Dunkirk, NY (noun, state of mind)
A decaying post-industrial town in Western New York that looks like an episode of Cops from 1997. Known for lake-effect snow, shitty schools, and an economy powered by dollar stores and factory fumes. If you’ve read the 2009 definition by “Dunkirk Dave,” it’s like that, but with more fentanyl. Most houses haven’t been maintained since 1930, and if they have, it wasn’t done right.
Drive anything newer than 2010 and someone in Cookie Monster pajama pants will ask if you’re a doctor. Someone will break into your car for a phone charger and 73 cents. The beach? Trash, goose shit, and tetanus.
There are three life paths:
Work in a factory
Move to Fredonia
OD in the Kwik-Fill bathroom
Key Identifiers:
The Point – A goose-shit covered park
The Rez – Where you get smokes unless you're loyal to Newports.
Rookies/Spike’s/Fillmore – Roofied, Robbed, or Stabbed. Pick one.
Purina Smog – Dog-food-scented fog. Locals don’t smell it. Visitors gag.
Fredonia – Where the middle class pretends they made it.
Buffalo Pipeline – A dream of city life without ever leaving WNY.
Dunkirk isn’t a hometown; it’s a slow erosion of spirit. If you escape, you carry it forever like a scar.
A decaying post-industrial town in Western New York that looks like an episode of Cops from 1997. Known for lake-effect snow, shitty schools, and an economy powered by dollar stores and factory fumes. If you’ve read the 2009 definition by “Dunkirk Dave,” it’s like that, but with more fentanyl. Most houses haven’t been maintained since 1930, and if they have, it wasn’t done right.
Drive anything newer than 2010 and someone in Cookie Monster pajama pants will ask if you’re a doctor. Someone will break into your car for a phone charger and 73 cents. The beach? Trash, goose shit, and tetanus.
There are three life paths:
Work in a factory
Move to Fredonia
OD in the Kwik-Fill bathroom
Key Identifiers:
The Point – A goose-shit covered park
The Rez – Where you get smokes unless you're loyal to Newports.
Rookies/Spike’s/Fillmore – Roofied, Robbed, or Stabbed. Pick one.
Purina Smog – Dog-food-scented fog. Locals don’t smell it. Visitors gag.
Fredonia – Where the middle class pretends they made it.
Buffalo Pipeline – A dream of city life without ever leaving WNY.
Dunkirk isn’t a hometown; it’s a slow erosion of spirit. If you escape, you carry it forever like a scar.
(place) - "I can't wait to get the fuck out of Dunkirk."
(state of mind) - "You can take a person out of Dunkirk, but you can't take the Dunkirk out of them."
(state of mind) - "You can take a person out of Dunkirk, but you can't take the Dunkirk out of them."
by Not Dunkirk Dave April 26, 2025