Editing Talk:1864: City Nicknames

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I think "Castleopolis" is much more likely to be a reference to The Phantom Tollbooth (which I'm sure xkcd has referenced at least once before) than a *very* small town in Michigan. As I suggested in the table, The Phantom Tollbooth has castles and cities named Digitopolis and Dictionopolis, so this seems like the more likely reference to me. All open to interpretation of course! [[User:Erronius|Erronius]] ([[User talk:Erronius|talk]]) 23:52, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

For some reason I'm reminded of [https://xkcd.com/1759/ this comic]. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 11:41, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

"Urban Orb" may refer to Boston, aka "The Hub". {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.220}}

Los Vegas may be sin city, but I'm pretty sure that Las Vegas is quickly becoming Skin City [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 13:01, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

My only guess as to "The Walled Garden":  In the video game series ''{{w|Mass Effect}}'', the name of the homeworld of the Quarian species, [http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Rannoch Rannoch], translates to "walled garden". Not something I really associated with xkcd, admittedly. [[User:PvOberstein|PvOberstein]] ([[User talk:PvOberstein|talk]]) 13:19, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

A guess at "Hamtown" instead of Hamburg would be "Hogtown", a common nickname for Toronto, Canada {{unsigned|Harebenj}}

The Mobius Strip is also a district in the fictional [http://perplexcitywiki.com/wiki/Mobius_Strip Perplex City]. I'm sure I've seen it used in some cyberpunk-ish novel as well, but can't identify it off the top of my head. - [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.76|141.101.98.76]] 13:46, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

Well Folk might be a variation on Wee Folk. [[User:Thaledison|Thaledison]] ([[User talk:Thaledison|talk]]) 13:48, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

"Horse Rotary" could be referring to a traffic roundabout, which are called "rotaries" in some countries. [[User:Kbseah|Kbseah]] ([[User talk:Kbseah|talk]]) 14:02, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

Some of these make me wonder if it might be easier to interpret if you connect adjacent ones. Seems to be easy to make the names of some real people/places/things by taking words from a pair of adjacent nicknames.
For Example: The Urban Orb - City of Angles - The Big Wheel - Bird City USA - City of Seven Crowns - Hilltopia
Could become: (...) - The Urban Angle - City of Wheels - Big Bird - Crown City - City of Seven Hills - (...)
All of which seem to be Things That Exist™. Maybe I'm overthinking it :S - [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.76|141.101.98.76]] 14:39, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

No, I don't think you are overthinking this. If you just try and make random word associations you get interesting combinations. If New Orleans can be called the "Big Easy" and Chicago can be called "Chi (Shy) Town" then why not the "Big Shy" to the "Shy Easy", like Black Hat is just spouting out random words associated with city monikers (demonyms) you get a pretty humorous connection [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 17:14, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

Game of Thrones is based on the book series ''A '''Song''' of Ice and Fire'', not '''''Land''' of Ice and Fire''. Correction made in description. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 17:01, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

From my perspective from USA there is nothing more inherently funny than the names given to people in British cities. That someone from Liverpool is called a Liverpudlian makes me laugh every time I hear it. But then again the town I grew up is was referred to with the pejorative "Dreary Erie, the Mistake on the Lake" [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 17:14, 17 July 2017 (UTC)
:Be proud though, not many cities can claim to have [https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/63#.WWz0m4TythE set a river on fire]. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 17:39, 17 July 2017 (UTC)
:Agreed! Cleveland Rocks! Burn on, Cuyahoga, burn on. And a song to commemorate it [http://www.metrolyrics.com/burn-on-lyrics-randy-newman.html] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.88|108.162.219.88]] 18:08, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

Random reader here... It may be familiarity bias since I'm from St. Louis, but this is the third (or fourth) comic to my memory that highlights St. Louis when it seems like any random city could have sufficed (I'm thinking of [[1321: Cold]], [[1368: One Of The]], and maybe [[1243: Snare]]) and I don't recall any other city getting name-dropped so often (at least outside of major metropolises). Have I just not paid attention as much when other cities are mentioned, or is the repeated use of St. Louis something worth including as trivia on these three/four articles? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.63|162.158.62.63]] 17:36, 17 July 2017 (UTC)
:Boston (New England) beat St. Louis in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XXXVI Super Bowl XXXVI] and Randall just wants to keep rubbing it in maybe? [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 17:42, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

''The Auditors ... wanted to simplify the universe by destroying it.'' Not so. They merely wanted to destroy humans and humanity, which are unnecessarily complicated from their point of view. To quote George Carlin: The planet is fine. The '''people''' are fucked.--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.154.70|172.68.154.70]] 18:52, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

