I felt – for some reason that escapes me now – compelled to look up a list (if any existed) of common nicknames for McDonald’s. I found one that appears exhaustive! And I have a few suggestions of my own – some downright historical – to add…
So popular was the ‘Macca’s’ nickname in Australia, that some stores
there rebranded to it (for a limited time promo stunt)!
You may have heard the officially unofficial, yet unofficially official nickname that they use all over Australia (plus New Zealand and, oddly, Fiji). They say things like, “Let’s go for a Macca’s, mate!” That’s just the beginning…
Canada and the US
Back in the day – and I was a high schooler when McD’s first opened in Canada – we had some of our own nicknames for the iconic burger chain. The official Wikipedia list of McNicknames lists the following for Canada:
McDick’s (There have been both harmless and borderline-obscene interpretations of this one.)
McDo (Which I personally have never heard or read anywhere in the Canadian idiom.)
Mikkey D’s (Listed by Wikipedia as American, but frequently heard here in the Great White North, too.)
Not to mention these obscure, historical references:
McDuck’s (One we used to use back in the 60s and 70s, when in polite company.)
And (my fave at the time)…
McDogfood’s
What a rich cultural heritage we have, here in Canada, when it comes to Fast Food purveyors. Just for context, we also called Burger King ‘Burger Kink’. As well as: Pizza Rut, Taco Hell, Sub-Par Way and Timmy’s (Tim Horton’s).
In the US, Wikipedia insists only two McNicknames are, or have been in common use, at one time or another. Mikkey D’s seems to be the ‘top-seller’.
But there’s also ‘The Golden Arches’, which I’ve never heard anyone say on the street (or even in any gritty, street-level TV show or movie). As far as I’m concerned, that’s an obsolete relic of McDonald’s marketing dictionary, used these days only by older, crustier food bloggers and a few un-hip news hacks trying to sound hip.
The editors do allow that Americans may use McDick’s ‘close to the Canadian border’.
I just refuse to believe there aren’t more genuine, widely used McNicknames in the American vernacular! But I could be barking up the wrong deep fryer…
Far-flung lands…
McDo: Belgium, France, Philippines
McDonal: Chile (Try saying the word out loud with a Spanish accent.)
Mäkkär: Finland
Mäckes: Germany
Mak Kee / Mak-Gei: Hong Kong (Common practice in Hong Kong is to nickname foreign companies by taking the first syllable of the company and combining with the Cantonese word for store (gei).)
Makudo / Makku: Japan (Regional variations.)
McDona’s: Mexico
Maccie’s / Maccy D’s: UK
Mäc / McDo: Switzerland (The former among German-speakers; the latter among French-speakers.)
Mec: Romania and Italy.
And that’s just a few…
You can get an education-in-depth in this subject simply by Googling ‘Nicknames for McDonald’s’…
Have fun!
~ Maggie J.