Technically, every name we call anything in New York City is "wrong." The word "Manhattan" isn't even correct. It's derived from the Lenape word "Manna-hatta," meaning "Island of many hills." 

Before more people flip out, remember: you might be a native New Yorker, but if unless you're speaking Lenape, you can't really tell anyone what to call anything. Chill, homie. 

So jumping from 1610 to 2015, it's a little weird that so many people are stressing over the ridiculous "words" people have taken to calling certain neighborhoods around the City. 

 Admittedly, many of them are absurd: SpaHa, SoBro, BoCoCa, Rambo, WiNo...do you know where these places are, actually?

We're all familiar with "SoHo," or South of Houston Street, and the whole idea of referring to neighborhoods by these pop-up acronyms. 

But now it seems the real-estate abbreviation game has gotten out of hand in an attempt to basically trick people into thinking they're renting in a budding neighborhood.

As WSJ reports, "The trend is more prevalent in urban areas, where residents, real-estate agents and developers redraw areas with smaller boundaries, therefore needing new names."

Think about it though, doesn't it make sense that if a real estate agent had to describe a given neighborhood again and again that they'd come up with a name for it? 

One step farther, it makes sense to tell people that's what it's called, if mainly because they came up with the name as a way of avoiding describing the location or using older names that carry a negative stigma.

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According to Coldwell Banker real-estate agent Susan Getz, “Neighborhoods that have names and nicknames have a solid sense of community, which is what we’re looking for when we look for a home to call our own." So it's perfectly rational to invent those names and nicknames, right?

The other probable reason for such "names" is that they're being used by people who don't want to admit to living where they actually live, so they use another name for it. 

"Oh no I don't live in Bushwick, I live in East Williamsburg." Right. Of course you do...

Know your neighbors. Check Out This Color-Coded Immigrant Map of NYC.

[via Wall Street Journal]