материк?

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

Is there a slang word материк that means something like 'the big city' or to the capital?

In a recent film, Комбинат надежда, which takes place in the industrial town Norilsk, they keep saying something like "На материку улетаешь?" which I assume means, "Are you leaving for the big city?" What is this word? Is it slang? In 12 years of speaking Russian I haven't heard it...

Comments

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

Всем огромное спасибо! One last question, is it "улетаешь к материку"? I believe this is what they were saying in the film (by the way, an excellent film and available on Youtube here in case anyone wants to watch it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zRh9wVcGNI)

[marsianka-selma.livejournal.com]

на материк

[dil.livejournal.com]

Where exactly did you hear "к материку" in this film? I only heard "на материк", "на материке" etc.