CRITICISE A NAME (otherwise: Transposing AMERICAN CITIES) Darryl Francis Brampton, Cumbria, England
[email protected] On many occasions over the last five decades, Word Ways has published transposals of the names of US state capitals and a number of large US cities. But there has been no systematic attempt to find transposals for the names of all large cities in the US. For this article, I have sought transposals for the names of all US cities with populations over 100,000. When I began writing this article back in 2014, according to Wikipedia, there were 289 so-called “incorporated places” in the US with populations of over 100,000. My attempts at transposing these 289 city names are in the first table below. More recently, putting the finishing touches to this article in 2018, Wikipedia said there were now another 21 US cities with populations in excess of 100,000. My transposal attempts for these additional 21 city names are in the second table below. Here’s some technical stuff about what constitutes an “incorporated place”: According to the US Census Bureau, an incorporated place includes a variety of designations, including city, town, village, borough, and municipality. A few exceptional Census Designated Places (CDPs) are also included in the Census Bureau's listing of incorporated places. Consolidated city-counties represent a distinct type of government that includes the entire population of a county, or county equivalent. Some consolidated city-counties, however, include multiple incorporated places. Wikipedia’s list of incorporated places presents only that portion (or balance) of such consolidated city-counties that are not a part of another incorporated place.