Chilltown
n.— «Although not everyone has heard of it, the two-decades-old nickname “Chilltown” brings immediate recognition for a number of longtime Jersey City residents.…”In 1980. Remember the record “Rap-tivity?’ [It said] “Warning, the surgeon general of Chilltown, New York,” ” said Bryant. “When that record came out we just flipped the term, so instead of Chilltown, New York, it was Chilltown, Jersey City.” “Rap-tivity” was a record done in 1980 by rapper Ronnie Gee. The song starts off: The Surgeon General of Chilltown, New York / has determined that the sounds you’re about to hear / can be devastating to your ear.» —“Why do people call Jersey City ‘Chilltown?’” by Ricardo Kaulessar Union City Reporter (N.J.) Apr. 10, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...
Mary Beth in Greenville, South Carolina, wonders: Why do we say four-oh-nine for the number 409 instead of four-zero-nine or four-aught-nine? What are the rules for saying either zero or oh or aught or ought to indicate that arithmetical symbol...