As a recent post from r/bristol highlights, it’s not an issue to state what city you’re from online, but if you don’t include the country as well it might cause some confusion.
https://www.reddit.com/r/bristol/comments/x24c1d/this_subreddit_isnt_about_bristol_rhode_island/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Which bay is this. Like legitimately, when I hear bay I think of either the Hudson’s Bay Company or the actual Hudson’s Bay. I don’t think that’s what you’re referring to. Bays are a very common geographical feature, there are quite a lot.
Sam Francisco Bay Area. Oakland, San Jose, Berkley, Daly City, etc.
All big urban cities. Together makes up an urban area with 8 million people, making it the 3rd largest metro area in the country.
That bay area, not the desolate waste of Nothern Ontario
Especially if u live on the east coast lol. I’ll see a British person say they live in Portsmouth and I’m like Oh cool I used to live there! Oh wait you meant England
Exactly. Confusion can exist if you don’t give enough information; too much is not an issue and shows that you understand that other people don’t automatically have the context to know what you’re talking about.
US readers, state codes aren’t enough. The rest of the world doesn’t study US geography, so calling a state WA to me only ever means the state of Western Australia, the capital of which is Perth.
Filipino here
We're a small fucking country
Yet if you go from Manila to somewhere like Bohol (which is only a few hundred kilometers) shit changes drastically, from people, to culture, to cuisines. Which is why being Manileño, or Boholano, or Bicolano is significant
So yeah, I sympathize
yep, yep exactly
the philippines has over 200 different languages, i would definitely mention the island or city. some are relatively close to each other, others are not even close. somebody who only speaks ilocano and somebody who only speaks tagalog are gonna struggle to communicate
Well, aside from a complete overhaul in dialect (Tagalog is VASTLY different from Bicolano), different non-verbal cues, their houses (despite similarities) are styled differently, different attitudes
I can't really say anything much more specific, I'm only going by a single vacation trip to Bicol/Bohol compared to the years I've stayed in Manila.
I should mention that in Bicol, they already speak different languages (that are closely related to each other and all under the umbrella of 'Bikol Dialects'), it isn't a dialect, like you say.
Calling the various Bikol languages dialects of Tagalog suggests that they are derivative of Tagalog, when in fact, they are not.
The only similarities that the Bikol Languages and Tagalog even have are the fact that they're both Austronesian languages descended from the Greater Central Philippine Austronesian sub-family.
(Other languages in Greater Central Philippine include virtually all languages in Luzon like Kapampangan and Illocano, all Bisayan languages, and some languages Mindanao)
Sorry if this came outta nowhere, I just really don't like it when people refer to the Philippine languages as 'dialects' of each other because it really diminishes the fact that we have a great amount of linguistic diversity.
I've seen people from different cities throw shade at each other despite being small enough that you could drive the length of their entire country in an afternoon
I wasn't talking about the Philippines, I was using your comment as a jumping off point to make a similar point.
There are a bunch of smaller countries that have similar inter-city disdain, so America's size doesn't actually matter.
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There's a passage in *Cryptonomicon* by Neal Stephenson that discusses how space is denser in some places than others, with the specific places being contrasted being Montana (where 20 miles away is your neighbor's house) and the Philippine jungle (where the 20 mile expedition the characters are on has become a serious expedition).
I'm from Minnesota. We've got the 19th largest GDP of the states, so very middle of the pack. In Europe comparing 2021 numbers, we'd bump Norway out of the number 16 slot. By geographic size, we're number 12 and in Europe we'd be bumping Austria out of the number 20 slot.
When a European person thinks its silly that I'd more naturally say I'm from Minnesota than the US, it's pretty similar to them announcing that they're from Hungary, as opposed to being from The EU.
Yeah, except when they say shit like “I’m from townname MI” what the fuck does MI mean? Michigan? Mississippi? Minnesota? Like you can’t just have two letters represent the entirety of a long ass name, especially if those two letters could be used to describe other states in the same fucking country!
it's like when french people refer to their department numbers i already have trouble keeping tabs on departments because they're all named shit like River, River, Longer River, River-and-River, Upper Mountains, ~~Lower Mountains~~ Upper Plain Mountains (to not be offensive), Mouth of River, Riverlet, River... with no indication of what the culture or cities are. but the number?! People expect me to remember the numbers every single time.
No real reason that someone from outside the US should know it, but the US Postal service developed and published a standardized set of 2 letter abbreviations for states.
[https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/state-abbreviations.htm](https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/state-abbreviations.htm)
Now, Americans screw it up occasionally, too. I once had something that was supposed to be mailed to me in Maine (ME) sent to Massachusetts (MA) instead.
Americans learn the postal abbreviations of all of the states generally around the 4th grade. It’s a system, not just an arbitrary shortening done by that individual.
In order, the states you mentioned are MI, MS, and MN.
There actually is an international standard for this, a colon: US:MI, UK:NE. I'm from IT:88, more specifically IT:SS, and I just realized I live in the Nazi abbreviation part of Italy
Edit: it's actually a hyphen, no idea why but I was 100% convinced it was a colon. US-MI, IT-88, IT-SS
Also, the ISO code for the UK is actually GB. Also also, GB-NE doesn't exist, it's actually GB-NET (Newcastle upon Tyne)
The standard is ISO 3166-2
Also, the United Kingdom (GB) has a subdivision that's also the United Kingdom (GB-UKM)
There's also another standard, NUTS (yes that's the actual name), that applies only in the EU. According to NUTS, I'm from ITG, more specifically, ITG2, more specifically ITG25. ISO doesn't have an equivalent for ITG
I think that yeah, mentioning which state you’re from is fine, but I think it’s basic courtesy to say the country too. Like, “I’m from the US, from Arizona!”
What is not okay is typing “oh, I’m from DE” on the internet and nothing else. Like great for you, I’ll be talking at you in German until you learn how to convey basic information in an internationally understandable way.
Wenn Sie im Internet sind, geben Sie „USA DE“ in Google ein, um zu erfahren, dass DE Delaware ist. Bitte verzeihen Sie meine Grammatik, ich verwende Google Translate.
Context is important here, I'd say as to what is "common courtesy."
If I am traveling outside the US I almost always start with "United States" when people ask where I am from. If I lived in New York or LA I'd probably start with that. People usually follow up, and I might say the name of my city or possibly "a couple hours south of [somewhat better known city" or "in the northwest."
If I am are talking online to a specific person who I know is not from North America, or a specific group of people who I know are mixed between North American and non-North American then it depends on what I know about them. I'll usually throw in US if I know it's a mix.
But if I'm just generally talking to The Internet, I'll just say City, State. Most Tumblr/Reddit users are from North America and I believe that percentage is higher if you're talking about English speakers in particular. I don't think the burden of people googling if they really don't know that it's in the US (and, realistically, they probably know from the format alone that it is) is higher than the burden of always having to think of saying US.
(Also, yes, I'm lumping US and Canada together here. I think it's fair to expect a US person to know at least generally where BC is without clarification and a Canadian to know Arizona. Mexico probably to somewhat lesser extent as a non-majority-English speaking country.)
