 A number of towns have acquired ironic nicknames comparing them to the "more exciting" city of Las Vegas; "Rotovegas" for Rotorua, "Ashvegas" for Ashburton and "Invervegas" for Invercargill.Other areas have nicknames or popular designations based on abbreviations or mangling of the Māori name.New Zealanders will sometimes refer to the Taranaki Region as "The Naki", Palmerston North as "Palmy", Gisborne as "Gizzie", Cardrona as "Cardie", Paraparaumu as "Paraparam", Waimakariri as "Waimak" and Paekakariki as "Pie-cock".