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Famous Places

Hollywood, Wall Street, Mecca, the Wild West — place names that became shorthand for the activity, industry, or attitude associated with them.

9 entries

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Core

Common

All

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Famous Places

Bermuda Triangle

A place where things mysteriously disappear.

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Famous Places

Eureka

Archimedes' shouted exclamation on discovering, in his bathtub, that the volume of an irregular object can be measured by how much water it displaces.

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Famous Places

Hollywood

Shorthand for the American film industry — its money, glamour, and clichés.

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Famous Places

Mecca

A place that draws devotees of a particular activity — 'the Mecca of X'.

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Famous Places

Silicon Valley

Shorthand for the global tech industry — its companies, capital, and culture.

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Famous Places

The Berlin Wall

The 155-kilometer concrete wall that East Germany built through Berlin in 1961 to stop its citizens from fleeing west — and that came down on November 9, 1989, ending the Cold War's central image.

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Famous Places

Vegas

Shorthand for indulgence, gambling, and the suspension of normal rules.

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Famous Places

Wall Street

Shorthand for American finance — its banks, traders, and excesses.

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Famous Places

Wild West

A frontier where rules are scarce, fortunes are made fast, and the strong set the terms.