hall in Keene is a play on words, notes the AP. It calls itself by the name of a soup, which is spelled P-H-O, but is pronounced "fuh," followed by the words "Keene Great." It's scheduled to open March 1. City Manager Elizabeth Dragon said in an email the sign was approved Friday and is in compliance.

The Keene Sentinel notes that although "obscene signs" are banned in all of the city's zoning districts, the city doesn't spell out what defines obscenity. Dragon said no one had submitted written permission to put up any sign until Jan. 4. Dragon said officials decided to let the community "decide what they think of the sign and how they interpret it." Per WAVY, Dragon wrote to one of the restaurant's owners, noting, "We are excited to have a new restaurant open in the community." In a Friday Facebook post, the restaurant celebrated the "great news" and said: "Now let us focus on Pho."

(More profanity stories.)