List of metonyms

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The following is a list of common metonyms.^{[n 1]} A metonym is a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept. For instance, "Westminster", a borough of London in the United Kingdom, could be used as a metonym for the country's government.

General

Word or phrase	Original / literal use	Metonymic use
bar	The bar in a courtroom that separates judges and lawyers from laypeople	All the lawyers licensed to practice law in a certain court or jurisdiction[1]
bench	The location in a courtroom where a judge sits when presiding over a court	All the judges of a court or jurisdiction; members of a judiciary; the presiding officer (judge) in a court[2]
boots on the ground	Footwear worn by soldiers	Combat troops deployed in a geographic area (as opposed to those awaiting deployment and/or in aircraft or ships offshore)[3]
brass	A metal alloy (used for or in the manufacture of e.g. buttons, insignia and (traditionally) a family of musical instruments)	Military officers[4]
china	The country China	Chinese porcelain or other types of ceramic[4]
city hall	A city's chief administrative building	Local government or, more pejoratively, government in general[2] Most common use is in the adage "You can't fight city hall"
crown / Crown	A type of monarchical headwear	Monarchy, especially the British monarchy (as "The Crown")[5]
dish	An item of crockery	(The foundation of) a course – usually the main course – of a meal[6]
eyes and ears	Sensory organs, used for visual and auditory perception	A spy, someone who watches observes and reports information back to another party, perhaps a partner but typically a superior
gun	A firearm	An assassin, mercenary or soldier (as in "hired gun")[7]
mortal	Subject to death	Human[8]
pink slip	A discharge notice (historically, a slip of paper in an employee's pay envelope)	A layoff or termination of employment[9]
red tape	Tape that is coloured red	A overly bureaucratic process[10]
suits	Business attire (plural)	Business executives and lawyers[7]
sweat	Perspiration	Hard (physical) work[11]
tongue	Oral muscle	A language or dialect[12]

