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lr1970

> Using airport codes as shorthand for their parent cities is an incredibly incredibly common convention. Well and truly established.

Not many HN people, especially from outside of the US, can immediately recognize PDX. Besides, the commenter I was responding to used SF for San Francisco. For consistency sake they should had used SFO then. :-)

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It’s one of those weird things we do in America. San Francisco is SF, Los Angeles is LA, San Diego is SD, San Antonio is SA, and Dallas is DFW. You might hear those said in conversation. Austin is ATX, Houston is HOU, and Portland is PDX. Those are more likely to be referenced in written text rather than said out loud.

Not all of those are airport codes. I suppose it’s due to the fact that Portland is just one word, and it doesn’t contract as nicely as the other cities.

Oddly, though, you never see ORD used for Chicago. It means the airport, and only the airport.

And somewhat the same with LA. LA is the city, LAX is the airport. You don't really see LAX used for the city.

> you never see ORD used for Chicago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33277163

> I wouldn't say we always call Chicago ORD, but it definitely happens.

Yeah, agreed.

CHI, yes, sometimes.

But never ORD - or MDW or GYY. Although CGX would be hilarious. :)

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