Oscar bait; PDX

[James Callan]

Hello. I'm a long-time lurker on ADS-L. I'm not a professional linguist,
nor do I play one on TV. I'm a former English major, current advertising
copywriting student, and vernacular enthusiast.

I've got two slang-related questions:

1) Does anyone know how old the phrase "Oscar bait" is? It seems like
relatively current showbiz jargon to me, but I wonder if it predates the
'90s. Off-the-cuff definition: a movie or performance calculated to draw
attention from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences members,
thereby winning the film/performer an Oscar nomination.

Entertainment Weekly's online archives indicate that it was first used in
that magazine in 1996.

2) People in Portland, Oregon, seem to use PDX (the city airport's
three-letter code) to refer to the city itself quite frequently. The local
section of the Oregonian newspaper is called PDX. I've seen several people
use it in writing when referring to the city.

Do any other cities embrace their airport code with such enthusiasm? Or am
I imagining a usage difference between Portland and other cities?

Thanks for your attention. I'll dive back to lurking.

James Callan
jabeca at drizzle.com