Is Chicago called the windy city?

Answer 1

Chicago was nicknamed the Windy City not for the wind but for the politicians and city boosters who were full of "hot air."

The specifics of this are somewhat in contention. Here are a few versions:

• Supposedly when Chicago hosted the world fair, the then mayor boasted about it so much that it became known as the Windy City.

• Chicago is the Windy City because of the Chicago Tribune. The editor of the Chicago Tribune was trying to promote the city as a summer resort and used the lakes breeze as one of its attractions.

• Chicago was in competition with New York City for the World's Fair (the one Frank Lloyd Wright debuted in), and the NYC papers called the Chicago pols "windy" in their presentations to win the exhibition. (Chicago won.)

• I forget the exact name of the writer who coined the phrase, but it stems from all the politicians in Chicago. The writer quipped that all the politicians talking was like a big wind blowing through the cities.

• The name stems from political bantering that took place between Chicago and New York over who would host the World's Fair.

Here is a more extended explanation:

Popular myth has it that this nickname for the Chicago was coined by Charles Dana, the editor of the New York Sun, in 1893. Chicago was competing with New York to host the 1893 Columbian Exposition, and Dana allegedly coined the name as a derogatory moniker. Supposedly the term is not a reference to the winds off Lake Michigan as one might suppose but rather refers to the Chicagoan habit of rabid boosterism and shameless boasting. To a New Yorker like Dana, Chicago was full of hot air.

The story simply isn't true. The name dates to at least 1885 and clearly refers to the breezes off the lake. 1885 references include "city of winds" as well as "Windy City." This isn't new information, either. Mathew's Dictionary of Americanisms, published some 50 years ago, includes an 1887 quotation about the Windy City, but the myth persists--largely due to newspaper reporters and editors who repeat the tale without checking the facts.

Answer 2

Chicago isn't all that windy. The nickname comes from the boastfulness of its talkative politicians and boosters in the 19th century. Here's info from http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990917.html, Cecil Adam's column in the Reader: The average mope believes Chicago was so dubbed because it's windy, meteorologically speaking. The more sophisticated set (including, till recently, your columnist) thinks the term originated in a comment by Charles Dana, editor of the New York Sun in the 1890s. Annoyed by the vocal (and ultimately successful) efforts of Chicago civic leaders to land the world's fair celebrating Columbus's discovery of America, Dana urged his readers to ignore "the nonsensical claims of that windy city"--windy meaning excessively talkative. But that may not be the true explanation either. Scouring the magazines and newspapers of the day, Popik found that the nickname commonly used for Chicago switched from the Garden City to the Windy City in 1886, several years before Dana's comment. The earliest citation was from the Louisville Courier-Journal in early January, 1886, when it was used in reference to the wind off Lake Michigan. In other words, the average mope was right all along! However, when Popik attempted to notify former Chicagoan but soon-to-be New Yorker Hillary Rodham Clinton of his findings, she blew him off with a form letter--and this from a woman facing a campaign for the Senate. Come on, Hill, quit worrying about the Puerto Ricans and pay attention here. You want to lose the etymologist vote? LATE NEWS Barry has sent me a still earlier cite from the Sept. 19, 1885 Cleveland Gazette, in which one finds the headline "FROM THE WINDY CITY" over a story datelined Chicago. "We can now say that 'Windy City' was born in 1885 and was popularized in 1886," he writes. However, the fact that the term appears without further explanation over a story appearing in Cleveland suggests the term had already achieved regional notoriety by 1885 and originated sometime previously. Clearly the last word on this subject has not yet been written. We await further word from Barry. LATER NEWS Barry now (5/26/2003) reports a cite from the Sept. 11, 1882 Cincinnati Enquirer (page 1, column 2): "CHICAGO'S RECORD. Crimes of a Day in the Windy City." A multi-deck headline over a report of a Baseball game from the Oct. 7, 1882 issue of the same paper includes the line, "We Will Try It Again To-day, and Will Perhaps be Generous to the Chaps From the Windy City--Perhaps Not." Barry reports sadly that Chicago institutions such as the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Public Library continue to give credence to the discredited story that editor Charles Dana coined the phrase in the 1890s (or 1889, in one version). Barry, don't sweat it. You've persuaded the only Chicago institution that counts. LATER AND COUNTING Barry's still at it. As of June 2003 he was holed up in the newspaper room at the Library of Congress looking for "Windy City" references and had discovered a still earlier one. In the Cincinnati Enquirer for July 17, 1880, pg. 4, col. 5, under the headline "Off for Chicago," he finds the following report: "Maud S and Dream were shipped to Chicago last night in a special car, the property of W. H. Vanderbilt. Both nags were in apple-pie condition, and will give a good account of themselves in the Windy City." FROM HERE ON OUT I'M JUST MAKING A LIST Latest "Windy City" finds from Barry P.: "CHICAGO LETTER--Gossip and Impressions of the Windy City" (headline), Cincinnati Enquirer, pg. 5, col. 2, Feb. 12, 1877. "THAT WINDY CITY. Some of the Freaks of the Last Chicago Tornado" (headline), Cincinnati Enquirer, pg. 2, col. 4, May 9, 1876. Barry has discovered that on two occasions in April, 1876 the Cincinnati Enquirer referred to Chicago as the Garden City, suggesting that the May, 1876 reference to the Windy City was an early usage and that the term had not yet become the standard epithet for the city. ******************* and here's another from the Chicago Public Library http://www.chicagopubliclibrary.org/004chicago/chinicknames.html#windy ******************* The origin of the "Windy City" nickname is a bit more obscure. It is thought to be based not on the wind velocity, but on loud and windy boosterism. A Chicago Daily News article from Sept. 22, 1969 gives this origin: Blame it on John Stephan Wright and William (Deacon) Bross, two local boosters (windbags, some might say), who went up and down the East Coast yelling about the wonders of Chicago, according to Daily News library clippings.... Because of their loud boasts of the virtues of the city, Chicago was dubbed the "Windy City" after its "windy" citizenry in the 1850s, according to stories. There are a number of examples of the "Windy City" nickname being used in newspaper headlines by the mid 1880s. Examples include: "Built in Fourteen Days, Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp Outdone in the Windy City" from the June 18, 1887 issue of the Brooklyn Eagle. "From the Windy City

Answer 3

Chicago is called the 'windy city' because of the severe winds Chicago used to get.

It wasn't because of the winds blowing of the lake. It was known as the Windy City because of the many politicians who talked and talked and talked and just blew hot air so much it became known as the Windy City.

Answer 4

Chicago, Illinois because it is very windy thank u very much

Answer 5

Not because of a weather condition, but because they bragged.

Answer 6

Chicago is called the Windy City because of its blowhard politicians.

Answer 7

Because the tall skyscrapers form a wind tunnel.

Answer 8

From the politicians