What's the proper -nym or -ism for this synonimity?

February 15, 2006 10:18 AM

Toponym, eponym or simply slang (or something else entirely)? For instance my hometown, Ottawa, is a toponym/eponym/slang for dismal.
posted by Smegoid to Education (10 answers total)

Byword?
posted by Rubber Soul at 10:29 AM on February 15, 2006

yup - none of the ones you say, but 'byword'.
posted by altolinguistic at 10:41 AM on February 15, 2006

Best answer: metonymy?
posted by mkultra at 10:56 AM on February 15, 2006

If the Senators weren't doing so well, I'd tend to agree with mkultra ;)

Otherwise, I concur with byword, and I secondarily suggest epithet.
posted by charmston at 11:06 AM on February 15, 2006

Response by poster: Yeah I thought of byword and also epithet, but was expecting there to be something more formal having to do specifically with places.

On preview: thanks mkultra, metonym works. Ottawa for dismal, Welsh for swindle.

It's too bad toponym means something else, otherwise it would be perfect! :)
posted by Smegoid at 11:11 AM on February 15, 2006

Best answer: It's an epithet if you're using it as a pejorative adjective -- you're such a dick. It's a slang synonym if the term is replacing some other descriptor -- this food is so Ottawa.
posted by frogan at 11:18 AM on February 15, 2006

pejorative adjective

Excuse me -- pejorative adjective or pejorative noun.
posted by frogan at 11:19 AM on February 15, 2006

As an aside, 'byword' could have been particularly fitting in this instance, since Ottawa was once called Bytown.
posted by Robot Johnny at 5:30 PM on February 15, 2006

Epithets aren't always pejorative, are they?
posted by MadamM at 6:55 PM on February 15, 2006

No, they aren't -- the classic example of an epithet in literature is Homer's the wine-dark sea.

I really think that toponym is the most correct term for the usage in the post, as with frogan's example.
posted by dhartung at 12:49 AM on February 16, 2006