[Ads-l] Rocket City

[Rachael Allbritten]

Born and raised in the Huntsville area, I can confirm that both "Rocket
City" and "Huntsvegas" are common nicknames. However, Huntsvegas is much
more common in conversation. My understanding, as we used it in high school
(early 90's) and college, was that it is used ironically. Though Huntsville
is a reasonably medium-sized city, it is not *that* urban. And yet, from
many smaller towns in the region, young people will view Huntsville as a
"Saturday night" destination." From the perspective of someone living in
Plevna, Arab, Moulton, or Piney Chapel, the city of Huntsville certainly
has a lot more going on. Huntsvegas" therefore was jokingly used to invoke
a sense of a wild party destination, while understanding that the city is
just really not all *that* exciting. This is also true for "Nashvegas",
which I only heard as I got older, but could possibly have come first.

Rachael Allbritten

On Tue, Mar 21, 2017 at 6:07 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Rocket City
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------------
>
> On Tue, Mar 21, 2017 at 11:19 AM, MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY
> RDECOM AMRDEC (US) <william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil> wrote:
>
> > "The Southland"
>
>
> Metropolitan Los Angeles has been calling itself "The Southland" since I
> was in high school, at least - ca.1950. That soubriquet, redolent of Jim
> Crow, may well be the reason that the black population of L.A. has never
> risen above 8%, despite encomiums in EBONY with titles like, "Is Los
> Angeles Heaven?"
>
> Youneverknow.
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org