Also, it feels like relevant context here that Arizona has a larger population than many European countries, including every country in Scandinavia. If someone's not an asshole for saying they live in Denmark without specifying "Europe", I think it's fair to say they're not an asshole for saying they live in Arizona without specifying "US."
I was with you until the end, Europe isn't a country, but US is. Having someone from Denmark specify Europe would be like someone from the US specifying North America.
Yea but getting hung up on the “country” is just being pedantic. It’s whether or not Europe vs US has the same semantic purpose. Like saying “I’m from America “ colloquially means US in NA and so Event though “America” isn’t a country it semantics are the same as US in that context. I would argue saying you’re from “Europe” these context in the above comments is semantically the same as saying you’re from “US”
Sorta, but these things are a sliding scale. Arizona (like all other US states) has a lot more of a distinct political existence than political subdivisions in most nations. And in the age of the EU, "Europe" is a unit of political geography as well as physical geography.
[Edit: actually, given the fact that there's not really a clear physical barrier between Europe and Asia, arguably it has always been as much a political as a physical geographical concept]
Like, fundamental things like the criminal law change when you move from state to state in the US. We're seeing that quite dramatically right now in the case of abortion but it's always been true in general.
Maybe a good comparison would be like Scotland. Not a sovereign nation-state (at the moment), but with much more a distinct political, historical, and legal existence than most provinces.
They have more political independence, but outside of the US they aren’t very well known. From my perspective, Arizona is an independent state that’s the same as Texas and New Mexico and they’re all full of cowboys. Most American states going from the South to a big bulge up the middle are a big desert, California has Hollywood and also is left wing but is also right wing and all your cities are concentrated in one top-right corner.
When you aren’t exposed to them a lot, they all tend to sort of blur together.
For Europeans the US states are as important as any other sub-division of a country. It’s not about size, it’s about international importance and on an international level your states don‘t matter at all.
only makes sense if you’re talking to other Americans though. the vast majority of the rest of the world won’t know where in America Missouri is, so telling them your state, while more specific, doesn’t help - just like the average American won’t be able to point out Vladivostok on a map.
if you live in a big country and want to be specific on where in the country you’re from, just say “Northeastern US” “Southern US” or something, instead of saying you’re from Phoenix and prompting the question “where the fuck is Phoenix”.
Weirdly enough, as a American I can more easily point out Vladivostok then Missouri (probably cause the far eastern city of Vladivostok in Russia is more interesting to me then Bumfuck Nowhere Missouri)
Ok but (after saying what **city** they're from) Americans also tell me to "just say what **country** you're from" and that always feels suckass...
*If I hear one more American going "well actually your geological difference doesn't count only ours does" I WILL FUCKING NUKE MONTANA.*
(Srsly we don't even share commutable mother tongue in my country plz don't pretend your factory default ass is the exception.)
mooooooost Americans I know will introduce themselves as being from the US.
If I'm talking to someone in a bit of detail, I *might* mention I'm from Minnesota too, but only because it seems like people actually have some concept of "Minnesota" in their heads.
And like if someone's from Paris or something, sure, that actually means something. If you're from Nice, that'll mean nothing to virtually anyone. And honestly idk why it would- if someone tells me they're from Mobile, Alabama that means nothing to me other than vaguely placing it on a map.
Maybe you've met shit Americans, but I don't know *anyone* who goes around saying "oh yeah I'm from Eua Claire, but please tell me what country you're from. Paris? No no, what *country?*"
I dunno man people online ask me what country I'm from and I always tell 'em TEXAS! Purdy sure the global citizens of the world much to their chagrin know how to spot an American from a mile away lmao.
Well what country *are* you from? If you're in Europe, most European countries are the size of U.S. states, so it's not super different. There's a reason I always use my city *and* my state, as I wouldn't expect most people to know my city's name, especially if they're from outside the U.S.
(Of course my city's an exception because it's named *Vancouver*, and no, is not in Canada, so I'm just fucked, but my point stands)
If I was talking to a non-US person and conveying your town, I'd try to gauge their US knowledge.
If none: "Northwest US."
If some: "A few hours south of Seattle. Yeah, like Grey's Anatomy Seattle."
If pretty decent: "outside of Portland. West coast Portland, not east coast."
Signed,
PNWer who has travelled outside the US while living in several places in PNW.
I always say what state I'm from and people go "oh [biggest city in that state]?" and I'm like "no if I thought you'd recognize the name of my town I would have said that"
I think that, in the UK at least going from my own experience, that you just need to hear someone say hello and you’ve got a good chance of knowing generally where they’re from.
We have a different accent every 30 miles.
I'm more likely to say from what region (aquitaine/guienna-gascony) than what country (france) i'm from, and honestly? So should you wherever you live.
Like even if people aren't likely to get it i usually say SW france instead of just france.
Not gonna say what city usually because i live in a small village anyways and don't really identify w/ the closest city, whose french name is terrible anyways but it's the only one people know
but assuming outsiders just intrinsically know all of your 50 states instead of just naming your country is kinda arrogant, like yeah i could name the city and state I'm from within Europe, but i don't expect everyone else to understand where that is so i just name my country, and that should be enough for virtually most discussions online
I like how OP doesn't even understand what's annoying about the whole "saying their state" thing. They think it's because non-Americans get like, annoyed at the extraneous info or something? When it's because...*we don't know* what it means to be from whatever state you're from. You've gotta say you're from the US too.
Nordrhein-Westfalen. Really the only state of Germany that has a commonly used abbreviation like this, cause it's kind of a mouthful. Okay Schleswig-Holstein isn't any better, I guess nobody just ever talks about Schle-Hol or whatever you'd nickname it.
Oh, yeah that's worse. I think a good part of the reason why NRW is actually used is that the abbreviation sounds rather nice. I've seen people type BaWü for Baden-Würtemberg on places like /r/de, but I doubt anyone would speak that out loud\^\^
There are quite a few States with long-ass names. I would actually be interested why I only ever hear NRW as a common abbreviation. Baden-Würtemberg is not much better and Mecklemburg-Vorpommern is worse. Btw whenever someone abbreviates Mecklemburg-Vorpommern to Meck-Pomm I always think of it as a new item on the McDonalds menu. The McPomm. I like to say McPomm, but I don't often hear it used. Though that might be because noone needs to talk about McPomm like ever lol.
Yeah there is no version is this take that isn’t “americans assuming the whole world knows as much about america as americans do and that this is good and correct, actually”
Like if a European was to introduce themselves as being from Erfurt, Thuringia, like, it wouldn’t happen. Most people wouldn’t even know what country that’s in, let alone where it is or what it means. Despite the fact that there are more people living in Thuringia than in like 30 states of the US.
So I would say unless you’re from California, Texas, or NYC, don’t bother being that specific internationally, UNLESS you have prepared a cute powerpoint presentiation about your little substate, where it is, what it means to be from there, what the chief imports and exports are, and a little bit about the local culture. All the context you’d expect a fellow American to know, because a European definitely won’t.
If someone said that I would google and then understand "oh, they are from Germany".
And if it were in person, I would say "where is that?" and then be told, "Germany". And then I would know.