Space Moose - [https://www.hackcanada.com/canadian/zines/spacemoose/rumple.gif Rumpleshithead].  NSFW, I guess, if you work somewhere stupid.  :-D {{unsigned ip|162.158.63.34}}

"The Kissing Kingdoms" Could be a reference to "The Kissing Kings," a common nickname for the two kings that are in the middle together in standard Bicycle new deck order. [[User:Dragonfiremalus|Dragonfiremalus]] ([[User talk:Dragonfiremalus|talk]]) 19:51, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

"The Land of Trains and Fog" is obviously Britain (or some portion thereof), famous for fogs/rain, and where much of early railroading was developed.  There is a quotation about this someplace, (I think Rowland Emett referenced it in one of his cartoons).  I just haven't been able to dig up the source.  [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 22:51, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

The names in this kind of remind of towns names in Dwarf Fortress. Just randomly combined words. {{unsigned ip|108.162.246.23}}

"The City of Seven Crowns" also makes me think of the Seven Kingdoms (ASOIAF/GOT). Admittedly that may be because I watched the season 7 premiere last night. {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.166}}

Another reference for "The High City" as Denver could be the fact that Colorado has legalized marijuana, making it a place people go to get "high". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.95|108.162.238.95]] 09:23, 18 July 2017 (UTC)

