List of nicknames for Chicago

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This article lists nicknames for the city of Chicago, Illinois.

Contents 1 Major nicknames 2 Minor Nicknames 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Major nicknames

• "The Windy City" — Main article: Windy City, Origin of Name (Chicago)

• "Second City" — This was a derogatory nickname for the city used in a 1950s New Yorker article by A. J. Liebling; the phrase was later appropriated by a Chicago comedy troupe.^[1]

• "Chi-Town" or "Chitown" — Pronunciation of this nickname can vary from /ˈtʃɑɪ.tɑʊn/ to /ˈʃɑɪ.tɑʊn/ (from chai-town to shy-town to shih-town).

• Chicagoland — A term for the city together with its surrounding suburbs. Correctly, the term encompasses the city and the nine counties around it; however, it is often used to mean only the suburbs or in redundant phrases like "greater Chicagoland area."

Some nicknames are included in Carl Sandburg's 1916 poem "Chicago":

"Hog butcher for the world,
Tool maker, stacker of wheat,
Player with railroads and the nation's freight handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the big shoulders."

[edit] Minor Nicknames

• "New Gotham" - Because of the vast amount of footage used of the city for the 2008 film The Dark Knight

• "The/Da Chi", or "The 'Go" - Used by various rap musicians from the area, such as Common, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and R. Kelly. (pronounced "duh shy" much like "Chi-town.")

• "The Chill or Chi Ill" - Also used by rap musicians from the area (Chill as in Chicago Illinois).

• "City by the Lake" - Used in the Smashing Pumpkins' song "Tonight, Tonight."

• "City of Broad Shoulders" - A popular variant of "City of the Big Shoulders", which can be directed either to the known gruffness of Chicago politicians or to the more defense-oriented Chicago Bears, who, usually, have outstanding defense (but a weak quarterback)

• "City of the Century."

• "City on the Make" - From "Chicago, City on the Make" (1951), a prose poem by Nelson Algren.

• "The City That Works" - According to former Mayor Richard J. Daley.

• "The Big Onion" - An homage to the original Native name for the area (which meant "onion"), in parallel with a popular New York nickname, "The Big Apple"

• "City in a Garden" - After the motto on the seal "Urbs in Horto."

• "Beirut by the Lake" - From a Wall Street Journal article during the Council Wars of the 1980s

• "My Kind of Town" - According to the song "My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)" (music by Jimmy Van Heusen, words by Sammy Cahn, 1964) popularized by Frank Sinatra. (Originally from the film, Robin and the Seven Hoods, about a fictional popular Chicago gangster).

• "Paris on the Prairie" - From the 1909 plan for the City of Chicago created by Daniel Burnham.

• "Sweet Home" - From the Robert Johnson song Sweet Home Chicago.

• "Heart of America" - Chicago is one of the largest transportation centers in America and its location near the center of the United States.

• "That Toddling Town" - According to the lyrics of the song "Chicago" (music and words by Fred Fisher, 1922) also popularized by Frank Sinatra (as well as Tony Bennett).

• "Hog Butcher for the World" - Described in a poem by Carl Sandburg

• "The C" - The first letter in the word 'Chicago'

[edit] See also

• List of city nicknames in Illinois

[edit] References

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