# Common phrases with city names in them **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 4, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378 "2014-04-04T23:35:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gretchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@Gretchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gretchion)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/1 "2014-04-04T23:35:22Z")
“We’ll always have Paris” “When in Rome…” “What happens in Vegas…” These are the only ones I could think of right off the bat, anybody got any other ones? ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/2 "2014-04-04T23:37:09Z")
“In a New York minute” ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/3 "2014-04-04T23:41:37Z")
“I left my heart in San Francisco.” “How would it play in Peoria?” ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/4 "2014-04-04T23:43:23Z")
“London to a brick on …” This is unlikely unknown outside the racing fraternity in Australia. A well-known race caller (Ken Howard) used it to describe a sure thing. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/5 "2014-04-04T23:43:44Z")
Send to Coventry ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/6 "2014-04-04T23:44:39Z")
There are all kinds of phrase names like Boston baked beans, Manhattan clam chowder, etc. but I assume you don’t want those. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/7 "2014-04-04T23:51:30Z")
‘Get outta Dodge’ - Dodge City Kansas, to be precise. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/8 "2014-04-04T23:54:22Z")
Dressed like a Philadelphia lawyer. Evidently, they were the dandies of the day. ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/9 "2014-04-04T23:54:23Z")
On the whole, I’d rather be in Philadelphia. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/10 "2014-04-04T23:57:44Z")
All roads lead to Rome. Rome wasn’t built in a day. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/11 "2014-04-05T00:05:36Z")
“like carrying coals to Newcastle” ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/12 "2014-04-05T00:06:45Z")
Shuffle off to Buffalo. ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/13 "2014-04-05T00:21:52Z")
“Banned in Boston?” ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/14 "2014-04-05T00:30:11Z")
“Everything’s up to date in Kansas City.” ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/15 "2014-04-05T00:35:24Z")
> [@kurtisokc](#): > > “Everything’s up to date in Kansas City.” Husband: We could go through Kansas City. Me: Everything’s up to date there! Husband: _blank stare_ Me: Well, it is. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/16 "2014-04-05T00:37:38Z")
Houston, we have a problem Should have made that left turn at Albuquerque I’ve been Shanghai’d ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/17 "2014-04-05T00:42:23Z")
**Moderator Action** While this is technically factual, it is probably better suited to MPSIMS. Moving thread from General Questions to Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/18 "2014-04-05T07:42:28Z")
It’s not a phrase, exactly, but “Mecca” is used to mean any place that attracts a lot of people. “Timbuktu” is used to mean “the middle of nowhere.” There’s also the verb “shanghaied.” ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/19 "2014-04-05T08:20:47Z")
Of somewhere particularly dank; “like the Black Hole of Calcutta”. Referring to a particular incident rather than the city itself I hasten to add! ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378/20 "2014-04-05T08:46:07Z")
“It’s a long way to Tipperary” - OK, perhaps more of a song title than a phrase. “Lovely pair of Bristols” - rhyming slang, “Bristol Cities” = “Titties”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-phrases-with-city-names-in-them/685378.md?page=2)