LES (Lower East Side)

Do we have to call it L-E-S? Just like Kentucky Fried Chicken became KFC?

Is it to remove the offensive word "lower"?


"ALLAN RICHMAN on New York's Lower East Side" announces the September 2004 Bon Appetit, the "Where to Eat Now" issue. From page 97, col. 3:

"Don't call it the Lower East Side," she chided.

I apologized.

"It's L-E-S," she said, spelling out the letters.

I stood corrected.

"So when are we going to Les?" I asked, pronouncing it like a man's given name.

"It's not Les!" she said, exasperated. "That sounds like Lester. I do not live in a place called Lester."