A City By Any Other Name Would Still Smell

Seattle, Washington, hopes to draw tourists and new residents by calling itself “metronatural.” For those of you in the back row, that’s like metropolitan with a part of that word replaced by another word so that the final word is–I don’t know–kewl.

What does “metronatural” say to you? If it doesn’t say, “Visit Seattle for your kind of vacation,” then you can add it to your list of ways to spell “failure.”

This reminds me of a breifly lived slogan my city did while I was away in college. In print with designed letters, it’s attractive enough that you may miss the words: “Live it, love it, it’s Chattanooga.” That’s close to “like it or lump it.” Perhaps others agreed with me, which is why the city’s current tagline is “The attraction’s only natural.” Similar to Seattle’s, when you think of it, but less hokey.

0 thoughts on “A City By Any Other Name Would Still Smell”

  1. I’m a big fan of Chattanooga. Wonderful town. Splendid scenery and nice weather. I’d live there in a heartbeat with a half-decent professional opportunity.

  2. To me “metronatural” sounds too much like another recent coinage beginning with “metro-” which suggests a hairdresser named Chad with a breathy voice and a closetful of shoes at home.

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