Seattlest: Everyone Loves a Wikipedia Dustup

James

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 12:32:08 -0800

Eliza, I'm more relieved that I didn't follow my first instinct and take a whirl through HistoryLink to do a rundown on Seattle nicknames, instead deciding to do a quick-n-dirty "ain't those Wikipedians odd?" piece capped with an off-the-cuff question. My take: Rain City's obviously a nickname; Rainy City, a variation.

Dustin

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 00:57:20 -0800

Awesome find! Apparently, I've been slandering Seattle for almost two years! :)

Eliza

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 22:50:12 -0800

James, are you shamed by the rich any meaty facts about Seattle's nicknames that studded the article by this mysterious "Steve"?

James

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:17:40 -0800

Who's "Steve"? Not only don't I remember that post, I don't remember him.

Eliza

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:03:40 -0800

Ah, Seattlest. Is your institutional memory so short? You guys blogged on this very topic not too long ago..where's the l ink? I can't paste in the URL, but if you search Seattlest for the title "We're Not In Washington Anymore" you'll find it.

El Cheapo

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 13:07:15 -0800

Call it what you will so long as it's not metronatural.

Jake of 8bitjoystick.com

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 11:23:03 -0800

You know since two right wing assholes who spend way too much damn time editing the Wikipedia got me banned from editing articles dealing with washington state politics I say Nuts to you Wikipedia.

Fnarf

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 10:59:05 -0800

"Rain City" is a coffee company -- marketing, not a city nickname. "Rainy City" is just plain garbage. No one says that. I'm not 67 dot, but I fully back his efforts here. These are not nicknames, and Wikipedia is not a place to start an ad campaign. Wikipedia demands verifiability, so whomever can come up with some ACTUAL CITES, and not just company names out of the phone book, is going to win this argument. "Rainy City" is imaginary and thus "original research" -- forbidden on Wikipedia. Seattle was originally the "Queen City", then "Jet City". "Emerald City" was dreamed up by marketroids more recently than you think, but actually got some traction and is now by far the #1 choice. My own preferred nickname is "Seawash", which city designation the post office has accepted and delivered mail for on at least a few occasions. Try it sometime -- "Seawash 98103". I thought Portland was "Rainy City", anyways.

Seth

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 09:56:35 -0800

I've never heard anyone actually call Seattle "Rain City"--I suspect the people that started the "Rain City" businesses are transplants. That said, I hear people say Sea-Town fairly frequently. It's lame, but then so is Emerald City. I think I'd go with Jet City if I had to. Or "The Fleece Capitol of the Universe."

Cascadia Girl

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 20:25:13 -0800

Rain City, yes. Rainy City? That may be an accurate description most of the year, but not a nickname.

charles

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 18:53:29 -0800

I tend to agree with 67.161.84.145 -- i've never heard of "rainy city" and it's a prett weak nickname at that. Nobody really calls Seattle "Sea-town" (in the vein of P-Town for Portland, OR), so if you're going to count "Rainy City" then "Sea-town" or even the airport code "SEA" should be in there as well. Fact is, they're not really worthy of being in thereThat said, I think 67.161.84.145 gets a little too fired up over it. But if I had to pick sides in the great wiki wars I'd side with the IP address.

Paul Henry

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 17:41:07 -0800

I would have to agree with Mr. or Ms. 67. We are the Emerald City, Rain City, and Jet City, in approximately that order. I would assume anyone who calls us the "Rainy City" is probably some East Coast denizen who analogized from Chicago's "Windy City" nickname after hearing that it rains a lot here. (Still: "Slanderous"? Jeez, get a grip.) Before we were the Emerald City, we were the Queen City, but today Cincinnati seems to have that honor all to itself.