I've been following the discussions over on AnnArbor.com about the nickname for the City that will figure prominently in the new news website scheduled to launch in late July.
I've lived in Michigan for 32 years and until AnnArbor.com offered up deuce, I had never heard A-squared (that's the one I've heard since I've been here) referred to as "the deuce." A couple commenters are doing their best to dissuade the site from using it, but apparently to no avail.
During my police department days in the 1970s, officers frequently called drunk drivers "deuces," and urban dictionary's first, and most of the top 10 definitions have an equally unflattering definition for deuce.
In friendly conversation "deuce" is more commonly the term used for a bathroom function, as in do you have to go "Number 1 or number 2."
Of the 96 definitions of "deuce" not one refers to Ann Arbor on urbandictionary.com and nearly 90 percent of the meanings of deuce are pretty offensive. If you put in "The deuce" you get one reference - May 9, 2006 - that Ann Arbor is called "The Deuce." Another term that shows up in some places as Ann Arbor is "Ace deuce."
By the way, urbandictionary.com, is the place to look for modern words. Kind of like a resource for those of us who wear out hats on backwards.
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Yes, The Deuce means to take a dump, which is kind of what this section will be. I don't understand why they're targeting teens and young professionals and think this is a good title for it. Every teen boy would know this term. If the content czar would have asked someone that age(word is his son goes to U-M?) if they thought this was a good name, no doubt they would have laughed at it. People have pointed it out, yet it persists and even gets a bold headline that made me laugh. The Deuce, indeed.
The name was market-researched by a New York firm that has close ties to the mothership, perhaps?
rofl
jim, mebbe the first permanent link over at acorn, uh, annarbor.com ought be to urbandictionary.com?
or Il Duce ought to have it on one of his iPhone apps?
"The Deuce" is seriously dorky. Then again, it should fit in well on a site with an acorn for its logo.
Google "Ann Arbor" and "Deuce" and you'll get thousands of hits. The Deuce was also ESPN2's nickname in its early days.
Thanks for another round of giggles. I'm picturing you all gangsta'd up.
Are the people running the paper even aware of resources like urbandictionary? It would serve them well to get to know it. So much irony in this newspaper industry. These are people that make their living being current and present and yet.........ah well. Glad to know my brother is 'hip' and 'with it'. ;)
Hey, as long as we're talking deuces and boobs this morning, look up boobs on urbandictionary. It's pretty funny.
You're right if you google Ann Arbor and deuce, you get a link to the one I put in the blog on urban dictionary, you get one to my blog entry yesterday and several linked to AnnArbor.com. So while this obscure nickname may have had some mention previously, it appears to be a recent phenom. But, as I said, I don't pretend to know much about Ann Arbor.
I do know that some of the people posting there, who do know about Ann Arbor, are objecting to its use.
Yes, the Deuce was a joke at ESPN, too. It was "little brother," the place to go for sports that weren't good enough for espn (like table tennis, billiards, tennis, hockey, etc.) If you want to be a running joke, keep the name. Sorry I've s--- on it, but it's corny. BTW, that's a joke too. Get it?
When a bunch of old fogeys create and name a "youth" product, you can be sure it will have "turd on arrival" written all over it.
I guess it's fortunate that humans don't eat acorns, or you could call The Deuce idea "nutty," too.
I'll point you at the Linguist List from 2006:
http://linguistlist.org/donation/fund-drive2006/hometown-tour/Megan/
" Ann Arbor is often referred to by the nicknames A2 ("A two") and A² ("A squared"). Recently, a new trend of calling Ann Arbor the "Ace Deuce" or just, "The Deuce" has gained popularity amongst high schoolers. (I found this cited on the Internet, but I've also heard my younger brother and his friends say this dozens of times!)"
I've run "The Deuce" or "Ace Deuce" by many native Michiganders and so far, not one, has ever heard of that nickname.
Not saying that is a scientific survey, but those same folks, have all heard of A-squared.
So sure, it may be a nickname among some, but the first most people are hearing of it is from AnnArbor.com.
It just seems too cute, by half. I just hope they don't have to drop the deuce. That would be too poetic.
Just sayin'
Thanks for this discussion - I was baffled by this term when I first encountered it on outside.in - wondered if it was being used by someone who has never been here.
Regardless of its authenticity, it has an ugly sound and has repelled me from that section of AnnArbor.com, which is ok probably since I don't think I'm in the targeted demographic.
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