# Does "this town" Have a Negative or Sinister Connotation? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 24, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-town-have-a-negative-or-sinister-connotation/726050 "2015-07-24T13:43:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-town-have-a-negative-or-sinister-connotation/726050/1 "2015-07-24T13:43:03Z")
ISTM that it does, and that it’s more commonly used in phrases like “you’ll never get a job in this town again”, “that’s the way things work in this town”, “this town’s not big enough for the two of us”, and so on (_… oh baby, this town rips the bones from your back …_). Does anyone else have this perception or am I imagining it? And if it’s real, how would it have come about? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-town-have-a-negative-or-sinister-connotation/726050/2 "2015-07-24T13:51:05Z")
No, I find it semantically neutral despite your noticing the use of phrase in confrontational situations. This town has the best sports team! I love this town! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-town-have-a-negative-or-sinister-connotation/726050/3 "2015-07-24T14:00:53Z")
The first thing that came to my mind was the Go-Go’s, “This Town”: _This town is our town It is so glamorous Bet you’d live here if you could And be one of us_ > [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > ISTM that it does, and that it’s more commonly used in phrases like “you’ll never get a job in this town again”, Reminds me of this dialogue from _Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers_: “You’ll never work in this town again, Tirebiter!” “_What_ town?” ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-town-have-a-negative-or-sinister-connotation/726050/4 "2015-07-24T14:25:38Z")
No ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-town-have-a-negative-or-sinister-connotation/726050/5 "2015-07-24T14:36:21Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > The first thing that came to my mind was the Go-Go’s, “This Town”: The first thing I thought of was the Lee Hazlewood song… _This town is a lonely town Not the only town like-a this town This town is a make you town Or a break you town and bring you down town_ ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-town-have-a-negative-or-sinister-connotation/726050/6 "2015-07-24T15:20:17Z")
I thought of Winston’s line near the end of _Ghostbusters_. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-town-have-a-negative-or-sinister-connotation/726050/7 "2015-07-26T05:45:49Z")
[quote=“RTFirefly, post:3, topic:726050”] The first thing that came to my mind was the Go-Go’s, “This Town”: _This town is our town It is so glamorous Bet you’d live here if you could And be one of us_ [/QUOTE] Huh. Never knew [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpJosZHHFC4) was a cover. I guess I should have known - it’s not exactly in Kittie’s typical screamo style.