My paternal grandmother.
(Of course I knew the thread wouldn’t be about her, but she loomed too large for me to have any other association with the name, even though Charlotte’s Web was my favorite book as a young child.)
It reminds me of my home county in New Brunswick, Canada: Charlotte County.
My friend Charlotte, then the spider.
I’d just finished watching the movie National Treasure. A ship named Charlotte is contains an important clue. So, that’s what popped into my head.
Under normal circumstances, my first thought would have been Charlotte, NC, followed by my favorite spider.
That’s the one. Somebody’s name came #2. Just those two.
My oldest child, who turned 11 recently. Hard to believe how fast she’s growing up!
The city in NC. I lived there for a few years.
Charlotte Sometimes by The Cure (originally a book, but it’s the song I thought of).
Charlotte, Michigan, since I used to live in Lansing.
Okay, the replies have subsided, so for Eleanorigby and anyone else interested…
The Associated Press maintains a list of cities that are recognizable enough to have their names printed without their states. These include Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Minneapolis, for example. It isn’t always the size of the city that matters either. Smaller cities like New Orleans have the status, while larger cities like Memphis, TN or San Antonio, TX do not.
Charlotte area boosters seek to petition the AP to print their name as “Charlotte” rather than “Charlotte, NC”. I wondered, having been a resident of the city for several years some time ago, whether it had achieved enough recognition and familiarity to qualify for the AP’s list. Since a number of people responded that they thought of the city either first or second, and practically no one said anything like “there’s a city called Charlotte?”, I think the boosters may have a point.
Any comments or opinions in that regard?
The problem is that they’re in one of the Carolinas – a lot of people who have heard of Charlotte would, if pressed, not be entirely sure if it were in NC or SC, though.
I’ll admit, I’d have to stop and think for a minute.
Especially since the city butts up against the South Carolina border. Still, that hasn’t been a particular problem for similar places, like Kansas City. (Missouri, of course.)
The city in NC, and then the woman’s name.
If I saw a headline that said “Record High Temperatures in Charlotte,” I would immediately think of that particular city, yes. Like twicks mentioned, though, it takes me some time to recall which of the Carolinas it’s in (I usually get there in a second or two by recalling that Charleston is in South, and therefore Charlotte is North–my brain is strange). But enough people seem to be thinking of Charlotte, MI that maybe it’s not quite ready for single-name-usage yet.
First, I thought of the local community: Charlotte, NY
Then, the one in NC… then I hovered on the title to see what you were talking about.
<breathes sigh of relief that no nefarious purpose lurked behind this poll>
Now I am thinking of all the Charlotte’s–C Light and Dark, C Web, C NC, C-LIW’s doll, C Russe, didn’t Ogden Nash do a poem about a Charlotte? (or maybe he should have)…
I do not know a Charlotte personally, but it is a pretty name.
As for the city-I can never unmix NC and SC in my head. I know which is which on a map, but I have to stop and say, now is that in NC or SC with alot of your larger towns (not sure if they are actually cities–see?).
Another vote for the city. Offhand, I don’t personally know anyone named Charlotte and, in my opinion, the other references are lesser known than the city.
But I think the city has not achieved “first name” basis. Probably for the reason already mentioned - most people have heard of Charlotte but many of them probably don’t know anything about it (including what state it’s in) beyond the bare name.
It’s probably another example of the old cliche - if you have to ask if your city is famous enough, then it isn’t.
This explanation sent me on a search for such a list. I didn’t locate the AP’s, but I did find this page from Fitchburg State College. Since that school is in Massachusetts, the cities entry understandably states (pun acknowledged) that the state name need not follow such a city as Fitchburg or Leominster in an FSC release, even though an article in a Lafayette (IN) or Lafayette (LA) paper would carry a dateline of Fitchburg, Mass. or whatever. Incidentally, the folks in Fitchburg do believe San Antonio is prominent enough to stand alone.
I’d assume that a CHARLOTTE dateline would indicate that a story originated in the North Carolina city, but I’d suspect that a whether a critical mass of USA residents would agree depends on how that italicized phrase is defined. Also, I’d suspect most people in this country could tell you a basic fact or two about each of the “30 well-known cities” (Atlanta has the Braves baseball team and an airport famous for layovers, Philadelphia is where the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are, etc.)
In contrast, there’s no instantly recognizable landmark that screams “Charlotte!”, no TV show that I can think of that’s set there, no stereotype on the order of “really hot weather, but it’s a dry heat” (Phoenix) or “lots of breweries and bratwurst” (Milwaukee). I’d guess at least as many people could tell you that Green Bay (“the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field”) is in Wisconsin, or that Key West (“Ernest Hemingway once hung out there, lots of gays hang out there now, it’s only 90 miles from Cuba”) is in Florida, as would know that Charlotte is in North Carolina, let alone the most populous city in that state.
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki]
First, I thought of the local community: Charlotte, NY
[QUOTE]
Appliance store. I’m from the 144 zip code too.
Then the city in the south.