# What does Glengarry GlenRoss mean?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-glengarry-glenross-mean/378575>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 31, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-glengarry-glenross-mean/378575 "2006-10-31T14:42:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-glengarry-glenross-mean/378575/1 "2006-10-31T14:42:20Z")

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Does the title of this movie mean something? I sorta know what a Glengarry is, from Wikipedia, but what’s a Glen Ross?

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**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:** [October 31, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-glengarry-glenross-mean/378575/2 "2006-10-31T14:46:39Z")

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They were words used in the housing developments the salesmen were pushing: Glengarry Acres, Glen Ross Farms (I don’t recall the exact ones, but all three words were mentioned in the play as such).

The idea is that these developments had the bucolic-sounding names, while the sellers were the ultimate cutthroats.

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**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-glengarry-glenross-mean/378575/3 "2006-10-31T15:05:52Z")

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Were the properties they sold legit or scams?

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**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-glengarry-glenross-mean/378575/4 "2006-10-31T15:17:27Z")

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[QUOTE=CaveMike]  
Were the properties they sold legit or scams?  
[/QUOTE]

My impression, having read the play about 13 years ago, and having seen the movie several times, is that the properties are real, but not really going to be moneymakers - typical salesman shit.

George

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**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-glengarry-glenross-mean/378575/5 "2006-10-31T16:03:10Z")

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David Mamet has a weird penchant for giving his films elegant or bizarre sounding titles that have only a peripheral connection with the movie.

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**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:** [October 31, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-glengarry-glenross-mean/378575/6 "2006-10-31T16:03:42Z")

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They existed, and were, for the most part, legitimate housing developments (though maybe not as good as the salesmen implied). The issue was finding buyers for them. The salesmen wanted the good leads – people who were serious about buying – instead people who probably wouldn’t.