Talk:townie

Townies most commonly known as oldtime family (vs yuppy newly immigrated) residents of the Charlestown area of Boston, in fact there is a move in it;s early stages called "Townies" being filmed in Charlestown being produced by Mike Day —&#x2060;This.

RFV discussion: February–March 2023
Rfv-sense: (US) A person born and raised in an area of Massachusetts who is proud of his or her Irish-American community, culture, and heritage.

Sense was in the initial version of the page created by User:Uncle G in 2005 as "...of Massachusetts who is hostile to those from outside the area", then edited by anon in 2006 to current "proud of his or her Irish-American community". I believe that townie is an informal demonym for Charlestown, MA (which has a notable Irish-American population); could that be the "area of Massachusetts" initially referred to? Or is this just some sort of subtle trolling or other non-bona fide suggestion that I'm not understanding? Alternately, it seems similar to a more widespread informal US usage that could be glossed as something like "A person who identifies strongly with the town where they live; often a person who has lived their entire life in one town." Cnilep (talk) 04:29, 9 February 2023 (UTC)


 * This book clearly uses “townie” for a specific kind of resident of Charlestown, MA (“working-class Micks”), as opposed to later arrivals (e.g., gentrifiers). I was trying to find out whether this was used more broadly in MA, as the vague “an area of Massachusetts” might include the Irish Riviera, etc., but I mostly just found references to Charlestown, one neighborhood of Boston. I think the definition should be changed accordingly, if we keep it. 70.172.194.25 05:24, 9 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Is this not just sense 6 of applied in a specific context, and written so as to give a positive connotation? A working-class citizen in a metropolitan area. I think the edit in 2006 suggests there is some spin involved here. Theknightwho (talk) 13:43, 9 February 2023 (UTC)
 * I think sense 6 does fit that example. But it seems like there might be two definitions, any resident of Charlestown, and only a working-class (typically Irish-American) resident. So perhaps the first could be retained. I'm not sure though. 70.172.194.25 16:24, 9 February 2023 (UTC)

This looks like a reference to "Around the 1860s an influx of Irish immigrants arrived in Charlestown. The area long remained an Irish and Catholic stronghold similar to South Boston, Somerville, and Dorchester, to the extent that the informal demonym "Townie" continues to imply the working-class Irish, as opposed to newer immigrants." Either way, the lowercase version is failing at the moment.


 * RFV failed Cnilep (talk) 00:13, 15 March 2023 (UTC)