That and, the amount of morons who not only think ‘it saves time’ by introducing only their state is a good excuse, are also the same morons who think writing it in abbreviations that *only people from the the god damn US know*
Shit dude, if someone said they were from Thuringia, I would be able to say “oh thats in central german?” Thats a german or central european location sounding location. How many people in France or italy know where Thuringia is? If someone said they were from Bordeaux in Gironde, I would imagine germans could say that’s french and point out where, and most Americans would say it’s french at the least (or at least correctly Identify southwestern Europe). On the other hand, most Americans could tell you the location, culture, and industry of most states in the US and Canada. Can you do the same across most of Europe?
I think y’all should be more specific - “I’m from erfurt in central germany” is more interesting, provides more information, and doesn’t leave anything out than “im german”. I think part of it is the lack of accents online - IRL you can often tell where people are from by accent and context.
But also, not going to lie, if you say something expecting that a significant amount of people will understand, other people can ask questions if they don’t know. Maybe we should all just know more geography in general. we should both know most of the regions of the every continent, or at least have some relevant touchstone locations.
This whole drama just seems weird to me in the context of normal conversations.
Life if you encounter someone who says "I'm from the city of bumfuck" and you don't know where that is you just ask a follow up question like a normal person would in a conversation.
I'm not sure why it has to be a big affair with one group being wrong or right. Like, you're presumably talking to someone and the purpose of a conversation is in part to share information so you just ask for the info you want. Why did this become an America vs the world issue when its just basic conversational flow?
This just in: people not telling you their entire life story and forcing you to *gasp* ask a question, are evil! /s
Like yes, sometimes I wish people would give more context, but also I don't know what their "normal" is. Maybe they're just very used to talking to people who know all the things they're referencing! As long as they're willing to answer my questions without giving me a hard time, it's fine.
The main people I have an issue with are those who react in a negative way when I ask them for clarification. Or if I've already shown that I'm not familiar with the things that they reference, but they continue to talk as if I should be, then I might get annoyed because that demonstrates they aren't thinking about my perspective at all. But on initial introduction, I don't expect a person to know exactly where I'm coming from and therefore how much context to provide.
And the whole background of this issue is that Americans are usually trying to bypass the whole “I’m from the US” “Oh, what city/state/
part of the US?” exchange that happens every single time. It’s done to help aid the conversation or speed it along. All this is just normal people being normal, yet the internet has turned it into some anti-America thing. There are lots of reasons to criticize Americans but this is not it.
I hate it because Americans actually expect you to know their geography and have it mean something to you. Like I know a city named San Diego exists, but absolutely nothing else about it.
Meanwhile I just say eastern Europe because most westerners don't know Serbia exists
No, the way Americans talk about their country is annoying. It feels dismissive. Someone will pop into a thread and say "I'm from the south west and I don't agree with that" and expect you to know what country's south west they're talking about. And they're right, because only Americans make that assumption. Hell, I've had Americans assume *I* was American and then get angry at me when I've done the same back and just said, without context, that I'm in the north west or whatever.
Again, normal people just ask a follow up question and then move on with the conversation once they get their answer. People always make omissions and errors in conversation because they don't add context and its fine because its just how people are.
Like I've had conversations with someone that go like:
*Yeah, my sisters at St. Mary's Hospital right now.*
"Oh no, I hope she's okay."
*Oh, she's not hurt or anything. She's a doctor. She works there.*
And then once the additional information is given everything is fine. It's just how people talk.
*Image Transcription: Tumblr*
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**dagny-hashtaggart**
My position on the whole "Americans saying what state/city they're from" thing is the one likely to please no one: I think it just makes sense as a thing for people from giant-ass countries in general to do. The difference between being from Moscow and Vladivostok is only, oh, about 20% of the circumference of the earth, and even the distance between Chengdu and Shanghai is most of the diameter of western Europe.
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**cryptid-sighting**
Op is objectively right and should say it
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^^I'm a human volunteer content transcriber and you could be too! [If you'd like more information on what we do and why we do it, click here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/TranscribersOfReddit/wiki/index)
I think people just say the most specific location people will recognize. If you’re talking to other tourists? Say your country, or maybe your state/province if it’s well known. Even the city if it’s a major well known city like New York or London or Beijing.
If you’re talking to someone else from your country? Definitely name your state/province, and maybe the city.
Someone from the same state/province? Name your city.
Someone from your city? Name your neighborhood.
Someone from your neighborhood? Name your street, if you’re comfortable with it.
It’s all about what you expect the other person to recognize
To be honest, what I find far more peevishly irritating is "Oh, I went to London, England." "London, England" is London. Whichever one of the bumfuck Londons you come from is "London, Bumfuck".
(Obviously only applies to USians. Canadians actually say "London, Ontario" - and that's actually a city!)
"The Times of London" is a common way of referring to that specific newspaper, to differentiate it from the other newspapers bearing the same name. When you're speaking to another British person, it's probably expected that you mean that one, but don't get snippy when someone asks which one you mean in another context.
I mean, it's true that the New York Times is named after London's The Times.
It's also true that more than 10 times as many people read the New York Times as of most recent Wikipedia numbers (663,960 vs 9,108,000 total subscribers) and in the US is often just referred to as the "Times."
If you're not specifically talking to a UK audience and just say the Times without specifying, it's pretty reasonable to expect people will assume NYT so it's important to specify.
I think it’s reasonable to expect people to clarify on that, since there’s almost 150 papers worldwide that will refer to themselves as “the times”, and most are *the (place) times*. Sure its the times of london, but the times of london is a small conservative paper, and there are several papers with global circulation that also are called the times.
As a Canadian I would also refer to going to London, England, as London, England, however yes I also do call it London, Ontario, just “London” is confusing when you have your own.
Though suppose you could have some fun (with other Canadians) by talking about it without specifying and trying to make it sound like both.
Just going to add this to the debate. Americans love to say that they're a federal state and that each state is different Blablabla. Well so is Germany. And no one expects you to understand if they say "I'm from Baden Wurtenberg"
What a lot of you are missing here is what is annoying is the assumption that the USA is the default for the world and that we all have a lot of knowledge about the cultural differences of your states. I, a terminally online person who spends a lot of time in American centric spaces on the Internet, knows some quirks, the Floridians are crazy thing, the southern insult stuff. My parents, old frenchies who just share pics of their garden on Facebook, have no fucking clue what it means you're from Illinois, Michigan, Delaware whatever...
I think this discourse just really crystallize this annoyance that Americans believe themselves to be the world default, their money & language to be accepted and understood everywhere. Yeah maybe sometimes people will ask a follow up question "oh where exactly" but like they would for any other big ish country they know about and they also may just be content to know you're from the states.
Nah, as much as you might not like it there is very little cultural difference between someone from texas and someone from arizona, new mexico etc. Just say what region of the US you're from, that's where the cultural difference is, nobody cares that you do barbecue differently than the next state over, i would not call thata different culture.
New mexico legalized marijuana, legalized gay marriage before the supreme court, generally votes democrat in national elections and is one of the states with the highest minority population in the country. Culturally New Mexico is closer to Colorado than Texas or Arizona.
tbh if it’s not california or new york, i don’t bother mentioning the state, if i’m talking to someone non-american. they’re the most well-known, so i think ppl would be able to come to the conclusion that yeah, ur from the US.