Places

Word or phrase	Original / literal use	Metonymic use
10 Downing Street ("Number 10")	The official residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom[n 2]	The Prime Minister and their staff[13]
Albany	Albany, New York, the capital city of New York State	New York state government
Area 51	Area 51, an area in Nevada where secret experiments take place	Conspiracy theories and UFO sightings
Armonk	Armonk, New York, where the headquarters of IBM is located	IBM[14]
Bangalore	Bangalore, a major city in India	Outsourced labor in the U.S. information technology industry, generally labor replacing more costly labor found in Silicon Valley and in the United States
Bay Street	A street in downtown Toronto	The Canadian financial sector, since the Toronto Stock Exchange, the country's main securities market, and the headquarters of many of its major banks, are located there[15]
Benghazi	A city in Libya	The attack on the U.S. embassy that took place on 11 September 2012 and the subsequent scandal surrounding Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's handling of the attacks
Beverly Hills	Beverly Hills, California, a rich enclave of Los Angeles	Any neighborhood of the rich and famous associated with the American movie industry
Broadway	A street in Manhattan, New York City	Broadway theatre; sometimes, although less accurately, commercial American theatre in general[4]
Brussels	The capital of Belgium	Institutions of the European Union, headquartered in that city, or the EU as a whole
Beijing	The capital of China	The Chinese government, specifically in regards to foreign policies by the communist regime
Buckingham Palace or the Palace	A large building in London that is the official residence of the reigning British sovereign	The British royal family and its staff[16]
"the City" / "The City"	The City of London, the part of Central London, England, that has the longest contiguous recorded history	The financial (and related) institutions located in the City of London[17]
Capitol Hill or the Hill	A neighborhood in Washington, D.C.	The United States Congress[18]
Columbine	An unincorporated community near Denver, Colorado	The Columbine High School massacre, sometimes given as a reference point for later school shootings
Cooperstown	A village in upstate New York	The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, located in Cooperstown, New York[19]
Daytona	Daytona Beach, Florida, a major city in Florida known for the Daytona 500	Another word for car racing
Detroit	The largest city in Michigan	The American automobile industry[20]
Disneyworld / Disneyland	Walt Disney World, amusement parks	Any fantasy world
Élysée Palace	The Élysée Palace is the seat of the President of France	The President of the French Republic and his or her staff
Ferguson	Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis	The 9 August 2014 shooting of Michael Brown, a black teenager, by a white police officer and the subsequent unrest that began in the city and later spread nationwide
Fifth Avenue	A street in the New York City borough of Manhattan	The upscale retailers that are generally located along it[21]
The fifth floor	The floor of a building above the fourth floor	The Mayor of Chicago and his or her staff, since their offices are on that floor of city hall[22]
Fleet Street	A street in the City of London	The British national press[23]
Flint	A city in northeastern Michigan	The water contamination crisis that faced the city in the mid-2010s
Foggy Bottom	A neighbourhood in Washington, D.C.	The United States Department of State, which has its offices in the neighborhood
Fort Knox	A U.S. Army base in Kentucky	The United States Bullion Depository, which is located within the base
Harlem	Harlem, a section of Manhattan, New York City	Was generally viewed negatively as a well-known ghetto; it was synonymous with the word "ghetto" when referring to similar neighborhoods in other U.S. cities and not necessarily Harlem itself
Hollywood	A district of Los Angeles, California	The American film industry[4]
Holyrood	An area in Edinburgh	The Scottish Parliament, which is located in that area, or more generally the Scottish Government
Houston	A city in Texas	NASA, as in "Houston, we have a problem", or the petroleum industry in the United States
Hrad ("The Castle")	The Prague Castle and official residence and office of the President of the Czech Republic	The President of the Czech Republic and his or her staff, and also the Czech Republic as a whole[24]
Ikulu	The official residence of the President of Tanzania	The State House and its administration[25]
India	India, a country known for having skilled individuals in the information technology industry who have a lower salary requirement than similarly skilled individuals in more developed countries such as the United States	Outsourced information technology labor
Indy	Indianapolis, a major city in Indiana	The car racing industry
Iowa	Iowa, a U.S. state	The U.S. presidential election caucus in Iowa
Itamaraty	Itamaraty Palace in Brasília, headquarters of the Ministry of External Relations of Brazil.	The Brazilian ministry of Foreign Affairs and its diplomats[26]
K Street	A street in downtown Washington, D.C.	The American lobbying industry[27]
Kansas	Kansas, a midwestern U.S. state	The Wild West where few people reside, generally an unpopulated area; a place that is not the city; anything like the rustic Kansas home of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz
Kastilja ("Castile")	Auberge de Castille	The Office of the Prime Minister of Malta[28]
Kentucky	Kentucky, a U.S. state	An unsophisticated lifestyle area, generally associated with red necks and hill billies, not necessarily Kentucky itself, but rather rural areas where there is no sophistication; examples generally label such areas outside of major cities; generally derogatory in usage similar to saying that people from "tucky" only have "one tooth"
Kremlin	A historic type of Russian fortress or citadel	The Moscow Kremlin and/or the Russian presidential administration; historically, any Russian or Soviet government[29]
Langley	A small suburb of Washington, D.C., in Virginia	The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency[30]
"Las Vegas" or "Vegas"	Las Vegas, a major city in Nevada	The Las Vegas Strip, the American gambling industry, or a place "sinful" in nature
L.A.	Los Angeles, a major city in California	Any aspect of an active or healthy lifestyle symbolized by the city; many brands promoting healthy lifestyles generally have L.A. as part of its brand name
Løvebakken	The driveway in front of the Storting building	The supreme legislature of Norway
McDonald's	A fast food restaurant	Anything mass-produced (i.e. McHome represents homes put together like hamburgers)
