After Some Noise From Buffalo, Orange Keeps Geography Title

Orange’s credentials as the largest city in the nation to be named after a food have been affirmed, at least to my satisfaction, by cable TV host Franklin Ruehl.

As you no doubt recall, Orange received this honor in the new book “The Largest U.S. Cities Named After a Food and Other Mind-Boggling Geography Lists from Around the World.”

But a reader wrote to this column afterward, wondering if the larger town of Buffalo, N.Y., merited the distinction.

To which Ruehl replied: “As far as anyone knows, buffalo were never in upstate New York. Rather, early French settlers in the region named a nearby magnificent river the ‘Belle Fleuve,’ which translates as ‘beautiful river.’ Later English arrivals corrupted that pronunciation to ‘Bell-flow,’ and ultimately to the current Buffalo.

“The animal, ‘buffalo,’ was named from the Latin, ‘bufalus,’ meaning ‘wild oxen.’ ”

Which means Orange should feel free to put its prestigious distinction on its signs and stationery.

Bad dog! Elsewhere on the food beat, my colleague Matt Dalton noticed that a giant frankfurter had landed on a shoulder of the Ventura Freeway, where it was being inspected by uniformed officers (see photo).

Yup, a hot dog and CHiPs.

Those talk show wars: Gary Costa saw a marquee in Big Bear listing a “Phantom” movie I hadn’t heard of (see photo). Speculated Costa: “Perhaps it’s about Dr. Phil.”

Unclear on the concept: Scott McCarty of Camarillo says a traffic sign with upside-down arrows was posted for months at a school in Westlake Village before it was straightened out (see photo).

The naked truth: I think I know where owner Arte Moreno got the idea to call his team the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

In the 1988 comedy “The Naked Gun,” there’s a scene at an Angels game in Anaheim Stadium where a special guest from overseas is being introduced. The announcer says, “Ladies and gentlemen, please rise and give a hearty Los Angeles welcome to Queen Elizabeth.” And I couldn’t hear anyone booing the reference to L.A. (or the queen).

Of course, the filmmakers were just having fun with the L.A.-O.C. rivalry. But Moreno doesn’t seem to be joking.

By the way, Orange County-ites, things could be worse. In the 1994 movie “Angels in the Outfield,” Oakland’s stadium stood in for Anaheim Stadium in the baseball scenes. Just be thankful your team isn’t the Oakland Angels of Anaheim.

miscelLAny: In a reference to the ice-resurfacing machine, Vic “the Brick” Jacobs of XTRA sports radio termed the start of the 131-day-long pro hockey lockout as “The Day the Zambonis Died.”

Steve Harvey can be reached at (800)LATimes, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213)237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012, and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.