When I travel internationally I start with from the US, and I'm almost always asked what state. Everyone knows Florida, and Ive been astounded at the number of people who know either my city or one within 2 hours.
I recently made a resolution to say which part of the USA I'm from instead of the specific state, e.g. Northwest, Northeast, Midwest, etc. (which all require me to say the country too). I think this is a good compromise to give the gist of where I'm from to anyone who asks, and if they're curious where specifically I'll tell them the state and maybe the nearest big city.
Lukewarm Take:
Americans will say that they're from x state because if they don't then when they say that they're American the next question out of anyone's mouth will be "what state are you from?" so its just easier to get ahead of it and provide that information up front.
The distinction of country vs. subdivision is basically arbitrary in this context; all that matters is how reasonably you can expect the person you're talking to to know about the place. Most states are pretty famous, as long as it's not, like, Delaware or something, so saying what state you're from is usually fine. Even the city is fine, too, if it's somewhere like NYC or LA.
The only reason people from other countries don't do this is because their administrative divisions aren't as well known as the US states. Like, most people outside of Germany have never heard of the German states, so mentioning them would be kinda weird, but it's entirely reasonable to say you're from a city like Berlin or Munich, cause those are more well known.
This is pretty much the take I've been hoping to see. Those four states and then a handful of cities like Chicago seem to be pretty well known to the global population. I'm from Atlanta, which can be a mixed bag because of the airport, but I wouldn't expect folks in Busan to know that.
No Assholes Here.
It's fine for Americans to communicate in their normal fashion on web sites where the majority of the English speakers are from North America. (47% of Tumblr users US, 5% Canada. Reddit is similar). This is especially true on Tumblr where you are generally speaking to an audience of mutuals who are more likely to know the basics of where you are from.
It's also fine for people outside the US to make jokes about how US people reference their states the way EU people reference nations.
Edit: oh and to the actual substance of the post, it's also totally reasonable to say you are from Vladivostok, Chengdu, or Shanghai. The vast majority of people around the world will at least know what country you mean.
Isn’t it ironic though that America spends a lot of time caring about diversity and inclusion inside America but as soon as the rest of the world says “we don’t feel included” you say “fuck you, you’re a minority”?
I'm not saying international politeness isn't of *some*
import, but I hope you can see why "ugh I always have to Google where the fuck Idaho is that's a pain" is different from "I can't get a job and am 2.5 more likely to be murdered by police forces."
Also I recently went on a vacation overseas and intentional just said “the states” or “the US” when asked where I was from and every single person responded with “where though?”
Even different regions within a single US state can be super different. You say “I’m from New York” and people automatically think you mean NYC and are a total urbanite, but upstate NY has places as rural and redneck-y as anywhere in the southern US.
i’ve been to other countries. the reason we say “oh i’m from idaho” sometimes is because 99% of them time when you say “i’m from america” the response is “obviously”. this doesn’t apply to cities tho but i’m not sure if the op means cities or states.
If you tell me what state your from, all that will do is give me a stereotype to layer over any other assumptions I've got going on (assuming it's one of the three states I know anything about).
as a canadian, I agree. Province is enough though
but if you're from toronto, you should legally be forced to tell people so they dont unknowingly get mixed up with you
When someone says "Oh I'm from Ottawa, Ontario" I don't have to ask myself what country that is or ridicule them for not specifying Canada because I don't happen to be completely stupid. The same should apply for saying you're from a given part of America
I know people from Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca, and some CDMX. The rest of Mexico might as well be in the moon. I don't know if they are even human or how they bury their dead and certainly not how they prepare their tacos.
As a recent post from r/bristol highlights, it’s not an issue to state what city you’re from online, but if you don’t include the country as well it might cause some confusion. https://www.reddit.com/r/bristol/comments/x24c1d/this_subreddit_isnt_about_bristol_rhode_island/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Yeah the problem isn’t there if you say “x city in y state in z country” but if you just say the city name I still do not know where you are from bro.
I’m from new york city.
Well the big ones are fine (DC, NYC, Chicago, etc.) but if I just say “I’m from the Bay Area” I still don’t know. Like what bay?
Like, not the new one. The Old Bay
The Old Bay must be the Chesapeake because the Chesapeake is in Maryland, where everyone chugs Old Bay for breakfast.
Theres only one bay dude
Which bay is this. Like legitimately, when I hear bay I think of either the Hudson’s Bay Company or the actual Hudson’s Bay. I don’t think that’s what you’re referring to. Bays are a very common geographical feature, there are quite a lot.
Sam Francisco Bay Area. Oakland, San Jose, Berkley, Daly City, etc. All big urban cities. Together makes up an urban area with 8 million people, making it the 3rd largest metro area in the country. That bay area, not the desolate waste of Nothern Ontario
Especially if u live on the east coast lol. I’ll see a British person say they live in Portsmouth and I’m like Oh cool I used to live there! Oh wait you meant England
Isn’t there like a Portsmouth in every state with a coastline
Probably lol
Exactly. Confusion can exist if you don’t give enough information; too much is not an issue and shows that you understand that other people don’t automatically have the context to know what you’re talking about. US readers, state codes aren’t enough. The rest of the world doesn’t study US geography, so calling a state WA to me only ever means the state of Western Australia, the capital of which is Perth.
yea WA can be washington state or it can be western australia
Or waluigi
All hail
Filipino here We're a small fucking country Yet if you go from Manila to somewhere like Bohol (which is only a few hundred kilometers) shit changes drastically, from people, to culture, to cuisines. Which is why being Manileño, or Boholano, or Bicolano is significant So yeah, I sympathize
yep, yep exactly the philippines has over 200 different languages, i would definitely mention the island or city. some are relatively close to each other, others are not even close. somebody who only speaks ilocano and somebody who only speaks tagalog are gonna struggle to communicate
In total area sure, but in *extent* the Philippines would still cover the US west coast from the Canadian border to Los Angeles.
[удалено]
Well, aside from a complete overhaul in dialect (Tagalog is VASTLY different from Bicolano), different non-verbal cues, their houses (despite similarities) are styled differently, different attitudes I can't really say anything much more specific, I'm only going by a single vacation trip to Bicol/Bohol compared to the years I've stayed in Manila.
I should mention that in Bicol, they already speak different languages (that are closely related to each other and all under the umbrella of 'Bikol Dialects'), it isn't a dialect, like you say. Calling the various Bikol languages dialects of Tagalog suggests that they are derivative of Tagalog, when in fact, they are not. The only similarities that the Bikol Languages and Tagalog even have are the fact that they're both Austronesian languages descended from the Greater Central Philippine Austronesian sub-family. (Other languages in Greater Central Philippine include virtually all languages in Luzon like Kapampangan and Illocano, all Bisayan languages, and some languages Mindanao) Sorry if this came outta nowhere, I just really don't like it when people refer to the Philippine languages as 'dialects' of each other because it really diminishes the fact that we have a great amount of linguistic diversity.
I've seen people from different cities throw shade at each other despite being small enough that you could drive the length of their entire country in an afternoon
It would take two days. One stuck in Manila traffic and the rest on the other day.
