Chicago’s nickname “The Windy City” has uncertain origins, with theories ranging from the wind off Lake Michigan to the city’s rivalry with Cincinnati. Other nicknames include “Second City” and “City of the Big Shoulders”. The true origin may never be known.
No one knows for sure when Chicago first acquired the nickname “The Windy City” or what it really means. The first written references date from the 1870s, but its use in popular discourse may go back further. Most people believe it refers to the wind that blows off nearby Lake Michigan and cuts through city streets during the winter months. Another theory attributes the term to Chicago’s intense 19th-century rivalry with neighboring Cincinnati, Ohio; at the time, the term “windy” also meant “prone to boast”.
Chicago has had many nicknames over the years, including “Second City”, “The Garden City”, “Paris of the Prairie”, “City of the Big Shoulders” and “The Big Onion” – the word “Chicago” means “onion”. .” “The Windy City” is perhaps its most famous nickname, applied since at least 1876 and used in songs and stories by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Mike Royko. Popular belief holds that it originated with Chicago’s successful self-promotion to become the site of the 1893 World’s Fair. Referring to the city’s verbal bluster, a New York newspaper editor called it “the Windy City ”. Ongoing research, however, has revealed earlier references in regional newspapers.
Another theory holds that Chicago is called “the windy city” because the city is windy. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Chicago was rebuilt on a grid plan of straight streets running north to south and east to west. As residents of these cities know, this can create a “wind tunnel” effect, especially for winter winds that come off Lake Michigan, which forms the city’s eastern border. A 2002 climate data survey, however, showed that Chicago is no windier than other cities of its size and location.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chicago vied with Cincinnati for a leading role in the lucrative meatpacking industry. Among the results of this rivalry was the creation of the White Sox baseball team, Chicago’s answer to the popular Cincinnati Red Stockings, who later became the Reds. Oddly enough, both cities vied for the nickname “Porkopolis,” which Cincinnati ultimately won. With its central location and position as a rail transit hub, however, Chicago claimed more meatpacking business, and its vocal expression of its superiority might have led its rivals to call it a “sucker.
There is some credibility to this theory because the first recorded references to “The Windy City” appear in Cincinnati newspapers. Linguists know, however, that a phrase could be used in speech for years or decades before it first appears in print. One such scholar may eventually find the answer in a centuries-old newspaper archive, but if not, the true origin of the name “The Windy City” may never be known.
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