# 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:** 3
**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, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/41 "2012-07-10T18:52:34Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > It’s worth noting that with a valid ZIP code, you can leave the city and state out entirely and it will almost always get where it’s going, local or not. A college friend verified this back in the late 80s by sending mail to himself at home from campus addressed merely with his name, street number and name, and ZIP code, and it was there in less than 2 days. I’ve mailed postcards to a ZIP code, nothing else on the address, and they’ve gotten to the intended person. The recipient is a character in a very rural area, and the post office knows that anything out of the ordinary is probably for Nelson. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/42 "2012-07-10T19:12:43Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > A lot of people say A-squared for Ann Arbor. Do they get slapped when they do that? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/43 "2012-07-10T19:24:20Z")
AC - Atlantic City, NJ. I’ve heard this used on the East Coast. Does anyone use OC to refer to the Ocean City in Maryland or NJ? ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/44 "2012-07-10T19:34:45Z")
Johannesburg is called Jo-burg ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/45 "2012-07-10T19:39:52Z")
LA has a suburb called “Thousand Oaks”, which locals often refer to as “T.O.” ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/46 "2012-07-10T19:58:29Z")
Many people in Southern California refer to Tijuana, Mexico as “TJ”. ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/47 "2012-07-10T20:10:26Z")
STL is often used for St. Louis ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/48 "2012-07-10T20:19:37Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > In conversation, it comes up as “The OKC” or as simply “The City.” Really? I’ve never ever heard “The OKC”. “The City”, “Oke City”, and “OKC”, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/49 "2012-07-10T20:20:59Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Not sure about SF. I say “SF” for San Francisco all the time ( also “the City” ). I’m not quite a native, but I’ve been naturalized for a very long time ;). Never used NYC in conversation and I did live there for a bit and was born upstate. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/50 "2012-07-10T20:40:01Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > It’s worth noting that with a valid ZIP code, you can leave the city and state out entirely and it will almost always get where it’s going, local or not. A college friend verified this back in the late 80s by sending mail to himself at home from campus addressed merely with his name, street number and name, and ZIP code, and it was there in less than 2 days. The city and state on a mailing label is, as you noted, irrelevant, because the zip code is what’s used to route the mail. As a general rule: 1st digit signifies region. All your zip codes beginning with “3”, for example, are in the Southeast US (GA, AL, and FL (IIRC)). 2nd digit signifies state within the region. “30” is GA (the state has other 2-digit prefixes, of course.) 3rd digit is for the Sectional Center Facility that handles the mail for that zip code. Usually, for big cities, the first 3 digits are all you need to identify what city the zip code is in. “300”, for example, is Atlanta, GA and suburbs. 4th and 5th digit indicates the Post Office within the SCF. “30069” is Marietta, GA, a suburb of Atlanta. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/51 "2012-07-10T20:42:47Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > Really? I’ve never ever heard “The OKC”. “The City”, “Oke City”, and “OKC”, yes. Depends on who you’re talking to, I guess. Might just be the weirdos I know. Point is: Oklahoma City is often referred to by its initials. When I first moved to this state, I had a job in a small town some miles from either OKC or Tulsa. Whenever anyone said they were going to The City, I would ask which one. I mean, it could be Enid, Tulsa, Oke City, Lawton, etc … right? Nope. The City is always OKC. Some oldtimers will refer to Tulsa as T-Town. Don’t seem to hear that much from younger folk, ymmv. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/52 "2012-07-10T21:34:37Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Does anyone use OC to refer to the Ocean City in Maryland or NJ? Don’t call it that! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/53 "2012-07-10T22:43:04Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Don’t call it that! Yeah! Everyone knows that “the OC” refers to the Oshawa Centre mall. Well, everyone who grew up near Oshawa, that is. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/54 "2012-07-11T04:47:04Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > True, but we do refer to several nearby cities by letter initials. Visiting Atlantic City is often referred to as “making a run to AC”, and Washington, DC is often just “DC”. (I’d be curious to find out if the locals there do so as well.) > > Hey, AC/DC. You know, I never noticed that until I put the two together in the same sentence like that. We do sometimes, but more often, we call it the District. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/55 "2012-07-12T04:28:28Z")
_DFW_ pretty much always refers to the airport. The Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area, on the other hand, is called _the Metroplex._ On the other hand, you will _sometimes_ see hipsters make written reference to Portland as _PDX_. Truth or Consequences, N.M., is called _T or C._ ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/56 "2012-07-12T04:39:41Z")
I think most of the initials have been covered but there are abbreviations like B-more for baltimore (bawl’mer?) or Sac-town for Sacramento and more local ones I’m sure like C-ville for charlottesville, etc. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/57 "2012-07-12T05:33:30Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > How about [KC](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KC_Masterpiece)? “KC” is pretty universally used, although you have to distinguish between “KCK” and “KC MO”. I was so annoyed when the local CBS affiliate moved from Kansas City, Missouri to Fairway, Kansas and changed their very cool call letters KCMO to the much less cool KCTV. Serves them right for moving to a completely useless little townlet that exist mainly to generate speeding tickets. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/58 "2012-07-12T07:02:26Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > _DFW_ pretty much always refers to the airport. No, ‘DFW’ is also often used (locally, at least–I’ve lived here for almost 30 years) to refer to the entire area, just as ‘the Metroplex’ is used. Sometimes you’ll even hear “the DFW Metroplex.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/59 "2012-07-12T07:22:09Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > How about [KC](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KC_Masterpiece)?Do they also refer to it as “LA” in the Spanish-speaking world? The answer, in post 2. Yes, we call it _Ele A_ or _eléi_ (the second pronunciation is used either by people who think English is cooler than Spanish, or ironically as in the example from post 2). One of Loquillo’s biggest hits is officially called _Cadillac Solitario_ (Lonely Cadillac) but everybody calls it by its first verse: _siempre quise ir a ele a_ (I always wanted to go to LA). I’ve heard it called _Ele A_ by people from a dozen different countries, it’s quite general. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775/60 "2012-07-12T07:28:08Z")
I don’t know if the residents of Las Vegas (NV, since there is also a Las Vegas, NM) call their city LV, but many Southern Californians who make turnaround trips to that gambling mecca often call the place LV. ~VOW [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-known-by-their-initials/627775.md?page=2)