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Help me out - what does the "podunk town"-Vegas thing mean?

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by poindexter, Sep 21, 2018.

  1. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    I have read Starkvegas for a decade here on the message board. Just read "Jax-vegas" on another thread.
    I saw highlights on sportscenter this week and they used the term Spoke-vegas. (Spokane, I think.)

    I don't get it.
     
  2. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    I don't much get it either - I think it is used ironically as in "it ain't Vegas" but I could be way way off.

    Like attaching "gate" to every scandal real or imagined, I think it is overused.
     
  3. Liut

    Liut Well-Known Member

    Moddy's correct.

    I recall Starkvegas dating back to the early 2000s. I don't know if a fellow named Jim Mashek coined it, but he frequently used it in reference to Starkville, Mississippi.
     
  4. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    Yes, thanks, I know what towns they are referring to, I just don't get why.

    So any town with the -vegas just means it is the furthest thing from vegas.

    Okay.
     
    Liut likes this.
  5. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    The correct mockery of Spokane is Spocompton, according to an Idaho friend.
     
    Tweener and I Should Coco like this.
  6. Slacker

    Slacker Well-Known Member

    Tahoe is right next door to all of them.
     
    bumpy mcgee and cyclingwriter2 like this.
  7. I Should Coco

    I Should Coco Well-Known Member

    Very true, although coming from Chicago, I'm not too scared of the "mean streets" of Spokane.

    The only thing Spokane and Las Vegas have in common is cheap buffets. The ones in eastern Washington come with a chocolate wonderfall ... :rolleyes:
     
    PCLoadLetter likes this.
  8. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    My grandparents lived on the outskirts of Spokane. When they wanted to go out to a really nice dinner they would drive just across the Idaho border to "Mr. Steak."
     
  9. cyclingwriter2

    cyclingwriter2 Well-Known Member

    I think the “Vegas” thing was supposed to be only for towns that ended in “ville.” Not sure why I think this...
     
    TigerVols likes this.
  10. franticscribe

    franticscribe Well-Known Member

    I first remember hearing it was in the late 90s in reference to Greenville, N.C.

    At that time people called it G-Vegas, and I always understood that to be because it was the party town in an otherwise vast expanse of no nightlife down east.

    Somewhere along the way it seemed to morph to add the Vegas to any sleepy town with a "ville" in its name as a bit of irony.
     
  11. Severian

    Severian Well-Known Member

    I've heard people refer Gainesville, Fla., as "Gaines-Vegas." I don't understand why any would name swampland that.
     
  12. Severian

    Severian Well-Known Member

    Jacksonville, Fla., if that is what is being referenced, doesn't even deserve a nickname akin to Las Vegas.
     
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