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One-off· United States

Des Moines

Des Moines, Iowa
Image via Wikimedia Commons

About Des Moines

Des Moines is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is named after the Des Moines River, likely derived from the French Rivière des Moines meaning 'River of the Monks'. The city was incorporated in 1851 as Fort Des Moines and shortened to Des Moines in 1857. Its population was 214,133 at the 2020 census. The six-county Des Moines metropolitan area has an estimated 750,000 residents, the largest metropolitan area located entirely in Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, with parts south of County Line Road extending into Warren County.

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On the show — 7 mentions total

Des Moines, you know the city in Iowa — a new linguistic study has been done which shows that the name literally probably means shit face, and it was a mistake.

from 15: No Such Thing As A Bulge In Ken's Groin, 2014-06-28 at 00:05:56 · read transcript

Other times Des Moines came up

  1. When they were naming it, they asked the Native Americans what the place was called, and they said Des Moines, which was the insulting name that they called their rival tribe, which was shit face. Now, this island city is called shit face. Oh my god. They've only just realized. You could say I'm feeling absolutely Des Moines at the moment. I'm feeling so Des Moines. Let's get Des Moines. That ruler we were talking about.

    15: No Such Thing As A Bulge In Ken's Groin, 2014-06-28 · listen

  2. No. Bath has a meaning. That already has a meaning, badly. Sandwich, for example. That is a... No, you guys are screwing this up. Des Moines, the two little lines coming down from your nose to your mouth of the Des Moines. Ah, nice. I like Ely. That's always been my favourite. The first tiniest inkling that's something, somewhere, has gone terribly wrong. So that's the meaning of life.

    No Such Thing As An Eton Oyster, 2025-12-18 · listen

  3. Bernard? Bernard. A guy called Pierre Bernard from Des Moines. Okay. There had been a few monks who'd come over to the West, right?

    No Such Thing As Chekhov's Volcano, 2026-06-04 · listen

More places from this episode

15: No Such Thing As A Bulge In Ken's Groin put 3 places on the map.

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Coordinates: 41.5908, -93.6208

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