Tuesday, September 20, 2011

NYC faux pas

Good reading: What are some cultural faux pas in New York? (Quora, via kottke.org). I especially like this warning: “Never ever ever EVER refer to the city as ‘the Big Apple.’”

comments: 8

normann said...

It must grate locals as much as such monikers favored by out-of-towners as Chi-town (sets my teeth on edge!) and Frisco, the latter uttered under pain of being tossed off the Golden Gate Bridge and discovering whether the Spaniards were kidding when they named a town across from Sausalito Tiburon...

Michael Leddy said...

And “Beantown.”

(For anyone wondering, tiburón is the Spanish for shark.)

Pete said...

"Chi-Town" is definitely a no-no here.

normann said...

I decided to not to include the Spanish tiburón plus English translation in parentheses, because it would have spoiled the rhythm of my posting. This is the Internet. Readers can get instant translations of single words faster than they can book a hotel room. Still it was a kindness of you to have included it. Does this mean that I have been annotated?

Michael Leddy said...

Pete, do you mean in the Windy City? :)

“Does this mean that I have been annotated?”¹

¹ Yes.

Elaine said...

My mother constantly referred to The Queen City as 'Cincy.' No self-respecting person in Cincinnati would ever do so.

And then when we moved to California, she committed 'Frisco,'
too.

Anonymous said...

The worst I have heard was the very rude "Shitty of El lay." It seems the monikers are meant to extract pain as much as evidence pleasure. Hymietown also comes to mind. Compared to them, an apple whether big or little or worm-eaten seems tame.

Michael Leddy said...

Elaine, I didn’t know about The Queen City. Thanks for that.

Anon., I think you’re missing the point. Nicknames like “The Big Apple” aren’t meant to be insulting. For the locals though, such names tend to be cringe-inducing. Saying “The Big Apple” in NYC would immediately mark the speaker as clueless.