Sochisiders

It is not often that a city gets a chance to pick the name that the English-speaking world uses to reference its residents.  In most cases it happened a long time ago:  Londoners, Parisians, Muscovites, Los Angelenos, Glaswegians have been identified in those ways for a very long time.  Liverpudlians, for residents of Liverpool, is a colorful example  and there are other names that have an interesting historical connection.  For instance, people from the state of Ohio are called Buckeyes, those from Indiana are Hoosiers and if you are from North Carolina, you are a Tar Heel.  It is clear that there are a lot of names for people from different cities, states, regions and countries.  What is not clear is what people from Sochi should be called in English.  The three most obvious choices are Sochiites, Sochians or Sochiers.  The problem is that none of these sound good in English. Sochi ends in a hard e sound, which is fairly unusual for cities in the English-speaking world.  One notable exception is Sydney, Australia.  That problem is solved in Sydney by use of the term Sydneysider to describe its residents. Those from Sydney were originally called this in the 19th Century because they were from the Sydney side (as opposed to the Yarra side) of the colony of New South Wales.

I write about Sochi and it is uncomfortable to use Sochiite, Sochian or Sochier.  So, when I write, I usually refer to people here as "residents of Sochi" or "those living in Sochi".  However, an Olympic city, a city of mountains and beaches and parks and Formula 1 and World Cup matches, a city that is the largest construction site in the world deserves to have a suitable and comfortable appellation for its residents.   A few weeks ago, I was thinking about people living here and without awareness began to think of them as Sochisiders.  As I thought about it, I realized this was a really good solution.

I have asked really a lot of native English speakers what they think of this solution and the answer has been unanimously favorable.  So, I have begun to use the term Sochisiders.  It sounds pleasant.  It makes literal sense.  If you are from Sochi, you are on the Sochi side (i.e. of the mountains or of the sea) and there is an association with another beautiful Olympic city, Sydney.  Are we merely copying Sydney here?  No, there are other examples (such as Merseysiders) and anyway there is not copyright on the term - sider.

So, Sochisiders, watch as the term catches on!