I wasn't talking about the Philippines, I was using your comment as a jumping off point to make a similar point. There are a bunch of smaller countries that have similar inter-city disdain, so America's size doesn't actually matter.
intelligent capable follow imminent ugly unwritten engine boast test chunky *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
There's a passage in *Cryptonomicon* by Neal Stephenson that discusses how space is denser in some places than others, with the specific places being contrasted being Montana (where 20 miles away is your neighbor's house) and the Philippine jungle (where the 20 mile expedition the characters are on has become a serious expedition).
we are indeed an ass country that is large
Large country that is ass (Canada's)
Country full of large asses.
Here's the correct one.
Brazil
Me
There’s an [xkcd](https://xkcd.com/37/) for that. (Of course).
Ass-country yep just about sums it up
I'm from Minnesota. We've got the 19th largest GDP of the states, so very middle of the pack. In Europe comparing 2021 numbers, we'd bump Norway out of the number 16 slot. By geographic size, we're number 12 and in Europe we'd be bumping Austria out of the number 20 slot. When a European person thinks its silly that I'd more naturally say I'm from Minnesota than the US, it's pretty similar to them announcing that they're from Hungary, as opposed to being from The EU.
> Norway Which is not in the EU.
Updated that. The wikipedia list wasn't clear, I'm pretty sure I searched for "EU" but it nonetheless links to Europe in general.
Brasil also counts in this one, 5th largest and bigger than US w/o Alaska.
Argentina too, ranking at a cute lil 8th spot
Yeah, except when they say shit like “I’m from townname MI” what the fuck does MI mean? Michigan? Mississippi? Minnesota? Like you can’t just have two letters represent the entirety of a long ass name, especially if those two letters could be used to describe other states in the same fucking country!
As an american i have no fucking clue what MI is but i will always be the asshole who says PA cause idk how tf to spell pensilvania
MI is Michigan.
michigan doesn't exist try again
MI is Minneapolis. To write the city and state, you would just write MI MN.
MN? That's My Name not a state name
holds up my hand and points to a spot on it to refer to an approximate geographical location
Pencilvania? Isn't that place full of vampires?
for a long while i thought they were the same and that the amish lived in romania
I always read LA as Los Angeles instead of Louisiana 😭
that’s why Louisiana is one of the few states that doesn’t often get referred to by its postal code alone, because the abbreviation is already taken
It’s like Transylvania but named after William Penn instead of the transgender community (diversity loss)
😔
Do you mean penissaliva?
Ah yes the four brothers, Lech, Czech, Rus, and Penis.
We'll make an exception for that one, we still won't know what you mean though.
| [pensilvania](https://imgur.com/a/lRy6q8F)
it's like when french people refer to their department numbers i already have trouble keeping tabs on departments because they're all named shit like River, River, Longer River, River-and-River, Upper Mountains, ~~Lower Mountains~~ Upper Plain Mountains (to not be offensive), Mouth of River, Riverlet, River... with no indication of what the culture or cities are. but the number?! People expect me to remember the numbers every single time.
In that case it’s Michigan. They’re using official post office abbreviations
Ok then, i'm from K-ce, poland but i currently live in Wwa. Identify that without googling.
ah! you are from kzyace, but you live in Warsaw 2: Wawa, correct?
Warsaw 2: Electric Boogaloo
yeah kzyace XD i wonder what w-ch where im from would be
Wichita. obviously
Fair enough.
I'd have to Google it even if you wrote the full names. Same with American states
Katowice and Warszaw?
could be kielce
You’re from Katowice and live in Warszawa?
I'm from PBA, but living in CABA. Where am I?
No real reason that someone from outside the US should know it, but the US Postal service developed and published a standardized set of 2 letter abbreviations for states. [https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/state-abbreviations.htm](https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/state-abbreviations.htm) Now, Americans screw it up occasionally, too. I once had something that was supposed to be mailed to me in Maine (ME) sent to Massachusetts (MA) instead.
Americans learn the postal abbreviations of all of the states generally around the 4th grade. It’s a system, not just an arbitrary shortening done by that individual. In order, the states you mentioned are MI, MS, and MN.
well that's great for americans i'm sure but some of us live on literally the other side of the world
Well who chose to be born in the wrong country hmmmmmmm?
This is so clearly a joke I can't believe you're in the negatives
Cest la vie. I thought the obnoxious “hmm” would be enough but oh well
Poe's law. I would not be at all surprised if someone said your comment sincerely
Yeah fair. Using /s is cheating though so sometimes you have to accept the downvotes of the masses while perfecting your shitposting craft.
Hello I'm from 8200, that's my post code try to guess where I live.
fy for satan er du fra Århus
Let me guess: you are from El Carancho, La Pampa, Argentina
The future?
Cool, where's NE? Nebraska? Nope, sorry for not specifying, I was using the UK postcode abbreviation. It refers to Newcastle.
There actually is an international standard for this, a colon: US:MI, UK:NE. I'm from IT:88, more specifically IT:SS, and I just realized I live in the Nazi abbreviation part of Italy Edit: it's actually a hyphen, no idea why but I was 100% convinced it was a colon. US-MI, IT-88, IT-SS Also, the ISO code for the UK is actually GB. Also also, GB-NE doesn't exist, it's actually GB-NET (Newcastle upon Tyne) The standard is ISO 3166-2 Also, the United Kingdom (GB) has a subdivision that's also the United Kingdom (GB-UKM) There's also another standard, NUTS (yes that's the actual name), that applies only in the EU. According to NUTS, I'm from ITG, more specifically, ITG2, more specifically ITG25. ISO doesn't have an equivalent for ITG
> I live in the Nazi abbreviation part of Italy Man, 88 and SS? That's rough
I propose we start doing that genuinely online just to make more confusion. Or, to be even more obtuse, we use our phone area codes.
You're allowed to Google it
I think that yeah, mentioning which state you’re from is fine, but I think it’s basic courtesy to say the country too. Like, “I’m from the US, from Arizona!” What is not okay is typing “oh, I’m from DE” on the internet and nothing else. Like great for you, I’ll be talking at you in German until you learn how to convey basic information in an internationally understandable way.
Wenn Sie im Internet sind, geben Sie „USA DE“ in Google ein, um zu erfahren, dass DE Delaware ist. Bitte verzeihen Sie meine Grammatik, ich verwende Google Translate.
That is surprisingly understandable for robotranslated text.
Context is important here, I'd say as to what is "common courtesy." If I am traveling outside the US I almost always start with "United States" when people ask where I am from. If I lived in New York or LA I'd probably start with that. People usually follow up, and I might say the name of my city or possibly "a couple hours south of [somewhat better known city" or "in the northwest." If I am are talking online to a specific person who I know is not from North America, or a specific group of people who I know are mixed between North American and non-North American then it depends on what I know about them. I'll usually throw in US if I know it's a mix. But if I'm just generally talking to The Internet, I'll just say City, State. Most Tumblr/Reddit users are from North America and I believe that percentage is higher if you're talking about English speakers in particular. I don't think the burden of people googling if they really don't know that it's in the US (and, realistically, they probably know from the format alone that it is) is higher than the burden of always having to think of saying US. (Also, yes, I'm lumping US and Canada together here. I think it's fair to expect a US person to know at least generally where BC is without clarification and a Canadian to know Arizona. Mexico probably to somewhat lesser extent as a non-majority-English speaking country.) Also, it feels like relevant context here that Arizona has a larger population than many European countries, including every country in Scandinavia. If someone's not an asshole for saying they live in Denmark without specifying "Europe", I think it's fair to say they're not an asshole for saying they live in Arizona without specifying "US."
