What's the "real" name of…?

[empirestate]

"Mystic-Tobin Bridge" was also the term used by MassDPW when referring to the bridge for many years.  For some reason, MassPort took extreme exception to this and made a concerted effort beginning in 1985 to get local traffic reporters and others to refer to "Tobin Bridge."

My knowledge of Boston comes mostly from after that time, so that could be why I always heard it that way. Certainly, the "real" answer my vary according to your perspective, especially a generational one.

Speaking of which:

Sure they would; that's what everybody calls it. That is, in fact, why it's the "real" name. It's actually a great example; in fact, it even makes for kind of a fun take on the thread format:

Q: ...The Beatles?
A: The White Album.

Not the youngsters of today.  Well, some of them.

What do the youngsters call it? (Or are they just not familiar with the concept of albums anymore?)

[formulanone]

Q Florida's Turnpike
A Sunshine State Parkway

Never heard of a single reference to it as the SSP in 30 years of living within a few miles of it.

Q JFK Airport
A NY International Airport
      Though it was called Idelwild Airport it was technically the NY International Airport

How bitter do you have to be to not call it JFK...are fifty years and a nearby LaGuardia not enough?

I understand that frequent name changes are an annoying burden, but after a generation or two, it's time to let go.

[empirestate]

I never did get an answer to my original query:

Q: ...Dunn Tire Park/Coca-Cola Field/North AmeriCare Park?
A: Pilot Field.

That's the original name, anyway; would most Buffalovians still consider that the "real" name?

[1995hoo]

Q. I-84 from near Hartford to the Massachusetts Turnpike?
A. I-86.

[plain]

Q: OK 66
A: US 66

[jp the roadgeek]

Q: US 202 called in most places

A: Route/I- (insert number of concurrent road, or name of local road)

[Max Rockatansky]

Continuing on these route "real" names:

-  San Bernardino County Route 66 and CA 66:  US 66

-  Mohave County Route 10/Oatman Highway and AZ 66:  US 66

-  CA 60:  US 60

-  CA 99:  US 99

-  CA 299:  US 299

-  CA 46 and CA 58:  US 466

-  CA 33 and CA 119:  US 399

-  Old US 80, Maricopa County 85, AZ 79, and AZ 80:  US 80

-  AZ 89 and AZ 89A:  US 89 and US 89A

I suppose the list gets a lot longer with some bigger routes like US 91 which I didn't throw in or even Grand River out back in the Midwest with US 16.

[SSOWorld]

MN/WIS-16 - US 16
I-41 - US 41

[epzik8]

What's the real name of USAir Arena/US Airways Arena? Capital Centre.

My dad's favorite sports venue past or present, Capital Centre, as it was originally known, was the original home of our favorite hockey team, the Washington Capitals, from 1974 until 1997. It was located in Landover, Maryland, where the Washington Redskins currently play. "Cap Centre" was also the home of the Washington Bullets/Wizards, who were formerly the Baltimore Bullets. When USAir acquired naming rights in 1993, my dad was not happy at all, and continued to call it Capital Centre. It then became US Airway Arena in 1996. In December 1997, a new arena in the District, MCI Center, was ready for the Capitals and Wizards. MCI Center became Verizon Center in 2006, and the name is expected to change again around 2018. My dad still misses Capital Centre. However, he does not miss USAir Arena/US Airways Arena.

[1995hoo]

I have good memories of the Capital Centre, but I don't miss the place at all.

[roadman65]

I remember the Capital Centre being that weird looking building instead of have truss girders under the roof to support it cables were used to support the roof from outside the buidling  and the designer did not do a good job in concealing them.

At least Madison Square Garden and also the place where the NBA Spurs play in San Antonio, that also use outside cables to support the roof, they sort of made the cables less conspicuous.

[1995hoo]

The Capital Centre was known for having a roof shaped something like a Pringle's potato chip. My high school trig teacher said the shape was a "hyperbolic paraboloid," whatever that is.

It was ahead of its time in apparently being the first arena with a video board suspended over the ice.

It was a product of its time in having the horrible old single-concourse design that led to hideous crowding during intermission and ridiculously long restroom lines. I recall there often being more women than men being lined up for the men's room booths simply because our lines were less long (I deliberately do not say "shorter" because the lines were still long).



