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Lotusland
DCHP-3 (Apr 2023)
n. — Informal, Humorous, British Columbia
a nickname for Vancouver and sometimes the entire Lower Mainland of southwest British Columbia.
Type: 3. Semantic Change — The term Lotusland is an allusion to the ancient Greek myth of the Lotus-eaters, a mythological population of island-dwellers whose diet depended primarily on the narcotic fruit of the Lotus tree, which made them apathetic, drowsy, and hedonistic.
The nickname Lotusland signals the Canadian cultural stereotype that residents of Vancouver (and sometimes the entire Lower Mainland region) tend to be more relaxed and comfortable (see the 1986 quotation) than residents in the rest of Canada, due to the relatively mild climate (see the 2005 quotation) and lush flora and fauna of the region (see the 2008 quotation).
This stereotype was especially prevalent before the national legalization of cannabis in 2017-2018, when residents of Vancouver were seen as having more tolerant attitudes towards illicit drug use than people in the rest of Canada.
The nickname Lotusland seems to have taken on ironic connotations of late, given Vancouver's notorious unaffordability crisis since the turn of the 21st century and increasing gang violence (see the 2020 and the 2022 quotations).
Lotusland is most frequent in Canada (Chart 1) and within the country in British Columbia and Ontario (Chart 2).
The nickname Lotusland signals the Canadian cultural stereotype that residents of Vancouver (and sometimes the entire Lower Mainland region) tend to be more relaxed and comfortable (see the 1986 quotation) than residents in the rest of Canada, due to the relatively mild climate (see the 2005 quotation) and lush flora and fauna of the region (see the 2008 quotation).
This stereotype was especially prevalent before the national legalization of cannabis in 2017-2018, when residents of Vancouver were seen as having more tolerant attitudes towards illicit drug use than people in the rest of Canada.
The nickname Lotusland seems to have taken on ironic connotations of late, given Vancouver's notorious unaffordability crisis since the turn of the 21st century and increasing gang violence (see the 2020 and the 2022 quotations).
Lotusland is most frequent in Canada (Chart 1) and within the country in British Columbia and Ontario (Chart 2).
It is commonly claimed that iconic Maclean's magazine journalist Allan Fotheringham originally coined the nickname for the province of BC and, especially, the city of Victoria.
This nickname is commonly used in American media to refer to the city of Los Angeles.
Quotations
1978
LIKE THE GODFATHER, the Shaw Festival made Christopher Newton an offer he couldn't refuse. Otherwise, he says with a laugh, he would never have left Lotusland and the Vancouver Playhouse to take over as the festival's artistic director in January, 1980.
1986
While California is our idea of heaven, our picture of Vancouver isn't clear at all. We haven't been there, but friends who have drifted out to Lotusland report that it is mellow, laid-back, up- tight and fussy, all at once. Whether or not this is true, it came to mind because similar contradictions exist here.
1990
Some unhappy Socreds are talking openly about founding a new right-wing party lest the gardner-turned-politician squander all and deliver Lotusland to the loathed socialist hordes.
What's worse, polls have been showing the New Democrats 15 points ahead.
2005
That faint cackling sound you hear from the east is not the frost melting from the trees. It's the sound of people in the rest of Canada laughing as Lotusland tries to cope with a "cold snap" that saw temperatures plunging to -2.
2008
Douglas Coupland called it the "city of glass." Some see Vancouver's sheen as a feature of its Lotusland superficiality. But contemporary architecture in Vancouver is more a consequence of the city's physical magnificence than any communal West Coast vanity. By and large, the city directs its energies outward -- toward the sea, sky and mountains. Vancouverites spend a lot of time outdoors -- and, accordingly, they're among the healthiest people in the country.
2011
A friend who stood outside the pub with him kept his spirits up with a Toronto joke, of which there are no shortages in Lotusland.
"Hey," he told a reporter. "Did you hear about that sign outside the community centre in Toronto? It said, 'Would the mother who left her children here please come pick them up? They're beating the Leafs 3-1.'"
2020
I should have known better than to ask a Vancouver realtor how much half a million could get you in Lotusland these days.
"It's pretty easy," laughed MacDonald Realty broker Dan Scarrow. "It's a one-bedroom condo. That's what you can get for $500,000."
2022
Detectives in B.C.'s Lower Mainland were dealing with a double homicide, the latest carnage in a raging gang war for dope turf in Lotusland.
That was on March 19, 2021, when cops were called to Rathburn Dr. in suburban Richmond to investigate a house fire. When the blaze was squelched, investigators found 25-year-old Chaten and 23-year-old Joban Dhindsa dead inside.
Images
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 7 Apr. 2023.