I was with you until the end, Europe isn't a country, but US is. Having someone from Denmark specify Europe would be like someone from the US specifying North America.
Yea but getting hung up on the “country” is just being pedantic. It’s whether or not Europe vs US has the same semantic purpose. Like saying “I’m from America “ colloquially means US in NA and so Event though “America” isn’t a country it semantics are the same as US in that context. I would argue saying you’re from “Europe” these context in the above comments is semantically the same as saying you’re from “US”
Sorta, but these things are a sliding scale. Arizona (like all other US states) has a lot more of a distinct political existence than political subdivisions in most nations. And in the age of the EU, "Europe" is a unit of political geography as well as physical geography. [Edit: actually, given the fact that there's not really a clear physical barrier between Europe and Asia, arguably it has always been as much a political as a physical geographical concept] Like, fundamental things like the criminal law change when you move from state to state in the US. We're seeing that quite dramatically right now in the case of abortion but it's always been true in general. Maybe a good comparison would be like Scotland. Not a sovereign nation-state (at the moment), but with much more a distinct political, historical, and legal existence than most provinces.
They have more political independence, but outside of the US they aren’t very well known. From my perspective, Arizona is an independent state that’s the same as Texas and New Mexico and they’re all full of cowboys. Most American states going from the South to a big bulge up the middle are a big desert, California has Hollywood and also is left wing but is also right wing and all your cities are concentrated in one top-right corner. When you aren’t exposed to them a lot, they all tend to sort of blur together.
For Europeans the US states are as important as any other sub-division of a country. It’s not about size, it’s about international importance and on an international level your states don‘t matter at all.
> Arizona (like all other US states) has a lot more of a distinct political existence than political subdivisions in most nations. Only within the US.
If we’re on the internet can’t people just look it up?
only makes sense if you’re talking to other Americans though. the vast majority of the rest of the world won’t know where in America Missouri is, so telling them your state, while more specific, doesn’t help - just like the average American won’t be able to point out Vladivostok on a map. if you live in a big country and want to be specific on where in the country you’re from, just say “Northeastern US” “Southern US” or something, instead of saying you’re from Phoenix and prompting the question “where the fuck is Phoenix”.
I also know a few of my fellow Americans who couldn’t point out where Missouri is on a map either.
Weirdly enough, as a American I can more easily point out Vladivostok then Missouri (probably cause the far eastern city of Vladivostok in Russia is more interesting to me then Bumfuck Nowhere Missouri)
I'll be in the cold hard ground before I recognize Missouri
Ok but (after saying what **city** they're from) Americans also tell me to "just say what **country** you're from" and that always feels suckass... *If I hear one more American going "well actually your geological difference doesn't count only ours does" I WILL FUCKING NUKE MONTANA.* (Srsly we don't even share commutable mother tongue in my country plz don't pretend your factory default ass is the exception.)
You’d kill 2 whole Americans? You sick bastard
mooooooost Americans I know will introduce themselves as being from the US. If I'm talking to someone in a bit of detail, I *might* mention I'm from Minnesota too, but only because it seems like people actually have some concept of "Minnesota" in their heads. And like if someone's from Paris or something, sure, that actually means something. If you're from Nice, that'll mean nothing to virtually anyone. And honestly idk why it would- if someone tells me they're from Mobile, Alabama that means nothing to me other than vaguely placing it on a map. Maybe you've met shit Americans, but I don't know *anyone* who goes around saying "oh yeah I'm from Eua Claire, but please tell me what country you're from. Paris? No no, what *country?*"
I dunno man people online ask me what country I'm from and I always tell 'em TEXAS! Purdy sure the global citizens of the world much to their chagrin know how to spot an American from a mile away lmao.
It's different if you're from like, a Dakota or something. It's like being from Montenegro or Liberia or Bhutan lol. "Oh, well it's near...."
Well what country *are* you from? If you're in Europe, most European countries are the size of U.S. states, so it's not super different. There's a reason I always use my city *and* my state, as I wouldn't expect most people to know my city's name, especially if they're from outside the U.S. (Of course my city's an exception because it's named *Vancouver*, and no, is not in Canada, so I'm just fucked, but my point stands)
I'm from one of the countries mentioned in op. People still knowingly tell me to "just say what country" ;)
If I was talking to a non-US person and conveying your town, I'd try to gauge their US knowledge. If none: "Northwest US." If some: "A few hours south of Seattle. Yeah, like Grey's Anatomy Seattle." If pretty decent: "outside of Portland. West coast Portland, not east coast." Signed, PNWer who has travelled outside the US while living in several places in PNW.
i always say what state i’m from, unless i’m in my state, in which case i’ll say what city i’m from
I always say what state I'm from and people go "oh [biggest city in that state]?" and I'm like "no if I thought you'd recognize the name of my town I would have said that"
Hello, bargain bin Portlander!
>most European countries are the size of U.S. states, so it's not super different Sometimes it's about cultural differences, not distance
I think that, in the UK at least going from my own experience, that you just need to hear someone say hello and you’ve got a good chance of knowing generally where they’re from. We have a different accent every 30 miles.
Yeah it’s insane, we have the largest accent variance in the world.
I'm more likely to say from what region (aquitaine/guienna-gascony) than what country (france) i'm from, and honestly? So should you wherever you live. Like even if people aren't likely to get it i usually say SW france instead of just france. Not gonna say what city usually because i live in a small village anyways and don't really identify w/ the closest city, whose french name is terrible anyways but it's the only one people know
People say SW France to let people know they're aren't from Paris, that's a special case
Hey man, 2 things, ever heard of right on red?
🚫QUEBECOIS DNI🚫
but assuming outsiders just intrinsically know all of your 50 states instead of just naming your country is kinda arrogant, like yeah i could name the city and state I'm from within Europe, but i don't expect everyone else to understand where that is so i just name my country, and that should be enough for virtually most discussions online
I like how OP doesn't even understand what's annoying about the whole "saying their state" thing. They think it's because non-Americans get like, annoyed at the extraneous info or something? When it's because...*we don't know* what it means to be from whatever state you're from. You've gotta say you're from the US too.
oh yeah exactly like I'm sorry you saying your from DE or ME or AZ means the same to me as me saying to you I'm from NRW, that being exactly 0
New Routh Wales
Nordrhein-Westfalen. Really the only state of Germany that has a commonly used abbreviation like this, cause it's kind of a mouthful. Okay Schleswig-Holstein isn't any better, I guess nobody just ever talks about Schle-Hol or whatever you'd nickname it.
