ninth island

ninth island
 n.— «Joel and Melodi Kekauoha began hearing the term “ninth island” when their flight from Honolulu descended over the Nevada desert toward the lights of the Las Vegas Strip. They learned the meaning later that morning, when they bumped into a neighbor from their hometown of Kaneohe, which is on Oahu, one of Hawaii’s eight islands. Suddenly, Las Vegas seemed awfully familiar.» —“Vegas Becoming Hawaii’s ‘Ninth Island’” by Ken Ritter in Las Vegas, Nev. AP Nov. 23, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)