Madison Avenue	A street in Manhattan, New York City	The American advertising industry[4]
Main Street	The principal street of a town, traditionally the site of shops, banks, and other businesses	Major local businesses, especially all of the local businesses of a town or community, or of the entire nation
Motown	A nickname for Detroit, the motor town	A record company of the American music industry, or the movement of R&B music associated with the label
Nashville	The capital of the U.S. state Tennessee	The country music industry[4]
New Hampshire	New Hampshire, a northeastern U.S. state	The New Hampshire presidential election primary, which is usually the first to be held
Newtown / Sandy Hook	A small town in eastern Connecticut and a village located within the town	The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting of December 2012, the second deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history and often cited as a major turning point in gun control
Pearl Harbor	The natural harbor on the coast of Oahu island, Hawaii	The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on 7 December 1941[4]
(The) Pentagon	A pentagonal building in Arlington County, Virginia	The United States Department of Defense (whose headquarters is housed by the Pentagon building)[31]
Pennsylvania Avenue	Pennsylvania Avenue, a street in Washington, D.C.	The executive and legislative branches of the United States, because this avenue runs between the White House and the United States Capitol
Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh, a city in Pennsylvania	The U.S. steel industry of the 1950s
Pyongyang	The capital of North Korea	The Government of North Korea
Queen's Park	An urban park in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada	The Ontario Legislative Building (which is located within the park) and/or the provincial government of Ontario.[32]
Quai d'Orsay	A wharf and adjoining street in the 7th arrondisement of Paris, France	The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, which is located at 37 Quai d'Orsay[33]
Redmond	Redmond, Washington, where the headquarters of Microsoft is located	Microsoft[14]
Sacramento	Sacramento, California, state capital of California	California government and politics
Sand Hill Road	A street in Menlo Park, California	The venture capital firms that fund startups in the American high-tech industry.[34]
Savile Row	A short street in central London	The high-quality bespoke men's suits made by tailors' shops on the street[35]
Scotland Yard	Name given to the original public entrance (via "Great Scotland Yard") to the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police Service	London or British police, especially detectives
Selma	Selma, Alabama, the location where Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus	Representa the beginning of the black civil rights movement
Seventh Avenue	A street in the New York City borough of Manhattan	The American fashion industry[36]
Shepherd's Bush	A neighbourhood in west London	The British Broadcasting Corporation[37]
Silicon Valley	San Jose and its suburbs on the southwest side of San Francisco Bay	The American high-tech industry[38]
South of the border	Mexico, the country that is south of the border to the United States	Mexican and Central American politics and culture
Spring Street	A street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia)	The Parliament and Government of Victoria (and, when used pejoratively, its bureaucracy)[39]
Stormont	Stormont Estate, Ireland	The Government of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Assembly
Stamford	A city in Connecticut	World Wrestling Entertainment
Sublime Porte	A gate giving access to a block of government buildings in Istanbul, Turkey	The Imperial Government of the Ottoman Empire (sometimes, more specifically, its foreign policies and relations)[40]
Threadneedle Street	A street in the City of London	The Bank of England and/or its directors[41]
Tiananmen Square	A major square in Beijing, China	The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
Tin Pan Alley	A block along 28th Street in Manhattan	The American popular music industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries[42]
Turtle Bay	A neighborhood on the East Side of Manhattan	The United Nations (occasionally)
The Vatican	A small sovereign state surrounded by Rome, Italy	The Holy See, and the Roman Catholic Church in general[43]
Wall Street	A street in Manhattan, New York City	The American financial markets (Wall Street is the traditional center of securities trading in the United States)[4]
Washington	The state or, as "Washington, D.C." ("Washington, District of Columbia"), the capital of the United States (named for George Washington, the country's first president following independence)	The United States federal government[1] During an election, the term can also mean established career politicians, a term used during the 2016 Republican race when Ted Cruz said "who will stand up to Washington?"[44]
Watergate	The Watergate Hotel and Office Building in Washington, D.C.	The political scandal exposed after a burglary at the Watergate Hotel,[4] and political scandals in general.
Westminster	A part of Central London, England	The Parliament of the United Kingdom[45]
(The) White House	The official residence of the President of the United States	The President of the United States and his or her staff[1]
Youngstorget	A square in Oslo, Norway	The Norwegian labour movement - the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions and the Labour Party
Whitehall	A street in Westminster, London	The central government of the United Kingdom, particularly Her Majesty's Civil Service[46]
Zhongnanhai	A former imperial garden adjacent to an eponymous lake in central Beijing, now used as residences	The leadership of the Chinese government[47]

Notes

1. Since metonymy – the process by which metonyms are formed – is a productive process, new metonyms can always be created. This list cannot include all metonyms, but only some of those that are identified as common.
2. Technically, 10 Downing Street is the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, not the Prime Minister. However, the two offices have been held by the same person since the early 20th century.

References

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4. Ruhl, Charles (1989). Acts of Arguing: A Rhetorical Model of Argument. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-1827-8. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
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26. The Ministry, Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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