# Cities known by their initials **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 10, 2012, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775 "2012-07-10T09:31:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/1 "2012-07-10T09:31:16Z")
It’s probably a safe assumption that almost everyone in the English speaking world also knows the city of Los Angeles as “LA”. Yet, I was thinking the other day, people don’t generally refer to “SD” when they’re talking about San Diego, or “LV” when they’re talking about Las Vegas, for example. But the city of Kuala Lumpur (in Malaysia) _is_ referred to as “KL” by both the locals and anyone who’s been there more than once. Which got me wondering - besides Los Angeles and Kuala Lumpur, which cities are widely referred to in spoken conversation by their initials? There’s got to be a few, surely… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/2 "2012-07-10T09:43:43Z")
Do airports calls count? Because then I can give you BIO (Bilbao), MAD (Madrid) and BCN (Barcelona; the most common of the three, perhaps because if you read the letters in Catalan they sound a lot like the full name does in Catalan). The tiny town where my brother went to college is known by its initials, but as a rip on the bigger LA. _Elea_ or _eleadedegé_ is La Almunia (de Doña Godina), _Eléi_ is the one in California. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/3 "2012-07-10T10:36:35Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Do airports calls count? No; I know they’re reasonably well known amongst the travelling populace but not really what I was getting at in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/4 "2012-07-10T10:38:04Z")
No, I meant towns which are called by their calls by the native populace. _Besaena_ is such a common nick for Barcelona that I’ve seen people get surprised to hear it was the airport’s call. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/5 "2012-07-10T10:45:54Z")
I would say most people say D.C. or District. I’ve also heard people call Kansas City K.C. Other then that I don’t know of any off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/6 "2012-07-10T10:54:12Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > No, I meant towns which are called by their calls by the native populace. _Besaena_ is such a common nick for Barcelona that I’ve seen people get surprised to hear it was the airport’s call. That’s different then; sure, it’d count, but I suspect there’d be very few examples of it; especially since a lot of airport codes have nothing to do with the city’s name. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/7 "2012-07-10T11:05:51Z")
Flying from GT to NYC… The locals here would know the GT is George Town, Cayman Islands though it may not well know to outsiders. I would guess most everyone would understand NYC. ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/8 "2012-07-10T11:06:36Z")
SF and NYC would be obvious examples. It’s not a large city, but San Luis Obispo CA is referred to as SLO. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/9 "2012-07-10T11:09:52Z")
SLC for Salt Lake City. Not sure if natives use the term, but I do hear it from others. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/10 "2012-07-10T11:29:37Z")
[Port Elizabeth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Elizabeth)in South Africa is usually just “PE” [QUOTE=gatorslap] SF and NYC would be obvious examples. [/QUOTE] I think a distinction can be drawn between cities where initials are often _written_ versus _spoken_, as per the OP. Does anyone _say_ “SF” rather than San Francisco (or 'Frisco. Or San Fran :P), or “NYC” rather than NooYawk? Because people do _say_ LA and DC and KL and PE. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/11 "2012-07-10T11:48:18Z")
People do say NYC. Not sure about SF. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/12 "2012-07-10T11:54:05Z")
How about [KC](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KC_Masterpiece)? > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > It’s probably a safe assumption that almost everyone in the English speaking world also knows the city of Los Angeles as “LA”. Do they also refer to it as “LA” in the Spanish-speaking world? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/13 "2012-07-10T11:54:56Z")
Lewiston-Auburn Maine is known as LA by most locals and many of us from away. Provincetown, MA is universally called P-Town. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/14 "2012-07-10T12:05:13Z")
I’ve heard the Twin Cities called MSP (Minneapolis-Saint Paul). Kaiserslautern is referred to by a lot of Americans (US Army typically) as K-Town. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/15 "2012-07-10T12:06:00Z")
How about DFW for Dallas-Fort Worth? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/16 "2012-07-10T12:06:08Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > But the city of Kuala Lumpur (in Malaysia) _is_ referred to as “KL” by both the locals and anyone who’s been there more than once. In a similar vein Kuala Belait is similarly known as KB. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/17 "2012-07-10T12:08:40Z")
“Day effay” (D.F.) for Mexico City. Just like “D.C.” for “Washington, D.C.”, in this case referring to the “Distrito Federal”. So common that people from there are sometimes called _de-efeños_. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/18 "2012-07-10T12:10:47Z")
Toronto is often called “T.O.” (Toronto, Ontario.) ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/19 "2012-07-10T12:12:16Z")
A lot of people say A-squared for Ann Arbor. A few but not many say EL for East Lansing. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/20 "2012-07-10T12:25:29Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > People do say NYC. Not sure about SF. Not anyone who lives there. In New York, it’s just “The City.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775.md?page=2)