[ti:Nicknames for Chicago] [ar:Faith Lapidus] [al:WORDS AND THEIR STORIES] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]Now, the VOA [00:13.28]Special English program, [00:15.23]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. [00:20.23](MUSIC: "Chicago") [00:31.81]A nickname is a shortened [00:33.87]version of a person's name. [00:35.77]A nickname also can [00:38.26]describe a person, place or thing. [00:41.14]Many American cities [00:43.34]have interesting nicknames. [00:45.89]These can help establish [00:49.53]an identity, spread pride [00:51.67]among citizens and build unity. [00:55.26]Chicago, Illinois was [00:58.18]once the second largest city [01:00.67]in the United States. [01:02.71]So, one of its nicknames [01:04.90]is The Second City. [01:07.41]Over the years, [01:09.00]the population of Chicago [01:11.19]has decreased. [01:12.53]Today it is the third [01:14.77]largest American city. [01:16.88]However, another nickname [01:18.99]for Chicago is still true today. [01:22.10]It is The Windy City. [01:25.06]Chicago sits next to Lake Michigan, [01:28.95]one of North America's Great Lakes. [01:31.93]Language expert Barry Popick says [01:35.51]on his web site that Chicago [01:37.85]was called a "windy city" [01:40.79]because of the wind that [01:43.03]blows off of Lake Michigan. [01:45.33]In the eighteen sixties and seventies, [01:48.77]Chicago was advertised [01:51.06]as an ideal place to visit [01:53.45]in the summer [01:54.95]because of this cool wind. [01:57.09]But anyone who has ever lived [02:00.54]in Chicago knows how cold [02:03.17]that wind can be in winter. [02:05.71]The wind travels down the streets [02:09.25]between tall buildings [02:10.99]in the center of the city. [02:12.98]Barry Popick says other cities [02:16.31]in the central United States [02:18.51]called Chicago a "windy city." [02:21.66]This meant that people [02:23.87]in Chicago liked to brag or talk [02:26.95]about how great their city was. [02:29.66]They were full of wind [02:32.57]or full of hot air. [02:34.08]He says newspapers in Cincinnati, [02:37.38]Ohio used this expression [02:39.73]in the eighteen seventies. [02:41.92]Chicago was an important [02:44.77]agricultural, industrial [02:47.24]and transportation center [02:49.23]for the country. [02:50.38]In nineteen sixteen, [02:52.87]the city gained two more nicknames [02:56.05]from a poem called "Chicago," [02:58.90]written by Carl Sandburg. [03:01.51]Here is the first part of the poem: [03:04.55]Hog Butcher for the World, [03:07.54]Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, [03:11.06]Player with Railroads [03:13.15]and the Nation's Freight Handler; [03:15.64]Stormy, husky, brawling, [03:18.69]City of the Big Shoulders. [03:21.41]Chicago was called Hog Butcher [03:25.52]for the World because of its [03:27.51]huge meat-processing industry. [03:30.09]And, it was called The City [03:32.94]of the Big Shoulders [03:34.49]or City of Broad Shoulders [03:37.24]because of its importance to the nation. [03:40.62]There are several songs about Chicago. [03:44.37]"My Kind of Town" was made popular [03:47.79]by Frank Sinatra in nineteen sixty-four. [03:51.00](MUSIC) [04:22.24]This program was written [04:24.03]by Shelley Gollust. [04:25.57]I'm Faith Lapidus. [04:27.41]You can find more [04:28.96]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES [04:30.40]at our Web site, 51voa.com.