Former names you use without meaning to

[OCGuy81]

I prefer The Pond of Anaheim over the Honda Center. Very fitting given the fact the Ducks play there!

[freebrickproductions]

Older people around here still refer to Madison Boulevard in Madison, AL as "Highway 20".

[Brian556]

Around here, Walmart sell a postcard with a picture of AT&T Stadium, which is where the Dallas Cowboys play. Just one problem, it says "Texas Stadium". For those of you not familiar with this area, Texas Stadium, the Dallas Cowboy's old facility, was demolished in 2010.

[Pete from Boston]

–I have been known to give directions by noting things like "turn right where Magruder's used to be, then turn right again at the next stop sign." Sometimes this is because I can't remember what replaced the former business; other times it's simply because that's how I think of a location and I can't be bothered to find out what moved in to replace the one that closed. But I do try to use additional landmarks in case someone doesn't know where Magruder's was (example: "After you pass under the overpass, take the next right turn where Magruder's used to be, then go right again at the next stop sign.").

You sure you're not from Boston?

I listen to Boston, if that counts.

But the sort of thing I described is also very common in Charlottesville. I know people who refer to places using the names of businesses that closed 40+ years ago. No doubt part of this is because it's a university town and it's natural to think of it the way it was when you were in school.

It's a stereotype here, basically "Surely you know where what's-her-name worked at the bakery than went out in the 80s–right past her house, it's catty-cornered."

[Pete from Boston]

In Orlando, I'm sure some people still call the Beachline Expwy the "Beeline"

I thought that was a typo for about five years. It's the Beeline.

I had never heard that it changed until now.  I think I underestimate the power of tourism in everything Florida does.

[corco]

All those cities in India that were renamed (Madras, Calcutta, Bombay, Bangalore)- it's not that I'm opposed to using the new names, I just never remember that the names were changed.

[OCGuy81]

All those cities in India that were renamed (Madras, Calcutta, Bombay, Bangalore)- it's not that I'm opposed to using the new names, I just never remember that the names were changed.

"Istanbul was Constantinoble, now it's Istanbul not Constantinoble...." - They Might be Giants :-)

[Pete from Boston]

MAC machine. Not an ATM.  When ATMs were first introduced, the Philly area machines were called MAC machines.  The name still sticks in this area.

It might have been you that referred to these before, and from that I assumed it was still a current thing.  I remember all ATMs being spoken of as "MAC machines" in New Jersey 25 years ago. 

[roadman65]

Do not Massachusetts residents still call I-95 and part of I-93 as "Route 128" and prefer not to change with the numbers?

[NE2]

In before 128.

Do not Massachusetts residents still call I-95 and part of I-93 as "Route 128" and prefer not to change with the numbers?

[roadman65]

128 does end at I-95's south split at I-93.  It is not cosigned south of there with I-93 to MA 3, but just a few seconds ago I was under the assumption that 128 was actually truncated to north of I-95's split at the north end.

[1995hoo]

MAC machine. Not an ATM.  When ATMs were first introduced, the Philly area machines were called MAC machines.  The name still sticks in this area.

It might have been you that referred to these before, and from that I assumed it was still a current thing.  I remember all ATMs being spoken of as "MAC machines" in New Jersey 25 years ago. 

I remember ATMs being referred to as "Cashflow machines" in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Very few people used them, too. The name "Cashflow" came about because Sovran Bank was one of the dominant banks in Virginia and they branded their machine as "Cashflow." (They became NationsBank when they merged with C&S and NCNB and they're now Bank of America.)

[spooky]

All those cities in India that were renamed (Madras, Calcutta, Bombay, Bangalore)- it's not that I'm opposed to using the new names, I just never remember that the names were changed.

"Istanbul was Constantinoble, now it's Istanbul not Constantinoble...." - They Might be Giants :-)

that's nobody's business but the Turks.

[Laura]

I still call all of our Shop Rite stores Kleins, because that was the family who  ran the original stores before they retired and sold them to Shop Rite. Indeed, the original six stores are legally called "Kleins Shop Rite", but all new expansions are just Shop Rite. I can always tell who the transplants are by what they call the stores


iPhone

[roadman]

128 does end at I-95's south split at I-93.  It is not cosigned south of there with I-93 to MA 3, but just a few seconds ago I was under the assumption that 128 was actually truncated to north of I-95's split at the north end.

Correct.  However, with the exception of a few LGS signs that were installed in Wakefield and Lynnfield as part of private-developer funded mitigation projects, and a couple of ancient BGS signs along Route 9 in Wellesley, the 128 information is provided on stand-alone route marker assemblies only.  The majority of white on green LGS or BGS signs along the overlap section do not include the 128 shield - this practice started in the early 1990s at the request of FHWA, as a condition of receiving Federal funding for sign update projects.

But referring to the section of I-93 between Canton and Braintree as "128" does qualify under this thread, as the 128 designation was officially decomissioned from this highway by MassDPW in 1989.  Shortly thereafter, the BGS and LGS signs were replaced with new signs replacing the 128 designation with I-93, and the majority of the confirmatory and directional 128 markers (excepting a handful of trailblazer markers at the Braintree end) were removed as well.

