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Foreign References to the United States's States
- Thread starter dpaanlka
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aloofman said:
Yes, that's true. However, states further west have had a slightly different history since they were not part of the 13 colonies. We've had the Napolean Purchase. We've Texas (once part of Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Confederate, and USA). California has its own state history with the Missions that date before 1776. Alaska was part of Russia.
MacNut said:
Less even considering, as I recently learned, there are something like six Manchesters in the eastern U.S. alone (had to put cities on the back of a T-shirt for a band.. they made me guess the state).
Living in New Jersey, I usually hear Canadian cities referred to along with their province. You never hear "Halifax, Canada", or "Vancouver, Canada", for example, it's always Halifax, Nova Scotia or Vancouver, BC. Dunno if that's true throughout the U.S. though.
MacNut said:
Indeed, the whole northeast. Of course, Hertford is spelt differently in Connecticut, right?
When I first heard Billerica from a Boston area person, I was surprised. Of course Worcester comes out correctly and the people in Ohio changed the spelling to Wooster to kill the confusion.
dpaanlka said:
are you sure about this? I don't know anyone who gives a damn what state their from... but if i told you I lived in fredonia; you would probably look at me with a blank stare until I told you it was in ny, hence the usage of the state name.
I certainly take no pride whatsoever in what state I live in; same goes for country... until this country stops trying to dictate world policy anyway...
Very rarely is the state referenced. It does depend on urban/rural/educational context, but usually it's "Estados Unidos" (U.S.). If there's a follow up question asking "which part" and, if one is from a large city, then it would be "Chicago". Not that many would know about "Illinois".dpaanlka said:
BUT, on the other hand. If one is from "Bucksnort", then it would be, "U.S." and the "which part?" would be the State, "Tennessee". meh, that's in our part of the globe, anyway.
Added: Nationalism is just regionalism come of age that knows somebody.
dpaanlka said:
well, all I can tell you is that I have yet to meet one single person who gives a damn what state their from or what state they live in. maybe that's just the difference between where I live and where you do, but i'm telling you; no one around here cares.
fuzzwud said:
I was referring to loyalty compared with loyalty to the country as a whole. People rarely think of themselves as Minnesotans first and Americans second anymore. But of course people identify with their states and have pride in them.
brianus said:
Really? when I've been abroad I've never heard Toronto,Ontario / Vancouver, BC. I always hear Toronto, Canada / Vancouver Canada. That is, outside the US.
And I have never ever heard New York, America or Chicago, Illinois, America.
That's because they're just New York and Chicago. There's no reason to name the state, because everyone outside the US knows where you're referring to.Teddy's said:
Just like Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Hong Kong, Moscow and Cairo. You don't have to name the country. The cities are famous enough on their own.
plinkoman said:are you sure about this? I don't know anyone who gives a damn what state their from... but if i told you I lived in fredonia; you would probably look at me with a blank stare until I told you it was in ny, hence the usage of the state name.
I certainly take no pride whatsoever in what state I live in; same goes for country... until this country stops trying to dictate world policy anyway...
Well, you have to be from a state worth taking pride in
What, you left me wide open for that one
But seriously, it varies by state. Those states that are "picked on" or "changed" by others will sometimes get a little bit of defensivness which results in pride. Here in WA we are being inendated by Californians moving up here and buying up land, they have money, they have class (so they htink) and they don't know how to drive in snow. The general feeling is that we don't like Californians, and if you're either one or the other, well damnit you are from WA, and you're proud of it!!
States that are significantly different from other states may also gain a bit of pride. See Texas for example.
Try and tell anyone from Colorado that their state sucks. Take it a step further and tell them the rockies suck ;-)
I'd say that "State pride" has more to do with the land, that it does the government. People love the geography and climate and hold it above the other states.
Teddy's said:
In Washington state I hear it refered to as Vancouver, BC all the time. The exception to this is when someone say they are going "up to" Vancouver. The reason for this though is probably due to Washington having it's own City called Vancouver. It's not giant, or all that further of travel to, but at 150,000 it's far larger than my town
In the Seattle area if you say "Vancouver" people normally think you are tlaing about BC though.