Affixes

This suffix is of US origin, where many real place names end in ‑ville. Examples are usually used humorously and negatively: dullsville, the quintessentially dull provincial town, hence something or somewhere boring; nowheresville, an isolated place where there no prospect of success or opportunity for advancement, so a job or position with these qualities; pleasantville, the archetypal nice place to be (also the title of a film in 1998 and the name of several real towns in the US). The suffix is active, generating transient forms such as bribesville for a place where corruption is endemic. Sometimes words are given initial capitals, as though they were actual place names.