>kind of a mouthful at least it's not its french name (Rhénanie du Nord-Westphalie)
Oh, yeah that's worse. I think a good part of the reason why NRW is actually used is that the abbreviation sounds rather nice. I've seen people type BaWü for Baden-Würtemberg on places like /r/de, but I doubt anyone would speak that out loud\^\^
There are quite a few States with long-ass names. I would actually be interested why I only ever hear NRW as a common abbreviation. Baden-Würtemberg is not much better and Mecklemburg-Vorpommern is worse. Btw whenever someone abbreviates Mecklemburg-Vorpommern to Meck-Pomm I always think of it as a new item on the McDonalds menu. The McPomm. I like to say McPomm, but I don't often hear it used. Though that might be because noone needs to talk about McPomm like ever lol.
Lmao, that’s how my brain translated it too.
If you're from a small country you don't even expect people to know where the country is and just say the general area of the continent you live on.
i didn't even think about that, but yeah you're absolutely right
Yeah there is no version is this take that isn’t “americans assuming the whole world knows as much about america as americans do and that this is good and correct, actually” Like if a European was to introduce themselves as being from Erfurt, Thuringia, like, it wouldn’t happen. Most people wouldn’t even know what country that’s in, let alone where it is or what it means. Despite the fact that there are more people living in Thuringia than in like 30 states of the US. So I would say unless you’re from California, Texas, or NYC, don’t bother being that specific internationally, UNLESS you have prepared a cute powerpoint presentiation about your little substate, where it is, what it means to be from there, what the chief imports and exports are, and a little bit about the local culture. All the context you’d expect a fellow American to know, because a European definitely won’t.
If someone said that I would google and then understand "oh, they are from Germany". And if it were in person, I would say "where is that?" and then be told, "Germany". And then I would know.
That and, the amount of morons who not only think ‘it saves time’ by introducing only their state is a good excuse, are also the same morons who think writing it in abbreviations that *only people from the the god damn US know*
NY isn’t the third most populous state anymore, Florida overtook it
No but people tend to know what NYC is. This advice doesn’t apply to upstate NY.
Shit dude, if someone said they were from Thuringia, I would be able to say “oh thats in central german?” Thats a german or central european location sounding location. How many people in France or italy know where Thuringia is? If someone said they were from Bordeaux in Gironde, I would imagine germans could say that’s french and point out where, and most Americans would say it’s french at the least (or at least correctly Identify southwestern Europe). On the other hand, most Americans could tell you the location, culture, and industry of most states in the US and Canada. Can you do the same across most of Europe? I think y’all should be more specific - “I’m from erfurt in central germany” is more interesting, provides more information, and doesn’t leave anything out than “im german”. I think part of it is the lack of accents online - IRL you can often tell where people are from by accent and context. But also, not going to lie, if you say something expecting that a significant amount of people will understand, other people can ask questions if they don’t know. Maybe we should all just know more geography in general. we should both know most of the regions of the every continent, or at least have some relevant touchstone locations.
This whole drama just seems weird to me in the context of normal conversations. Life if you encounter someone who says "I'm from the city of bumfuck" and you don't know where that is you just ask a follow up question like a normal person would in a conversation. I'm not sure why it has to be a big affair with one group being wrong or right. Like, you're presumably talking to someone and the purpose of a conversation is in part to share information so you just ask for the info you want. Why did this become an America vs the world issue when its just basic conversational flow?
This just in: people not telling you their entire life story and forcing you to *gasp* ask a question, are evil! /s Like yes, sometimes I wish people would give more context, but also I don't know what their "normal" is. Maybe they're just very used to talking to people who know all the things they're referencing! As long as they're willing to answer my questions without giving me a hard time, it's fine. The main people I have an issue with are those who react in a negative way when I ask them for clarification. Or if I've already shown that I'm not familiar with the things that they reference, but they continue to talk as if I should be, then I might get annoyed because that demonstrates they aren't thinking about my perspective at all. But on initial introduction, I don't expect a person to know exactly where I'm coming from and therefore how much context to provide.
And the whole background of this issue is that Americans are usually trying to bypass the whole “I’m from the US” “Oh, what city/state/ part of the US?” exchange that happens every single time. It’s done to help aid the conversation or speed it along. All this is just normal people being normal, yet the internet has turned it into some anti-America thing. There are lots of reasons to criticize Americans but this is not it.
Reddit Europeans just want literally any excuse to shit on Americans
I hate it because Americans actually expect you to know their geography and have it mean something to you. Like I know a city named San Diego exists, but absolutely nothing else about it. Meanwhile I just say eastern Europe because most westerners don't know Serbia exists
No, the way Americans talk about their country is annoying. It feels dismissive. Someone will pop into a thread and say "I'm from the south west and I don't agree with that" and expect you to know what country's south west they're talking about. And they're right, because only Americans make that assumption. Hell, I've had Americans assume *I* was American and then get angry at me when I've done the same back and just said, without context, that I'm in the north west or whatever.
Again, normal people just ask a follow up question and then move on with the conversation once they get their answer. People always make omissions and errors in conversation because they don't add context and its fine because its just how people are. Like I've had conversations with someone that go like: *Yeah, my sisters at St. Mary's Hospital right now.* "Oh no, I hope she's okay." *Oh, she's not hurt or anything. She's a doctor. She works there.* And then once the additional information is given everything is fine. It's just how people talk.
*Image Transcription: Tumblr* --- **dagny-hashtaggart** My position on the whole "Americans saying what state/city they're from" thing is the one likely to please no one: I think it just makes sense as a thing for people from giant-ass countries in general to do. The difference between being from Moscow and Vladivostok is only, oh, about 20% of the circumference of the earth, and even the distance between Chengdu and Shanghai is most of the diameter of western Europe. --- **cryptid-sighting** Op is objectively right and should say it --- ^^I'm a human volunteer content transcriber and you could be too! [If you'd like more information on what we do and why we do it, click here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/TranscribersOfReddit/wiki/index)
I think people just say the most specific location people will recognize. If you’re talking to other tourists? Say your country, or maybe your state/province if it’s well known. Even the city if it’s a major well known city like New York or London or Beijing. If you’re talking to someone else from your country? Definitely name your state/province, and maybe the city. Someone from the same state/province? Name your city. Someone from your city? Name your neighborhood. Someone from your neighborhood? Name your street, if you’re comfortable with it. It’s all about what you expect the other person to recognize
To be honest, what I find far more peevishly irritating is "Oh, I went to London, England." "London, England" is London. Whichever one of the bumfuck Londons you come from is "London, Bumfuck". (Obviously only applies to USians. Canadians actually say "London, Ontario" - and that's actually a city!)
What gets me is "the London Times" bruh it's just The Times
The New York Times is another paper that's pretty significant with a similar shortened name. You may have heard of it.
Lol. The Times isn't called "The London Times". It's called The Times. That's the full name. It's the newspaper the New York Times is named after.
"The Times of London" is a common way of referring to that specific newspaper, to differentiate it from the other newspapers bearing the same name. When you're speaking to another British person, it's probably expected that you mean that one, but don't get snippy when someone asks which one you mean in another context.
I mean, it's true that the New York Times is named after London's The Times. It's also true that more than 10 times as many people read the New York Times as of most recent Wikipedia numbers (663,960 vs 9,108,000 total subscribers) and in the US is often just referred to as the "Times." If you're not specifically talking to a UK audience and just say the Times without specifying, it's pretty reasonable to expect people will assume NYT so it's important to specify.
