A-she-ville
n.— «In Asheville, that’s a problem. Straight people here proudly refer to the town as the lesbian capital of the South; when they joke about “A-she-ville,” they’re proud.» —“The Anti-Rights Democrat” by Terry Curtis Fox Huffington Post Nov. 8, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
We use the term Milky Way for that glowing arc across the sky. But how people picture it varies from culture to culture. In Sweden, that starry band goes by a name that means “Winter Street,” and in Hawaii, a term for the Milky Way...
The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don’t they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaining the history of words and phrases. And: have you ever been in a situation where a group makes...
I know this isn’t a valid citation, but I lived in Asheville from 1990 through 1999, during the most rapid ascent of Asheville’s gay population, and I can vouch for the authenticity of this term. I’ve heard it for years. This is absolutely a term in common usage among rural Southerners in Buncombe County.