Indefatigable web-troller Marilyn Terrell came across a fascinating diagram that documents the above unlikely statement along with all other uses of the phrase "is the new" from various media sources (including the New York Times, the Telegraph and the Village Voice) from 2005. On the surface, a list of claims like "Subaru is the new Saab" and "House Music is the new Dylan," has nothing to do with travel (which, apparently, is our beat here). And we're not sure claims like "new is the new new" or "black is the new black" (along with "tartan," "cruelty" and "vegan") have anything to do with anything. But we were intrigued by the potentially itinerary-changing consequences of the following statements:
"South Korea is the new Hong Kong."
"Ohio is the new Florida." (Does that make Columbus the new Palm Beach? And they say there's no global warming.)
"Slovenia is the new Switzerland."
"New Orleans is the new Hollywood." (Brangelina certainly think so.)
"New York is the new Windy City." (Huh?)
"Park Slope is the new West Village."
"Puebla is the new Cancún." (That would require the general populace to have heard of Puebla.)
And "India is the new Latin America." (Well, India and South America do have similar shapes. Does that make Kazakhstan the new Mexico?)
Be sure to click the above links and investigate thoroughly before booking your next trip. You wouldn't want to be caught in the old Switzerland when everyone else, our boss included, is in the new one. (For the record: We checked, and nowhere has yet been declared "the new Slovenia." Phew.)
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