What exactly is Winnipeg’s real nickname?
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/02/2011 (5523 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
I was in Toronto this past week and came across an article in a local paper with a headline that blared “Toronto’s New Nickname Revealed!”. I’ve always referenced T.O. as “Hogtown”, which is not the most flattering nickname, and I guess many shared this opinion.
Apparently a celebrity panel was formed to choose a new nickname. The panel, which included Emily Haines of Metric, Amir Johnson of the Raptors, comedian Russell Peters and a few others picked from a pool of suggestions and arrived at El Toro. El Toro nosed out T-Bone (rightly so), as well as solid finalists The Big Maple, DiverCity, and T-Town. El Toro is solid, but not of my concern. This article made me think of our own nickname, or if we indeed have one of general consensus.
To be clear, a nickname is not chosen by the government. This is not a “Spirited Energy” or a “Heart of the Continent”. Nicknames those are not. I think we used to have one in River City, but that seems to have died. Wikipedia says our nicknames are Winterpeg, Heart of the Continent, and The Peg. The only people I have ever heard use “The Peg” aren’t from here. I’ve heard Peg City more than I’ve heard Heart of the Continent. I think we may have even been Winnerpeg at some point when the Bombers were hosting Grey Cups parades a little more often. Slurpee Capital of the World still has some legs in some circles I suppose. Then there are the ones you don’t want as they usually reference the word murder. We could just be the 204, but that’s going to be shared with another area code soon.
So what is our nickname? Do we need a contest? Do people care?