ManchVegas

ManchVegas (also Manch-Vegas) is a local nickname for Manchester, New Hampshire. The term is a portmanteau of Manchester and Las Vegas.

"ManchVegas" was derived from illegal gambling in local businesses during the late 1980s or early '90s. Many pizza shops and local bars had video poker machines that would pay out real money. Following a city-wide bust of these machines, brothers Jim and Bill O'Mahony of Manchester coined the nickname. It was then adopted as a lampoon of the city's limited entertainment opportunities. Recently the term has become a source of pride as the city's entertainment scene has grown.

A 2003 note on Virtualtourist.com notes, "Residents reflect the regional dry humor by referring to sedate Manchester as 'ManchVegas'."

An article in Manchester's Hippo Press (a local alternative weekly) in August, 2005, noted that then-Manchester Mayor Robert A. Baines, "is pushing to replace the nickname ManchVegas with Manchhatten" (meaning Manchester+Manhattan).

As of January, 2006, nine businesses in New Hampshire had registered with the New Hampshire Secretary of State's Corporate Division to use the name "ManchVegas" in their business. The earliest was registered August 11, 1998.

Other, much less commonly used, nicknames are "ManchAngeles" (Manchester+Los Angeles) and Manchvegistan (referencing the city's immigrant population).

Popular culture

Manchester band Moes Haven released an album of pop songs entitled "September: In Manchvegas" in 2006. It features 16 songs about people and places in the city.

External links

• ManchVegas: Love it or hate it, the Queen City's other name has stuck by Scott Brooks, New Hampshire Union Leader. Sept. 26, 2005. (Requires registration)