Palookaville

English

Etymology

From palooka (“a stupid or oafish person”) +‎ -ville. Popularized in On the Waterfront (1954).

Proper noun

Palookaville

1. (US) An imaginary town, the natural home of the mediocre and incompetent.
   • 2010 March 15, Jason Zinoman, “Dreams Die Hard, Even in Palookaville”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     But what holds it is the working-class poetry of Derek Ahonen’s script, with the “broken down dreams” and a “gutter full of empty stomachs” of a hard-boiled era of soulful stiffs and dreamers going nowhere. It’s the speeded-up sound of a return trip to Palookaville.

   • 2012 September 7, Rachel Saltz, “Living in a Material World”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     Ram’s descent plays out against a backdrop of New York as Palookaville, full of free-floating hostility and natives who spout movie-bred clichés.

Derived terms

• one-way ticket to Palookaville

 

See also

• Podunk

Further reading

• Jonathon Green (2024) “Palookaville n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang