Sydney Cove was the name given by Captain Artur Phillip in 1788 to the cove where Circular Quay now is, but the name Sydney stuck for the whole city. The settlement was originally going to be called Albion and appears on some early maps. Lord Sydney was the British Home Secretary and Phillip's boss.
Syd-en-nee is the way you sometimes hear it locally pronounced which is close to its original derivation from St Denis. He was the bloke who converted the Parisians from Paganism to Christianity but lost his head as a result. The word Denis came from the Dionysus, the Greek God for having a good time. So perhaps we were well named after all.
An article in today's Sydney Morning Herald by David Astle asked the question: what do you call a person from Sydney? Usually we are known as Sydneysiders,
here are some other names identified by him and my comment:
Sydneian - already taken (you Sydney Grammar boys)
Sydneyite - too uptight
Sydneyard - sounds like a train station
Cads - too obscure (from the aboriginal name for Sydney Cove - Cadi)
Sydwegians - too hard to say
Sydninjas - too hard to spell
Emerald Citizen - appeals to me as my new blog title!
Port Jackaroo - no way bucko
Syd - too short
Syddie - just like Brissie, but coined by Antonio Samaranch when he announced the Sydney Olympics
02s - after our postcode - too numeric
33/151s - our lat and long - too confusing
Weekend reflections
Sydneysider seems to be a unique description.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post and great photo! Never heard about the connection between St Denis and Sydney! ;-)
ReplyDeleteHahah...I think my kiddos (especially the oldest) would say I was a Sydneyite!
ReplyDeleteI like the title Sydneysider!
Great post....amazing architecture there!
beautiful scene!
ReplyDeleteLooks like is stays as Sydneysiders.
ReplyDeleteSydneysider ... it is very literal isn't it. But then ... that is apt. We are not romantic, nor imaginative. We are not creative, nor cultural. We are pretty pragmatic. Call a spade a spade.
ReplyDeleteSydneysider it is.