Really? I've heard it a lot. Mostly in rap songs.

French rap does this too, with a lot of references to the "93" (93 being the department code for Seine-Saint-Denis, a rough neighborhood just north of Paris).

“Ludacris has hoes in the Midway and Wake Islands. Only scientists are allowed to inhabit the Midway Islands, and only military personnel may inhabit the Wake Islands. Draw your own conclusion.”

Heh.

There is a whole set of social markers that go with each LA area code. In general, I find it pretty eyerolly but that may be because I'm from the "rich and snobby" area code and yet live in a solidly middle class, boringly residential neighborhood and can't really identify with either rich or snobby.

Remember 'go outside and play?'

For younger readers, I'll explain this archaic concept. It worked like this: The child or children in the house -- as long as they were over age 4 or so -- went to the door, opened it, and ... went outside. They braved the neighborhood pedophile just waiting to pounce, the rusty nails just waiting to be stepped on, the trees just waiting to be fallen out of, and they "played."

"Play," incidentally, is a mysterious activity children engage in when not compelled to spend every hour under adult supervision, taking soccer or piano lessons or practicing vocabulary words with computerized flashcards.

...

Thirty years ago, the "going out to play" culture coexisted with other culturally sanctioned forms of independence for even very young children: Kids as young as 6 used to walk to school on their own, for instance, or take public buses or -- gulp -- subways. And if they lived on a school bus route, their mommies did not consider it necessary to escort them to the bus stop every morning and wait there with them.

But today, for most middle-class American children, "going out to play" has gone the way of the dodo, the typewriter and the eight-track tape. From 1981 to 1997, for instance, University of Michigan time-use studies show that 3- to 5-year-olds lost an average of 501 minutes of unstructured playtime each week; 6- to 8-year-olds lost an average of 228 minutes. (On the other hand, kids now do more organized activities and have more homework, the lucky devils!) And forget about walking to school alone. Today's kids don't walk much at all (adding to the childhood obesity problem).

Never having heard of a nickname for St. Louis being "the Lou".

Nelly! He's from the Lou and he's proud!

Nelly! He's from the Lou and he's proud!

Yeah, I knew he was from St. Louis but I didn't know it was called The Lou!!

I know now!

I still think "Princess of The Lou" when heard out loud makes me think "Princess of the Loo" and the bathroom...

Yeah, I knew he was from St. Louis but I didn't know it was called The Lou!!

Sorry -- that's a line in Country Grammar.

OMG. In the office next to mine, an intern has been sharpening pencils ALL DAY LONG. I feel bad for her, sure, but I feel bad for me!

Remember 'go outside and play?'

Emmett doesn't go out to play, but he is released on his own recognizance after school and roams the wild streets of Albany unsupervised.

In San Francisco he's on a shorter leash. But has been going to the corner store on his own since he was 9-10.

Meat Font.