# Soo

/ˈsu/ (US)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/soo
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 2. city nickname

noun · CEFR C1 · American English · Dialect · Informal

a short name for the city of Sault Ste. Marie in Canada or the USA.

For teachers: A colloquial abbreviation for the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, located in Ontario, Canada, and Michigan, USA.

- We are driving up to the Soo for the hockey tournament.
- Residents of the Soo often cross the international border daily for work and shopping, treating the two cities as a single community.

Usage: Usually preceded by the definite article 'the'.

Teaching tip: This is a highly regional term; learners are unlikely to encounter it outside of the Great Lakes region of North America.

## Examples

- I am soo happy for you!
- She texted me saying she was soo tired after the long flight that she fell asleep instantly.
- While linguistically non-standard, the use of elongated vowels like 'soo' in digital messaging serves as a prosodic cue, mimicking the drawn-out emphasis found in spoken conversation.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.