Regarding real names, I was at the grocery store earlier this afternoon and I thought of this thread when I saw the lady in front of me at the checkout buying skim milk, which apparently they now want you to call "nonfat milk" (and I call disgusting either way; I grew up drinking lowfat milk, i.e. 2% milk, which apparently they now call "reduced fat milk").

[AlexandriaVA]

The unnecessary use of the word "centre" seems very 1990s to me...sort of like the Fashion "Centre"(aka Pentagon City mall). I always presumed that the use was designed to convey an air of sophistication.

[1995hoo]

The unnecessary use of the word "centre" seems very 1990s to me...sort of like the Fashion "Centre"(aka Pentagon City mall). I always presumed that the use was designed to convey an air of sophistication.

In that case, I guess you'd say the Capital Centre was ahead of its time?

[GaryV]

The unnecessary use of the word "centre" seems very 1990s to me...sort of like the Fashion "Centre"(aka Pentagon City mall). I always presumed that the use was designed to convey an air of sophistication.

In that case, I guess you'd say the Capital Centre was ahead of its time?

Maybe someone was part Canadian?

[1995hoo]

The unnecessary use of the word "centre" seems very 1990s to me...sort of like the Fashion "Centre"(aka Pentagon City mall). I always presumed that the use was designed to convey an air of sophistication.

In that case, I guess you'd say the Capital Centre was ahead of its time?

Maybe someone was part Canadian?

The guy who built it, Abe Pollin, who owned the Caps and the Bullets, was Jewish and hailed from Philadelphia. For whatever that's worth.

[GaryV]

The unnecessary use of the word "centre" seems very 1990s to me...sort of like the Fashion "Centre"(aka Pentagon City mall). I always presumed that the use was designed to convey an air of sophistication.

In that case, I guess you'd say the Capital Centre was ahead of its time?

Maybe someone was part Canadian?

The guy who built it, Abe Pollin, who owned the Caps and the Bullets, was Jewish and hailed from Philadelphia. For whatever that's worth.

My reply was in jest.  More likely, some marketing wonk thought it looked better, gave an image.  Like people who name something "Ye Olde Shoppe".

[PHLBOS]

Q. I-84 from near Hartford to the Massachusetts Turnpike?
A. I-86.

Nope, Wilbur Cross Highway and its first/original route number was MA 15 (1948-1980)

It received the I-84 designation initially (1956-1971), then changed to I-86 (1971-1984); then back to I-84 again (1984-present).

[1995hoo]

The question was not necessarily the original name, however.

If you asked me the real name of the DC NBA team, I'd say "Washington Bullets" even though they had three or four other names before that (Baltimore Bullets and Chicago Zephyrs among them).

[hotdogPi]

The question was not necessarily the original name, however.

If you asked me the real name of the DC NBA team, I'd say "Washington Bullets" even though they had three or four other names before that (Baltimore Bullets and Chicago Zephyrs among them).

That section of I-84 is not currently called I-86 by locals.

[1995hoo]

The question was not necessarily the original name, however.

If you asked me the real name of the DC NBA team, I'd say "Washington Bullets" even though they had three or four other names before that (Baltimore Bullets and Chicago Zephyrs among them).

That section of I-84 is not currently called I-86 by locals.

Honestly, some of you people really have no sense of humor.

[The Nature Boy]

Sweet Jesus

The call of the question here is about what name is ingrained into the local population, even if it is not the "actual name" of the object in question.

[empirestate]

Yes; for further example:

Q: ...Avenue of the Americas?
A: Sixth Avenue.

Q: ...Fashion Avenue?
A: Seventh Avenue.

Q: ...Duffy Square?
A: [The other end of] Times Square.


iPhone

[cpzilliacus]

The unnecessary use of the word "centre" seems very 1990s to me...sort of like the Fashion "Centre"(aka Pentagon City mall). I always presumed that the use was designed to convey an air of sophistication.

Both Maryland and Virginia have places named Centreville.   

The one in Virginia is a CDP off of I-66 in Fairfax County. 

The one in Maryland is an incorporated municipality and the county seat of Queen Anne's County (now effectively an exurban jurisdiction of Baltimore and Washington), northeast of Queenstown and west of U.S. 301.

[cpzilliacus]

Q: ...the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge?
A: The Triborough Bridge.

Q: RFK Stadium?
A: D.C. Stadium.