--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Welcome to Chicago. This town stinks like…" description: "\"Welcome to Chicago. This town stinks like a whorehouse at low tide.\" — David Mamet" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/david-mamet-1178_chicago_welcome-to-chicago-this-town-stinks-like_1595612.jpg" --- # Welcome to Chicago. This town stinks like a whorehouse at… ![“Welcome to Chicago. This town stinks like a whorehouse at low tide.” quote by David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/david-mamet-1178_chicago_welcome-to-chicago-this-town-stinks-like_1595612.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/david-mamet-1178_chicago_welcome-to-chicago-this-town-stinks-like_1595612.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/david-mamet-1178_chicago_welcome-to-chicago-this-town-stinks-like_1595612.jpg) > “Welcome to Chicago. This town stinks like a whorehouse at low tide.” [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker describes Chicago as having a foul, degrading atmosphere, using vivid, harsh imagery to convey disdain. **In simple terms:** Chicago is depicted as dirty and unpleasant. Key Takeaway Avoid negative stereotypes when describing places. Themes urban decay disdain social critique Mood cynical critical Type satirical observational When to use this quote - city tours - journalism - creative writing - social analysis Key Concepts environmental perception urban sociology cultural commentary Questions to Reflect On - What does this description reveal about the speaker's attitude? - How might locals feel about this portrayal? A Different Perspective Such harsh language can alienate audiences and oversimplify complex urban realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chicago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chicago/) [Corruption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corruption/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Like Whorehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-whorehouse-679251/) [Lows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lows/) [Stink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stink/) [Stinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stinks/) [Stinks Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stinks-like-1278941/) [Tides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tides/) [Town Stinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/town-stinks-6056073/) [Towns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/towns/) [Untouchables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/untouchables/) [Welcome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/welcome/) [Whorehouse Low](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whorehouse-low-6056074/) ## Related quotes > [If it shuffles like a zombie, stinks like a zombie, and moans like a zombie, make sure it isn't your mom, then shoot it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rock-cowles/if-it-shuffles-like-a-zombie-stinks-like-a-zombie-and-moans-like-a/) [Rock Cowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rock-cowles/) > [Nothing seems more like a whorehouse to me than a museum. In it you find the same equivocal aspect, the same frozen quality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-leiris/nothing-seems-more-like-a-whorehouse-to-me-than-a-museum-in-it-you/) [Michel Leiris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-leiris/) > [Money is like manure. If you spread it around, it does a lot of good, but if you pile it up in one place,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-murchison-jr/money-is-like-manure-if-you-spread-it-around-it-does-a-lot-of-good/) [Clint Murchison Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-murchison-jr/) > [You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/you-wanna-know-how-to-get-capone-they-pull-a-knife-you-pull-a-gun-he/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [I think todays music absolutely stinks. I really do mean that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frankie-avalon/i-think-todays-music-absolutely-stinks-i-really-do-mean-that/) [Frankie Avalon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frankie-avalon/) > [Being the survivor stinks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-gruen/being-the-survivor-stinks/) [Sara Gruen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-gruen/) > [But don't get caught out there looking goofy. It's weird. When you do something that stinks, it's going to last forever on the Internet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-foxx/but-don-t-get-caught-out-there-looking-goofy-it-s-weird-when-you-do/) [Jamie Foxx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-foxx/) > [Cancer really stinks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-grammer/cancer-really-stinks/) [Camille Grammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-grammer/) > [I hate brandy...it stinks of modern literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-pinter/i-hate-brandy-it-stinks-of-modern-literature/) [Harold Pinter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-pinter/) > [War stinks! There's nothing good about it. But you know the whole thing, it's you or them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-e-thornton/war-stinks-there-s-nothing-good-about-it-but-you-know-the-whole-thing/) [Michael E. Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-e-thornton/) > [“An older, inebriated Scot who looked like he'd been sitting on his barstool all day looked me up and down, then smelled the air.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-alten/an-older-inebriated-scot-who-looked-like-he-d-been-sitting-on-his/) [Steve Alten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-alten/) > [I know sage, wormwood, and hyssop, but I can't smell character unless it stinks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/i-know-sage-wormwood-and-hyssop-but-i-can-t-smell-character-unless-it/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [During a heat wave every dude stinks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-benzine/during-a-heat-wave-every-dude-stinks/) [Craig Benzine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-benzine/) > [Here we are in the 70's when everything really is horrible and it really stinks. The mass media, everything on television everything everywhere is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/here-we-are-in-the-70-s-when-everything-really-is-horrible-and-it/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [Take a shower your atittude stinks .