but it really irritates me when people call Austin “the ATX.” Why and how did this get started?
Do people from Texas really say this or is this just from the out-of-staters? I’m not from Austin, so I can’t claim to be a local who’s irritated with it. I’m just a native Texan who thinks it sounds incredibly dumb.
Why don’t we call Dallas “the DTX”? Or Houston “HTX”?
Anyone have some light to shed on this subject?
Filed under: Can't Understand |
Yellow Turtle 
Would make more sense if it was the airport designation, which it is not. That is AUS.
My guess is it is a direct influence of today’s penchant of acronyming everything for ease of texting. A big global contest – can one start using an acronym and have it catch on and be the definition of which everyone thinks (i.e. SXSW)? There is DFW. At least when you see ATX, you don’t think “Amarillo”, right?
Here is my theory…
It all started a few years ago when people started calling Atlanta ATL. Before that, no one ever called Austin ATX.
I agree…it’s annoying.
Both good theories. I guess I shouldn’t mind it so much if it’s used as an abbreviation for writing, because I rarely type out Austin City Limits, preferring ACL.
However, HEARING “ATX” gives me the shivers. It sounds like people want to say it to seem cool. And it just doesn’t work.
I agree that ATX sounds pretty stupid. However, it’s not nearly as stupid as the people in Dallas (mostly on the radio) who call the Dallas-Fort-Worth Greater Metropolitan Area “the D-F-Dub”
re. tar. ded.
“ATX”? What is that? I’ve never heard anyone say that. Or “ATL” for that matter. I guess I’ll just start calling Now Orleans “MSY” since that’s the name of the airport there, although I might edit it to “MXY” since ATX isn’t actually the airport in Austin.
Now have I ever heard of “D-F-Dub” When I lived there, it was just “Dallas” and “Ft. Worth”. People here call it “The Metroplex” which I think is kind of weird, but it makes sense.
I call Atlanta, “Hotlanta!”
I hadn’t ever heard of “ATX,” but my first guess, which was quashed right away, was that it had to do with the airport.
As for “The Metroplex,” back when I lived in Denton, people (mostly on the radio) used to call Denton-Dallas-Fort Worth the “Golden Triangle.” I always thought that was a little stupid, too.
Maybe it’s that nicknames or abbreviations for cities just sound dumb.
The “Golden Triangle” is Beaumont-Port Arthur-Orange. I think the D-F-Dub area has too many sides to be a triangle any longer. Maybe the “Golden Polyhedra”?
Clearly, you can’t call Houston “HTX” because you have to call it “that H-town.” Really, you should know these things.