Rete

I've lived in the US all of my life (and no, I will not tell you how long that is) and I have been to California several times, have numerous real life and online friends who live there but never had heard anyone refer to California as "Cali" before reading it posted by Brits here on BE. I have noted that Brits like to attach nicknames to just about everything rather than calling things by their proper names.

Now where in goodness name did you guys come up with the name Cali? I note it is said in by Canadians now.

Just curious.

AmerLisa

I was born and raised in California and "Cali" is a term that started quite a few years ago (perhaps 8ish) Not sure where it started, but not on this forum though. I think the new name should be "Capitalism City" but that could probably be the name for a lot of American cities.

USBound

hmm.. I've been here 8 months and its been called Cali since I arrived? Not something I particularly made up more that I heard people using it and joined in.

Works for me

Rete

Thanks Lisa and USB

Since this is the only place I had ever heard it used, thought it was a eupherism for California started by someone from England. Glad to have that misassumption corrected.

As for Capitalistic City, isn't that all of the US and not just major cities. People love to say love makes the world go round when in fact it is economics alone that keeps it spinning on its axis ;-)

Thanks again.

NC Penguin

You're winding us up, right?

"Cali" is the first two syllables of California so that's where the name must have come from.

BTW- Americans certainly like to shorten and rename things.

e.g. mac and cheese= macaroni and cheese
cup of Joe= coffee
cell= cellphone
aluminum= aluminium
nite instead of night
JLo instead of Jennifer Lopez




NC Penguin

fatbrit

Changing a word by adding a “i� sound to the end is quite common, especially in the language of children, e,g. doggy, sweety, Ausy, horsey, aunty. There is usually some idea of nice, quaint, little added to the original. I wonder if Cali is the same, i.e. was invented by children?

elfman

Indeed. When I lived in London I noticed an odd habit of visiting Americans (including all my wife's family and friends) - a compulsion to shorten the names of London landmarks by lopping off the end bit, even if the locals never do. Thus they talk about going to see the changing of the guard at "Buckingham", feeding the pigeons in "Trafalgar", browsing the market in "Portobello", referring to Westminster Abbey simply as "Westminster", etc. I could go on. Anybody else notice this?

This weekend I might spend the day in New York: I plan to go for a walk in Central, check out the view from the top of the Empire, and maybe go to a show near Times.

AmerLisa

I think you'll find "Cali" was probably invented by some rap singer, and it sounded good in a verse. When I heard it, it was being said by my older daughter's friends, who were all preteens at the time.

Just Jenney

Ok, have to be picky here for a moment -- aluminum isn't a shortening or renaming of aluminium. According to the International Aluminium Institute:

http://www.world-aluminium.org/history/language.html

"In 1808 Sir Humphrey Davy proposed the name ALUMIUM for the metal. This rather unwieldy name was soon replaced by ALUMINUM and later the word ALUMINIUM was adopted by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemists in order to conform with the "ium" ending of most elements. By the mid-1800s both spellings were in use."

So actually, it was the other way around -- the American pronunciation of "aluminum" came first, then was changed to the British pronunciation. Both pronunciations are acceptable and considered grammatically correct.

~ Jenney

CaliforniaBride

But like 'uni'. It was always called university then along came the Austrailian daytime soaps referring to 'uni', next thing I know it's been universally adopted.