Subject: And who names a city "city" anyway? (nm)
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Posted on: 2015-06-02 11:26:00 UTC
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On Superman and geography by
on 2015-06-02 02:21:00 UTC
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So I've spent the last two days watching Smallville and am most of the way through season 1. If you haven't seen the show, I would definitely recommend because it is really great and has that fun early Buffy vibe.
But anyways. One thing really gets on my nerves. The show is set in Smallville, Kansas. Every few episodes, characters will go visit Metropolis. The problem is that this show assumes that Metropolis is only a few hours away from Smallville when in DCU canon (at least in the comics) Metropolis is on the New Jersey Coast. Gosh, it just really bothers me. -
Apparently for Smallville... by
on 2015-06-02 03:52:00 UTC
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...it was relocated to Kansas.
And nope, Metropolis has never been in New Jersey, that would be Gotham. Metropolis canonically is in New York State. -
Aren't they both basically NYC? by
on 2015-06-02 11:26:00 UTC
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Though if Gotham is in Jersey, I guess that'd make it Newark or Atlantic City.
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Originally, yes. by
on 2015-06-02 14:26:00 UTC
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In fact Batman originally operated from NYC. And Superman from Cleveland, Ohio(!?).
And yes, current canon Gotham City's geography is based on Atlantic City.
And weirder? All those cities still exist within the DCU. Yeah, wrap your head around that.
If the DCU were to be a badfic, DOGA would have a field day over there! -
And who names a city "city" anyway? (nm) by
on 2015-06-02 11:26:00 UTC
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New York City. by
on 2015-06-02 15:57:00 UTC
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Kansas City, Daly City...
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You know precisely what I meant. (nm) by
on 2015-06-03 04:29:00 UTC
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That you're ridiculously picky? by
on 2015-06-03 10:29:00 UTC
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Fine: the various rivers Avon are named after the Welsh word afon, which means 'river' (or after the root word afon comes from). They are, quite literally, named 'the river River'.
And no, none of them are cities. Just to pre-empt you there.
hS -
It's also the preeminent theme of most American Indian sites by
on 2015-06-04 04:30:00 UTC
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It's a running joke between AIS faculty here (Chinook, Wampanoag, and Okanogan) that almost all sacred sites are named things that, in their own tongue, translate to things like "Over there," "by the river," "right here," "a little way past the big rock," and so on.
Does it really matter, if everyone knows what you're talking about? Out here in the Pacific Northwest, you can talk about mountains, but when you say The Mountain, everyone knows perfectly well you meanTahomaRainier. Likewise "The Volcano" is really only ever going to refer to Mt St Helen's. And so on, and so forth - if you happen to live in White Plains, and you say "I'm going into the city tomorrow," literally everyone knows you mean NYC.
Linguistics are fun. - Apparently, the answer is... by on 2015-06-02 12:02:00 UTC Reply
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Those aren't actual cities though. (nm) by
on 2015-06-02 14:27:00 UTC
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And you're a spoilsport. ^_^ (nm) by
on 2015-06-02 15:20:00 UTC
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