Boston nicknames
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The city of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, has many nicknames due to historical context. They include:
- The City on a Hill came from original Massachusetts Bay Colony's governor John Winthrop's goal to create the biblical "City on a Hill." It also refers to the original three hills of Boston.
- The Hub is a shortened form of a phrase recorded by writer Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Hub of the Solar System.[1]
- The Athens of America is a title given by William Tudor, co-founder of the North American Review for Boston's great cultural and intellectual influence.
- The Puritan City nickname references the religion of the city's founders.
- The Cradle of Liberty derives from Boston's role in instigating the American Revolution.
- City of Notions in the nineteenth century.[2]
- America's Walking City, because Boston's compact and high density nature has made walking an effective and popular mode of transit in the city. In fact, it has the seventh-highest percentage of pedestrian commuters of any city in the United States, while neighboring Cambridge is the highest.
- Bean Town refers to the regional dish of baked beans.
[edit] References
- ^ Holmes, Oliver Wendell (1858). The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table. Phillips, Sampson and Company. ; Holmes, Oliver Wendell [1858] (1891). The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table. Houghton, Mifflin and Company. p. 172 "A jaunty-looking person... said there was one more wise man's saying that he had heard; it was about our place—but he didn't know who said it.... 'Boston State-House is the Hub of the Solar System. You couldn't pry that out of a Boston man if you had the tire of all creation straightened out for a crow-bar.'"
- ^ (September 23, 1889) "Their Nicknames". Decatur Daily Dispatch: 2?. Decatur, Illinois. Found at listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0307b&L=ads-l&P=2093.
