My girlfriend and I have a dispute.  She believes residents of
Phoenix, AZ should be referred to as Phoenicians.  I contend that is a
misnomer as Phoenician refers to a particular ancient civilization,
people and race.   While I admit there is a natural association, I
believe it is inappropriate.  Am I being a nitpick or is their a more
appropriate term for residents of Phoenix, AZ?

Dear p1eric-ga;

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question.

Consider this: According to the City of Phoenix official website,
which briefly discusses the subject, the City states outright that the
proper nickname is indeed ?Phoenicians?:

?People from Phoenix are called Phoenicians.  Now keep in mind that
there is no hard-and-fast definition of this term.  Some use it to
describe those hardy individuals who have lived all there lives in
Phoenix while a good many others would expand the term to include
anyone who has experienced the Phoenix lifestyle, been enchanted by
the city?s charm and has chosen to, live, work, play, learn or to
regularly return here.?
PHOENIX ARIZONA
http://www.phoenix-arizona.net/

Does that make it technically correct? Well, no, but common practice
often takes precedence in informal matters, especially where slang and
nicknaming conventions are concerned. It does appear that the media
also commonly refers to residents of Phoenix as ?Phoenicians?:

?Phoenicians who are sick of the heat, the waste, the violence, and
the Californians are moving to Seattle in huge numbers.?
THE STRANGER
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=7959

?Only Phoenicians will vote in their $878.5 million bond issue
election on March 14??
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11592882/

There is even a website devoted to the matter (note the domain name):

SPIRIT OF PHOENIX
http://www.phoenicians.org/

Wikipedia, an only encyclopedia of facts, indicates that the nickname
?Phoenicians? is indeed the proper and acceptable reference to Phoenix
residents:

WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenician
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Phoenicians_%28Arizona%29

If you don?t agree with the term Phonecians, you can always join in
the informal effort to unofficially dub residents of Central Phoenix
?CenPho?s?

CENPHO MAVENS
http://www.cenpho.com/welcome/

While you and your girlfriend may disagree on the matter, the truth is
that her take on the matter appears to be more agreeable in common
practice even though the term may technically be inconsistent with the
common lexicon. After all, that?s how many words are born.

I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

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Phoenix

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Known as

Called

Thank you for your quick response and research.  I am satisfied with
the answer and found similar references.  Wikipedia, like local
publications referenced are not authoritative in my opinion although
may be generally accepted.  I conseed with continued refrain from the
term's usage.  I believe a broader group that appreciates ancient
civilization and specifically Phoenicia (not Phoenix, AZ) would find
the term lazy and inappropriate and have now spent entirely too much
time on the topic.  Thanks.