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Hey, New York Times, next time, ask a local about our neighborhood names, mkay?

The New York Times does its obligatory Bulger overview with its obligatory paragraph about how South Boston has changed:

Though Mr. Bulger's reign in South Boston ended almost two decades ago - and the gritty Southie of his era has morphed into SoBo and is now overrun with yuppies and glassy condos - people here are still gripped by his story.

Everybody who calls South Boston SoBo please raise your hands - and then buy yourself a one-way ticket to New York.

H/t Dale Cruse, who adds: "Pretty sure even the Yuppies and DINKs in South Boston would give you a beating for calling it 'SoBo'."

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Comments

BroKen (Broadway/Kendall)

around Broadway/Kendall Sq, BROKEN is the perfect name.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/tXWWiAW.jpg)

Good story today in the NeYoTi.

Is "yuppies" even allowed by the NyTimes style guide? They have to attach Mr. or Mrs. to every surname but they don't mind casually tossing out an unattributed pejorative that probably describes half their readers?

Just half?

The other half are too old to be described as "yuppies."

then wouldnt we call them ouppies?

SoBo. That sounds so funny to me. Sobo. Sobo. Sobo. Ahahahahah.

*ahem*

Yeah, nobody would try and shorten it to that. If the NYT actually tried to research, his source must be trolling him.

I think the Times is following the lead of this AP color piece put out on Monday which states quite clearly:

'"Southie," as it's been called by generations of natives, is now called "Sobo" by newcomers who live there.'

This is the first time I've read anything describing such a thing as 'SoBo'. I see the stupidity is catching within the NY-centric media bubble. How long before Lesley Stahl calls it as such on 60 Minutes?

AP has become a joke. What a shame.

Isn't the AP Boston desk the same one that called the wrong winner on election night recently— and then pretended like it never happened??

How are they a credible source for the NYT or anyone else?

Because, at the NYT it's "Always about MEEEEEEEEE"

Other cities can't have their own naming conventions - we have to pretend that their realtors copy our realtors and make shitup!

This goofy business of re-branding neighborhoods with catchy, 'hip' acronym-type names is a big thing in NYC,too. People laugh at it like they do here.

This. Every "up and coming" neighborhood needs some kind of TriBeCa-esque catchy nickname. Realtors are trying to rebrand my own neighborhood as ProCro (Prospect Heights/Crown Heights.) It ain't working.

The Fidi is across FpT from the iDistrict next Sobo. Sowa is seperated from Sobo by the SoBay and Dot, which is next to the Rox. Bbay is adjacent to the flat, the hill, and the village, and the office part of it around Stuart Street is sometimes called midtown.

Do you mean the area south of SoBo, i.e., SoBoSo?

Dot? I just moved out of SavHi.

Wouldn't that be SoSoBo? or just SoSo?

Wouldn't that rather be SoSoBo?

TaGu
SiAm

Anyone remember "grunge speak"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grunge_speak

SoBo is the new Swingin' on the Flippity-Flop.

She didn't make up a fair amount of that, just repurposed it.

Some were vintage 1930s and 40s slang from my grandparent's generation.

Brilliant trolling, nonetheless.

None of those appear in any early 20th-century slang dictionary I've ever seen. The closest is "dish", but that always applied to an attractive woman, never a man. I think that Sub Pop receptionist just made them all up off the top of her head.

The then-receptionist is now one of the executives of the record company (and one of the cultural leaders of her community). And she was born and grew up in Worcester.

Now that my municipality has been "discovered" and has become "real (estate) hip", a change is in order!

Instead of living in Meffuh for 15 years ... I now live in MeFuh

That clears things up, eh?

NoSo!

South of Winchester.

(shakes head).

There was some guffawing at the breakfast table this morning when we read "SoBo."

Man, stupidest Wikipedia hoaxster or what? Guh.

I fully expect this to turn into another of that special category of reversion fight, where the NyTimes is considered a more authoritative secondary source than "reality."

I wonder if we could cite this thread as a source, proving that the correct demonym for South Boston is "Southie," or if we're somehow tainted with BoCo (Boston cooties).

rsybuchanan wrote:

"...or if we're somehow tainted with BoCo (Boston cooties)."

Actually, BoCo already exists as a nickname for The Boston Conservatory. And BoCoCoCo is short for the Boston Common Coffee Company. (Not to be confused, of course, with Boloco.)

NoDo = North Dorchester
SoDo = South Dorchester

So Bro?

No,Bro.

EARL represent. East Arlington.

"SoBo" Is South Boston the NEW South End??

I rather like the name "SoBo" it reminds me of "SoHo". If you think about it they are quite similar. Right? SoHo is known for its artists' lofts and art galleries. It is also known for it's trendy boutiques and national and international chain stores. We are not talking about New York but I thought it was fun to compare for a moment. OK, let's get back on track and talk about South Boston and all it has to offer.

But wait! Some "daring" brokers tried using it in 2005!

...when out of towners come to Boston and call it Beantown. No native would ever call it that...EVAH!

I have called it beantown and I am from beantown, actually OFD so don't be so snotty. occasionally i sometimes describe myself as a beantonian to out of towners (not really).

Beantown is just an eye roller for me. The one that ticks me off is the use of "Boston Commons." Plural. Sorry, there's only one.
There's an English language school that has a "Boston Commons Campus." When I see it, I think: "clueless out-of-town carpet baggers." http://www.fls.net/en/campus_locations/boston_commons

A friend of mine, when he lived near Sullivan Square, once received some sort of promotional material referring to his neighborhood as WeSo[1], for West Somerville. We had a good laugh with that one.
I'm fond of the local nickname Camberville though. Not as fond of the Dig's nickname for Boston/Allston/Brookline as Bostoline.

[1]Not sure if this was intended to be pronounced "wee-soh" or "weh-soh"

The real question is, when do we invade Brookline and take over?

Greater Boston has always been part of our ancestral lands.

As a derogatory term. Oh, living' in SOBO? Ya' yuppie.

I never called it SoBo but I will now.

- The Original SoBo Yuppie

Some years back, a local comedian described Kenmore/Allston/Brighton as "the Tri-boro area."

I always loved these ones from the near burbs. They sound so goofy.

They just took the "Arlmont" sign down on Rt. 2 eastbound within the last few years. Made me sad, as it had been there forever. When I was a little kid, I thought it was a separate town.