the.com/hometown
the place that shaped your accent whether you like it or not.
means the town or city where you grew up, or the one you claim as your origin even after leaving.
from english compound from home plus town, popularized in american usage by the early 1900s as people moved to cities and needed a word for where they came from versus where they lived.
legal fictionyou can claim it decades after leaving forever
census termdemographers call it place of origin, less romantic
sports clauseathletes get drafted near hometowns for ticket sales
for instance
springsteen and freehold — new jersey town he still name-checks in songs, 2016 memoir
obama and honolulu — born 1961, claimed by both hawaii and chicago politically
dylan and hibbing — minnesota mining town population 16000 that shaped his early lyrics