City Names

[Mike Salovesh]

Allynherna at AOL.COM wrote:
>
> This may have been discussed on our list or on the ANS list...but...has
> anyone compiled a list of cities that have "clipped" names in local usage?
> 1.  Flagstaff=Flag
> 2.  Rapid City=Rapid
> 3.  Vancouver=Van
> etc.

I suppose you might add "Guate" for Guatemala City.  The usage is
reinforced by destination signs on interurban buses -- which use the
abbreviation and the largest type available for readability/recognition
in a nation with a high rate of functional illiteracy.

And before the sun pulls away from the shore and our boat sinks slowly
in the west, let me complete the Guatemala tour with a visit to
Quetzaltenango.  Its name appears on bus signs as "Xela", to the utter
confusion of foreigners who don't know that the ancient name for the
region around Quetzaltenango was "Xelaju".

-- mike salovesh            <salovesh at niu.edu>                PEACE !!!

P.S.:  I don't care what recent standardization in orthography has
produced -- "buses" strikes me as a misspelled "busses".