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Restaurant removes sign over concerns it's offensive

PARK CITY, UT - JANUARY 18: A view of the Ramen and Pho cups on display during the Filmmakers Welcome Reception during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival at The Shop on January 18, 2018 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

KEENE, N.H. — A New Hampshire restaurant that's preparing to open has removed a sign advertising its name 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 a type of soup, which is spelled P-H-O, but is pronounced "fuh." The restaurant calls itself by the name of the soup, followed by the words "Keene Great."

City Manager Elizabeth Dragon said it's intended to sound like profanity and that owner Isabelle Jolie didn't get permission to hang any sign.

Jolie said she doesn't think the name is offensive.

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Dragon tells New Hampshire Public Radio the city wants Jolie to be successful, but that it has to strike a balance.

Both sides plan to meet soon.

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