by CISL SF student, Cornelia Ineichen
Most of our world’s big metropolises have some kind of a nickname – e.g. “The Big Apple“, “The Windy City“ or “Sin City“. What about San Francisco?
PARIS OF THE WEST
Sales Promoters used this nickname around the late nineteenth century to attract tourists to visit San Francisco. But ask yourself: Do you want to compare one great city with another to make it more famous? Nope.
SAN FRAN
Never use these two words as a shortened version of San Francisco. It sounds as if you are trying to be hip and cool. Please don’t.
FRISCO
The St. Louis – San Francisco Railway, known as the “Frisco” began operating in the mid eighteen hundreds, but the nickname is way older.
Now, let’s check: Do you ever call New York just “York“? Nobody does. It just doesn’t sound nice. The same stands for San Francisco.
SF
It’s more an acronym than a nickname. Therefore SF is totally fine. We travel from LA to SF and maybe to DC, too. And nobody bats an eye.
CITY BY THE BAY
This is my favorite because it’s simple and true. Drive over the Bay Bridge or the Golden Gate Bridge and enjoy the beautiful panorama. The water glows in the sunshine, the sailboats seem to float, and the birds are flying peacefully. You can enjoy this scenery again and again – it will never be the same and always makes you fall in love anew.