terminology - Is there a term for referring to an organization by its city rather than by its name?


This happens specifically often in the technology press:




  • There's no point trying to ascribe motives to what Redmond [instead of "Microsoft"] does.

  • We'll see shortly if Cupertino [instead of "Apple"] thinks likewise ...



I'm certain its use is much wider though I can't think of many examples right now. Using "Detroit" as another name for the US auto industry is slightly wider:




  • Who says that Detroit does not sell cars Americans want to drive?



Anyway, I have a suspicion there is a name for this so what is it?



Answer



You may be looking for metonymy.


If you're looking for other examples, governments are often referred to like this—at least, Westminster for the UK parliament, and Washington for the US government. (In fact, looking up Westminster on Wikipedia was how I found metonym.)


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