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kid-cudi/take-a-shower-your-atittude-stinks/) [Kid Cudi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kid-cudi/) ## More by David Mamet > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [Culture exists and evolves to relegate to habit categories of interactions the constant conscious reference to which would make human interaction impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/culture-exists-and-evolves-to-relegate-to-habit-categories-of/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [When I started out I was a failed actor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/when-i-started-out-i-was-a-failed-actor/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/we-must-have-a-pie-stress-cannot-exist-in-the-presence-of-a-pie/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“We cannot live in peace without Law. And though law cannot be perfect, it may be just if it is written in ignorance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/we-cannot-live-in-peace-without-law-and-though-law-cannot-be-perfect/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [Films have degenerated to their original operation as carnival amusement - they offer not drama but thrills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/films-have-degenerated-to-their-original-operation-as-carnival/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [The Oscars demonstrate the will of the people to control and judge those they have elected to stand above them (much, perhaps, as in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/the-oscars-demonstrate-the-will-of-the-people-to-control-and-judge/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [I know very well what it is to be out of work and to be cheated by employers and I know what it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/i-know-very-well-what-it-is-to-be-out-of-work-and-to-be-cheated-by/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [Hitchcock denigrated American films, saying they were all 'pictures of people talking' - as, indeed, most of them are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/hitchcock-denigrated-american-films-saying-they-were-all-pictures-of/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“Life in the movie business is like the beginning of a new love affair: it's full of surprises, and you're constantly getting fucked.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/life-in-the-movie-business-is-like-the-beginning-of-a-new-love-affair/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“How was her crumbcake? oh.. from the store... …”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/how-was-her-crumbcake-oh-from-the-store/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [A dramatic experience concerned with the mundane may inform but it cannot release; and one concerned essentially with the aesthetic politics of its creators…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/a-dramatic-experience-concerned-with-the-mundane-may-inform-but-it/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [The product of the artist has become less important than the fact of the artist. We wish to absorb this person. We wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/the-product-of-the-artist-has-become-less-important-than-the-fact-of/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [In a world we find terrifying, we ratify that which doesn't threaten us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/in-a-world-we-find-terrifying-we-ratify-that-which-doesn-t-threaten-us/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“As a youth I enjoyed — indeed, like most of my contemporaries, revered — the agitprop plays of Brecht, and his indictments of Capitalism.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/as-a-youth-i-enjoyed-indeed-like-most-of-my-contemporaries-revered/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) [Explore all 278 David Mamet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) ## More Chicago quotes > [I'm proud to say I had a bet with a guy from Chicago who said Chicago is windier and colder than Wyoming. Wyoming dominated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-leach/i-m-proud-to-say-i-had-a-bet-with-a-guy-from-chicago-who-said-chicago/) [Mike Leach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-leach/) > [I grew up in Synagogue in the boys' choir. We didn't listen to music in the house; only at temple. Then I went to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-patinkin/i-grew-up-in-synagogue-in-the-boys-choir-we-didn-t-listen-to-music-in/) [Mandy Patinkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-patinkin/) > [I worked a lot in Chicago's theater scene as a fight choreographer. And so I do have a lot of experience in stage combat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-offerman/i-worked-a-lot-in-chicago-s-theater-scene-as-a-fight-choreographer/) [Nick Offerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-offerman/) > [“Things are more like they are now...than they have EVER been before!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uncle-arnie-mamath/things-are-more-like-they-are-now-than-they-have-ever-been-before/) [Uncle Arnie Mamath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uncle-arnie-mamath/) > [This week I realized my dad will make you cry in the store if you make him mad. Also when your crossing the street…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-week-i-realized-my-dad-will-make-you-cry-in-the-store-if-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Whenever I was flying commercial, I would land in Chicago, and they would announce, 'Get your passports out.' It happened so often, I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shahid-khan/whenever-i-was-flying-commercial-i-would-land-in-chicago-and-they/) [Shahid Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shahid-khan/) > [I loved 'Chicago Code;' I watched that a lot. It was great because it really captured the city - I'm from Chicago, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessy-schram/i-loved-chicago-code-i-watched-that-a-lot-it-was-great-because-it/) [Jessy Schram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessy-schram/) > [As much as I want to stay on the team -- I love Chicago, I love the Bulls -- at the same time, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luol-deng/as-much-as-i-want-to-stay-on-the-team-i-love-chicago-i-love-the-bulls/) [Luol Deng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luol-deng/) > [I'm from Chicago. And I was an actor in high school and college, and I wanted to see if I could make a run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-chandrasekhar/i-m-from-chicago-and-i-was-an-actor-in-high-school-and-college-and-i/) [Jay Chandrasekhar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-chandrasekhar/) > [“I will have both of you," he said. "My Sentinel and my city. And the GP will learn exactly how stubborn we both can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chloe-neill/i-will-have-both-of-you-he-said-my-sentinel-and-my-city-and-the-gp/) [Chloe Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chloe-neill/) > [You'd never think of taking a cab if you had to walk a mile down Chicago's Michigan Avenue. But in a bad city you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-jahn/you-d-never-think-of-taking-a-cab-if-you-had-to-walk-a-mile-down/) [Helmut Jahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-jahn/) > [Perhaps the most typically American place in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bryce/perhaps-the-most-typically-american-place-in-america/) [James Bryce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bryce/) > [I feel there's a really raw quality in the Chicago theater community that's really special.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiki-layne/i-feel-there-s-a-really-raw-quality-in-the-chicago-theater-community/) [KiKi Layne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiki-layne/) > [Chicago is unique. It is the only completely corrupt city in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-edward-merriam/chicago-is-unique-it-is-the-only-completely-corrupt-city-in-america/) [Charles Edward Merriam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-edward-merriam/) > [Chicago, to me, is the best wrestling crowd on the planet. They are the best. They are loud, they are ruthless, and they will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goldust/chicago-to-me-is-the-best-wrestling-crowd-on-the-planet-they-are-the/) [Goldust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goldust/) [Browse all 1,655 Chicago quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chicago/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Welcome to Chicago. 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