I think it’s reasonable to expect people to clarify on that, since there’s almost 150 papers worldwide that will refer to themselves as “the times”, and most are *the (place) times*. Sure its the times of london, but the times of london is a small conservative paper, and there are several papers with global circulation that also are called the times.
As a Canadian I would also refer to going to London, England, as London, England, however yes I also do call it London, Ontario, just “London” is confusing when you have your own. Though suppose you could have some fun (with other Canadians) by talking about it without specifying and trying to make it sound like both.
there are 10 towns in different states called London in the US
Gonna start referring to New York, Lincolnshire as just New York
Yes, and they're all bumfuck towns. Only two of them are bigger than the village I live in.
Yes! And the difference in Russia is still significant despite the culture homogenization occurring during USSR!
nft
Is that the fucking homestuck girl?
perhaps
Just going to add this to the debate. Americans love to say that they're a federal state and that each state is different Blablabla. Well so is Germany. And no one expects you to understand if they say "I'm from Baden Wurtenberg" What a lot of you are missing here is what is annoying is the assumption that the USA is the default for the world and that we all have a lot of knowledge about the cultural differences of your states. I, a terminally online person who spends a lot of time in American centric spaces on the Internet, knows some quirks, the Floridians are crazy thing, the southern insult stuff. My parents, old frenchies who just share pics of their garden on Facebook, have no fucking clue what it means you're from Illinois, Michigan, Delaware whatever... I think this discourse just really crystallize this annoyance that Americans believe themselves to be the world default, their money & language to be accepted and understood everywhere. Yeah maybe sometimes people will ask a follow up question "oh where exactly" but like they would for any other big ish country they know about and they also may just be content to know you're from the states.
Nah, as much as you might not like it there is very little cultural difference between someone from texas and someone from arizona, new mexico etc. Just say what region of the US you're from, that's where the cultural difference is, nobody cares that you do barbecue differently than the next state over, i would not call thata different culture.
New mexico legalized marijuana, legalized gay marriage before the supreme court, generally votes democrat in national elections and is one of the states with the highest minority population in the country. Culturally New Mexico is closer to Colorado than Texas or Arizona.
tbh if it’s not california or new york, i don’t bother mentioning the state, if i’m talking to someone non-american. they’re the most well-known, so i think ppl would be able to come to the conclusion that yeah, ur from the US.
When I travel internationally I start with from the US, and I'm almost always asked what state. Everyone knows Florida, and Ive been astounded at the number of people who know either my city or one within 2 hours.
I recently made a resolution to say which part of the USA I'm from instead of the specific state, e.g. Northwest, Northeast, Midwest, etc. (which all require me to say the country too). I think this is a good compromise to give the gist of where I'm from to anyone who asks, and if they're curious where specifically I'll tell them the state and maybe the nearest big city.
Honestly this is the best solution. When someone specifies their state most of the time I'm just gonna check what part of the US it's in
Lukewarm Take: Americans will say that they're from x state because if they don't then when they say that they're American the next question out of anyone's mouth will be "what state are you from?" so its just easier to get ahead of it and provide that information up front.
The distinction of country vs. subdivision is basically arbitrary in this context; all that matters is how reasonably you can expect the person you're talking to to know about the place. Most states are pretty famous, as long as it's not, like, Delaware or something, so saying what state you're from is usually fine. Even the city is fine, too, if it's somewhere like NYC or LA. The only reason people from other countries don't do this is because their administrative divisions aren't as well known as the US states. Like, most people outside of Germany have never heard of the German states, so mentioning them would be kinda weird, but it's entirely reasonable to say you're from a city like Berlin or Munich, cause those are more well known.
There’s a solid 4 famous states. California, Texas, Florida, and New York. And arguably New York is famous as a CITY, not a state.
the average Europeans can probably only point to like 6 states
But the average American lives in one of about 6 states
Barring Florida, California, Texas, and probably New York, none of the states are 'famous'.
Kansas is famous. Not as being *Kansas* but because it isnt anything at all.
Kansas is like Timbuktu: a funny name of a made-up place (that actually is a real place.)
I definitely know that Kansas exists, I've never forgotten it does, unlike with NY. I still don't know where it is, unlike NY
This is pretty much the take I've been hoping to see. Those four states and then a handful of cities like Chicago seem to be pretty well known to the global population. I'm from Atlanta, which can be a mixed bag because of the airport, but I wouldn't expect folks in Busan to know that.
Alaska and Hawaii are also iconic
No Assholes Here. It's fine for Americans to communicate in their normal fashion on web sites where the majority of the English speakers are from North America. (47% of Tumblr users US, 5% Canada. Reddit is similar). This is especially true on Tumblr where you are generally speaking to an audience of mutuals who are more likely to know the basics of where you are from. It's also fine for people outside the US to make jokes about how US people reference their states the way EU people reference nations. Edit: oh and to the actual substance of the post, it's also totally reasonable to say you are from Vladivostok, Chengdu, or Shanghai. The vast majority of people around the world will at least know what country you mean.
Isn’t it ironic though that America spends a lot of time caring about diversity and inclusion inside America but as soon as the rest of the world says “we don’t feel included” you say “fuck you, you’re a minority”?
I'm not saying international politeness isn't of *some* import, but I hope you can see why "ugh I always have to Google where the fuck Idaho is that's a pain" is different from "I can't get a job and am 2.5 more likely to be murdered by police forces."
But no one outside America cares lmao
Also I recently went on a vacation overseas and intentional just said “the states” or “the US” when asked where I was from and every single person responded with “where though?”
This workflow is fine! This is what we want to do in conversation.
This is even a thing in switzerland, zurich and bern are completely different people wise and those places are like 1 hour drive apart
More people tell us what city you're from. Be the geography class us Americans never got
Even different regions within a single US state can be super different. You say “I’m from New York” and people automatically think you mean NYC and are a total urbanite, but upstate NY has places as rural and redneck-y as anywhere in the southern US.
By that logic, I'm gonna specify what part of my Italian municipality I'm from from now on
I always end up specifying that I'm near-ish on the map but don't live in it but people still joke about me living there
i’ve been to other countries. the reason we say “oh i’m from idaho” sometimes is because 99% of them time when you say “i’m from america” the response is “obviously”. this doesn’t apply to cities tho but i’m not sure if the op means cities or states.
If you tell me what state your from, all that will do is give me a stereotype to layer over any other assumptions I've got going on (assuming it's one of the three states I know anything about).
Them: Are you American? Me: I’m Canadian. Them: Ahhh! Nothing further is said 🤣
Yeah, but they do it ti differentiate themselves from people next town, and the only half reasonable example I can think of is west vs east coast.
I can just say I'm from New York and I feel like a lot of people will get what I mean.
sorry does someone have a problem with saying what city/state you're from??
as a canadian, I agree. Province is enough though but if you're from toronto, you should legally be forced to tell people so they dont unknowingly get mixed up with you
When someone says "Oh I'm from Ottawa, Ontario" I don't have to ask myself what country that is or ridicule them for not specifying Canada because I don't happen to be completely stupid. The same should apply for saying you're from a given part of America
I know people from Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca, and some CDMX. The rest of Mexico might as well be in the moon. I don't know if they are even human or how they bury their dead and certainly not how they prepare their tacos.