# Deprecating names of cities **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 4, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699 "2012-03-04T03:39:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/21 "2012-03-04T11:20:33Z")
A while back Minneapolis was Murderopolis. It has a suburb commonly referred to as No Hope (New Hope). ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/22 "2012-03-04T11:32:27Z")
Las Cruces, NM is often called “Lost Causes”. NMSU (New Mexico State University) is often pronounced “enema zoo”. Joe Bob Briggs used to refer to Los Angeles as “El Lay”. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/23 "2012-03-04T14:03:30Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > Cleveland, Ohio = The Mistake on the Lake Don’t forget their cross-lake rival Detroit = “De toilet”. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/24 "2012-03-04T14:19:42Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Just remembered “Filthydelphia”!. And Philly’s sure-kill expressway. Dreary Erie, the mistake by the lake. ---
**Author:** ![kirk1168](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@kirk1168](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirk1168)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/25 "2012-03-04T14:56:19Z")
Fayette County, PA, known locally as “Fayette Nam.” It is, shall we say, very rural. An episode of _My Big Redneck Wedding_ was filmed there. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/26 "2012-03-04T16:06:15Z")
Round here we have two towns close to each other and are noted for being somewhat run down. Castleford - Cas vegas Pontefract - Ponte carlo [Pontefract - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontefract) > [@](#): > > Pontefract has been a market town since the Middle Ages; the market days are Wednesday and Saturday, with a smaller market on Fridays. The covered market is open all week, except Thursday afternoons and Sundays. Thursday afternoon is half-day closing in the town. The town is called Ponte/Ponty by its citizens and sometimes jokingly referred to as Ponte Carlo, in reference to Monte Carlo. This theme is continued in the name of bars in the xscape complex, Glasshoughton between Pontefract and Castleford, referred to locally as ‘Cas Vegas’ These are entirely ironic, as both these places are about as far apart as you can get from the excitement or sophistication if the names they ape. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/27 "2012-03-04T16:18:57Z")
Somerville MA = Slummerville ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/28 "2012-03-04T16:27:33Z")
San Diegans call LA Hell-A, especially those of us who used to live there. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/29 "2012-03-04T17:43:41Z")
L.A. = Hell-A Sacramento = Scrotumento Seminole, FL = Semen Hole Sanibell, FL = Tidy Bowl Butte, MT = Butt Needles, CA = Needless Bakersfield = Gateway to Fresno ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/30 "2012-03-04T17:45:33Z")
When I lived in San Diego, we called LA “Smell-A.” ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/31 "2012-03-04T18:05:23Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > When I lived in San Diego, we called LA “Smell-A.” I was just about to post this. Great minds think alike. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/32 "2012-03-04T18:05:56Z")
Wilmington, DE., is called Killmington and Kill-more-ton by some of the local wits. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/33 "2012-03-04T18:19:43Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Don’t forget their cross-lake rival Detroit = “De toilet”. Or Detritus. I once refered to Los Cruces (NM) as Los Feces, which just about made my dad pass out from laughing so damn hard. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/34 "2012-03-04T18:27:44Z")
> [@Ms\_Boods](#): > > Wilmington, DE., is called Killmington and Kill-more-ton by some of the local wits. I’ve known some of the locals of Wilmington. You’d need to put a couple of them together to come up with a whole wit in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/35 "2012-03-04T18:37:31Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > People do not call Baltimore “Charm City” unironically. A friend of mine used to live in Baltimore. His experience was such he started calling it “Stalingrad on the Patapsco”. I laughed for about 2 hours straight when I first heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/36 "2012-03-04T18:56:07Z")
Des Moines = Dead Moines or Death Moines. Groucho coined that in the '20s because it was one of the few places the Marx Bros. couldn’t get a crowd, let alone a laugh. I think DSM started the “airport code for the city” fad, probably because the airport is nicer than most of the city. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/37 "2012-03-04T19:16:05Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I’ve known some of the locals of Wilmington. You’d need to put a couple of them together to come up with a whole wit in the first place. As someone born there (but grew up in Newark!) and now works there, I’d have to agree :). ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/38 "2012-03-04T19:24:20Z")
Limerick is known as Stab City. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/39 "2012-03-04T19:26:13Z")
I have several friends who live in Deadmonton and strongly object to it being called that. But I know no one who objects to Scarborough, near Toronto, being called “Scarlem.” And many, many, many people who have passed through New Brunswick know it better as “No Funswick.” ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699/40 "2012-03-04T19:41:21Z")
Many of the better known ones are posted. I think Slimy Pebble may more refer to the school than the town of Slippery Rock. Naptown for Indianapolis. I though I could think of some more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deprecating-names-of-cities/614699.md?page=3)