Hilltopia is also probably a reference to Zootopia, which also has been referenced before by xkcd regarding wikipedia discussion pages.
@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 For some reason I'm reminded of [https://xkcd.com/1759/ this comic]. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 11:41, 17 July 2017 (UTC)
-"Urban Orb" may refer to Boston, aka "The Hub". {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.220|12:17, 17 July 2017‎ (UTC)}}
+"Urban Orb" may refer to Boston, aka "The Hub". {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.220}}
 Los Vegas may be sin city, but I'm pretty sure that Las Vegas is quickly becoming Skin City [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 13:01, 17 July 2017 (UTC)
@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 My only guess as to "The Walled Garden":  In the video game series ''{{w|Mass Effect}}'', the name of the homeworld of the Quarian species, [http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Rannoch Rannoch], translates to "walled garden". Not something I really associated with xkcd, admittedly. [[User:PvOberstein|PvOberstein]] ([[User talk:PvOberstein|talk]]) 13:19, 17 July 2017 (UTC)
-A guess at "Hamtown" instead of Hamburg would be "Hogtown", a common nickname for Toronto, Canada {{unsigned|Harebenj|13:27, 17 July 2017‎ (UTC)}}
+A guess at "Hamtown" instead of Hamburg would be "Hogtown", a common nickname for Toronto, Canada {{unsigned|Harebenj}}
 The Mobius Strip is also a district in the fictional [http://perplexcitywiki.com/wiki/Mobius_Strip Perplex City]. I'm sure I've seen it used in some cyberpunk-ish novel as well, but can't identify it off the top of my head. - [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.76|141.101.98.76]] 13:46, 17 July 2017 (UTC)
 Well Folk might be a variation on Wee Folk. [[User:Thaledison|Thaledison]] ([[User talk:Thaledison|talk]]) 13:48, 17 July 2017 (UTC)
-:I thought a similar thing, but about the Fair Folk.  17:03, 18 July 2017 (UTC)[[User:An Inside Joke|An Inside Joke]] ([[User talk:An Inside Joke|talk]])An Inside Joke
 "Horse Rotary" could be referring to a traffic roundabout, which are called "rotaries" in some countries. [[User:Kbseah|Kbseah]] ([[User talk:Kbseah|talk]]) 14:02, 17 July 2017 (UTC)
@@ Line 38: / Line 37: @@
 ''The Auditors ... wanted to simplify the universe by destroying it.'' Not so. They merely wanted to destroy humans and humanity, which are unnecessarily complicated from their point of view. To quote George Carlin: The planet is fine. The '''people''' are fucked.--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.154.70|172.68.154.70]] 18:52, 17 July 2017 (UTC)
-Space Moose - [https://www.hackcanada.com/canadian/zines/spacemoose/rumple.gif Rumpleshithead].  NSFW, I guess, if you work somewhere stupid.  :-D {{unsigned ip|162.158.63.34|19:33, 17 July 2017 (UTC)}}
+Space Moose - [https://www.hackcanada.com/canadian/zines/spacemoose/rumple.gif Rumpleshithead].  NSFW, I guess, if you work somewhere stupid.  :-D {{unsigned ip|162.158.63.34}}
 "The Kissing Kingdoms" Could be a reference to "The Kissing Kings," a common nickname for the two kings that are in the middle together in standard Bicycle new deck order. [[User:Dragonfiremalus|Dragonfiremalus]] ([[User talk:Dragonfiremalus|talk]]) 19:51, 17 July 2017 (UTC)
@@ Line 44: / Line 43: @@
 "The Land of Trains and Fog" is obviously Britain (or some portion thereof), famous for fogs/rain, and where much of early railroading was developed.  There is a quotation about this someplace, (I think Rowland Emett referenced it in one of his cartoons).  I just haven't been able to dig up the source.  [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 22:51, 17 July 2017 (UTC)
-The names in this kind of remind of towns names in Dwarf Fortress. Just randomly combined words. {{unsigned ip|108.162.246.23|03:17, 18 July 2017}}
+The names in this kind of remind of towns names in Dwarf Fortress. Just randomly combined words. {{unsigned ip|108.162.246.23}}
-"The City of Seven Crowns" also makes me think of the Seven Kingdoms (ASOIAF/GOT). Admittedly that may be because I watched the season 7 premiere last night. {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.166|04:03, 18 July 2017 (UTC)}}
+"The City of Seven Crowns" also makes me think of the Seven Kingdoms (ASOIAF/GOT). Admittedly that may be because I watched the season 7 premiere last night. {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.166}}
 Another reference for "The High City" as Denver could be the fact that Colorado has legalized marijuana, making it a place people go to get "high". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.95|108.162.238.95]] 09:23, 18 July 2017 (UTC)
-Hilltopia is also probably a reference to Zootopia, which also has been referenced before by xkcd regarding wikipedia discussion pages. {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.11|13:37, 18 July 2017 (UTC)}}
+Hilltopia is also probably a reference to Zootopia, which also has been referenced before by xkcd regarding wikipedia discussion pages.
-Anyone else think this comic was made specifically to troll this site? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.154|108.162.210.154]] 15:33, 18 July 2017 (UTC)
-:Not only for this site, and it's not the first one... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:48, 18 July 2017 (UTC)
-Could "Bloomtown" also be a reference to the fact that many cities (especially in the Midwest) have "Bloom(something)" names. There are multiple towns called Bloomfield, Bloomington, etc... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.232|108.162.237.232]] 16:48, 18 July 2017 (UTC)
-Thousand spires could also be a reference to Kredik Shaw from Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series.  The name of the palace is literally supposed to translate as "Hill of a thousand spires". {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.150}}
-Not sure how to edit, but Salinas, CA is nicknamed The Salad Bowl {{unsigned ip|162.158.255.82}}
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-::I have moved manually [[1864]] to [[1864: City Nicknames]] and more; check my edits from that time. I'm hoping this helps.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:02, 19 July 2017 (UTC)
-I've added Canberra to Meeting Place.  It is really apposite to Canberra - but did Randall mean it that way?  Some of these fancy labels are really generic!  They could have come from almost anything. {{unsigned ip|172.68.254.102}}
-I'm wondering if it might aid readability to have multiple rows in the table for some entries, where there's multiple interpretations. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.76|141.101.98.76]] 10:31, 20 July 2017 (UTC)
-My first impression on reading the list of demonyms was that they all referred to some degree to the «Fair Folk». I believe some of the explanations given are a bit stretched, aren't they? Can't they all refer to basically the same thing?--[[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.17|188.114.111.17]] 13:45, 20 July 2017 (UTC)
-Isn't "Graveyard of Kings" a reference to "{{w|The Graveyard of Empires}}", i.e. Afghanistan? --14:23, 24 July 2017 (UTC) {{unsigned|Brandizzi}}
-Walled Garden is more likely a reference to the Garden of Eden than to Babylon. The Farsi phrase for a walled garden is the origin for the word "paradise", I'm not sure that's worth saying. [[User:David Bofinger|David Bofinger]] ([[User talk:David Bofinger|talk]]) 01:28, 1 August 2018 (UTC)
-I really don't think the fact that "The Land of Trains and Fog" is somewhat similar to "A song of ice and fire" qualifies as a reference to a TV show that is based on that book series but has a different name (GoT). [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:08, 8 May 2019 (UTC)
-Toronto is also known as the meeting place https://www.etymonline.com/word/Toronto [[User:Procrastinus|Procrastinus]] ([[User talk:Procrastinus|talk]]) 20:04, 28 November 2019 (UTC)
-Why do you think that's Megan and not Danish? [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 02:51, 29 December 2022 (UTC)
-:In general, because more like the typical [[Megan]] than [[Danish]]? As subtle as you might think that is.  Well, it convinces me. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.175|172.70.85.175]] 16:49, 29 December 2022 (UTC)