[kkt]

If we're doing numbers, as well as names, I still sometimes slip and call I-880 and I-580 by CA 17.

[amroad17]

In NASCAR...

   - World 600 instead of Coca-Cola 600
   - Firecracker 400 instead of Pepsi 400

Before Cinergy Field in Cincinnati was demolished, I still referred to the stadium as Riverfront Stadium.

Oh yeah, to me it is still the Sears Tower in Chicago.

[citrus]

For an instance of using a former name for something that isn't even built yet: the Transbay Tower in San Francisco... which has been officially renamed Salesforce Tower, but I'm not sure anybody calls it that.

[vtk]

Tacky servicemark-sounding names like "Salesforce" or "covermymeds" should never be the official name of a building.  Such a name ideally shouldn't be displayed on an office building either, if the building itself does not actually provide that service; use the parent company name instead.  The office building next to the Miranova condos in Columbus now has a colorful "covermymeds" sign near the top and I find it very distasteful.

[DandyDan]

In Omaha, there is the CenturyLink Center, which used to be the Qwest Center.  That may also apply to the football stadium in Seattle.  Over in Council Bluffs, I still have to remember that it's Harrah's Casino and not Harvey's and the Horseshoe Casino and not Bluffs Run.

There's also too many bars to mention that would fit here.

[Pete from Boston]

I still call all of our Shop Rite stores Kleins, because that was the family who  ran the original stores before they retired and sold them to Shop Rite. Indeed, the original six stores are legally called "Kleins Shop Rite", but all new expansions are just Shop Rite. I can always tell who the transplants are by what they call the stores

Shop-Rite in Maryland?  Lucky you!

Someone owns those stores that isn't Shop-Rite, which is a collective marketing brand owned by Wakefern Foods of Elizabeth and/or Keasbey, New Jersey.  Stores are owned by local holding companies that are members of the collective.  It's like Ace Hardware or Best Western in this regard.

[signalman]

Oh yeah, to me it is still the Sears Tower in Chicago.

Wait, its name was changed?  What was it changed to?  I have/had no idea.  Although, admittedly, I don't really know much about Chicago.

As for things that I refer to by their old name:

-It's still Continental Airlines Arena to me, not the Izod Center  (I vaguely remember when it was the Brendan Byrne Arena, but I was not going there for anything back then, so that name never really stuck with me)
-It's still Giants Stadium to me, not whatever it's currently named (the name escapes me at the moment)
-It's still the Garden State Arts Center to me, not PNC Bank Arts Center.  Although, in conversation, I just usually refer to it as the arts center.  The road used to access said center is also the Parkway, not the Garden State Parkway.  I've never heard anyone from NJ refer to it by its full name.

[Pete from Boston]

Oh yeah, to me it is still the Sears Tower in Chicago.

Wait, its name was changed?  What was it changed to?  I have/had no idea.  Although, admittedly, I don't really know much about Chicago.

Willis Tower for something like ten years.  I don't think many people in Chicago uses the new name, either.

-It's still Continental Airlines Arena to me, not the Izod Center  (I vaguely remember when it was the Brendan Byrne Arena, but I was not going there for anything back then, so that name never really stuck with me)

Brendan Byrne is the only one that sounds right to me.  I never once spoke "Continental Airlines Arena" or "Izod Center."  "The Meadowlands" is probably what we said the most, getting the specific meaning from context.

The road used to access said center is also the Parkway, not the Garden State Parkway.  I've never heard anyone from NJ refer to it by its full name.

Not a former name, but regardless, you have to clarify sometimes in Bergen County.  There are two parkways there.  "Garden State" is therefore sometimes heard there.  However, most common usage is "The Parkway" and "The Palisades."

[1995hoo]

The new football stadium at the Meadowlands is MetLife Stadium. Giants Stadium was demolished.

I just call it the Meadowlands.

[signalman]

Willis Tower for something like ten years.  I don't think many people in Chicago uses the new name, either.

Thank you.  Now that I see the name, I know that I've heard it before.  I don't recall where I had read Willis Tower, but the article certainly didn't specify Chicago, nor did it mention that it was formerly known as the Sears Tower.  In any case, thanks for the help.

Not a former name, but regardless, you have to clarify sometimes in Bergen County.  There are two parkways there.  "Garden State" is therefore sometimes heard there.  However, most common usage is "The Parkway" and "The Palisades."

Makes sense, considering that you lived in Bergen County.  Besides clinching roads in Bergen and making several trips to Campmor in Paramus, I never really had any ties in Bergen.  I don't have any friends there that I'd visit or talk to.  I've always refered to the Palisades Parkway as just that.  I never shortened it to just the Palisades (so as to avoid confusion with the namesake rock formation on the NJ side of the Hudson).  I have ever heard others call the road just the Palisades, however (full name being Palisades Interstate Parkway).

The new football stadium at the Meadowlands is MetLife Stadium.  Giants Stadium was demolished.

I just call it the Meadowlands.

Thanks for helping with my earlier brain fart.  I knew that Giants Stadium was demolished, but I couldn't think of its replacement.  The new stadium is still Giants Satdium to me, in any case.  I've also ever refered to it as the Meadowlands.