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

[spiritrc.livejournal.com]

Literally, it's "mainland". The figurative meaning has already been explained. Sometimes, the word "материк" may also be used as a synonym for "континент", but not in this particular case, apparently.