flyover country
(FLY.oh.vur kun.tree)
n.
Pejorative nickname for middle America, most often used by people on the east or west coast. Also: fly-over country.
Example Citation:
As the Clinton White House took on the appearance of the Playboy Mansion East, it somehow seemed natural for habitues of the Playboy Mansion West to pose as watchdogs of democracy. In the go-go management language of the era, L.A. and D.C. spotted a "market inefficiency" in their longtime practice of maintaining separate A-lists. Why not join up and make it one big party? So they did, but the public felt a little left out. The folks in flyover country felt overflown by this swinging bicoastal encounter session.
—Walter Kirn, "The End of the Affair," The New York Times, May 26, 2002
Earliest Citation:
The critics of "fly-over" country adored "Hannah and Her Sisters" as much as the official organizations of the L.A. and New York critic associations — both of which groups named "Hannah," with rare concurrence, as the Movie of the Year.
—Pat McGilligan and Mark Rowland, "Consensus!!! Crtitics rate 'Hannah' best, Prince worst," Los Angeles Times, January 18, 1987
