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Great to see several people from Mexico! BTW, the fact that only the US country has options separated by state reminds me of when I lived in Europe, and someti

Great to see several people from Mexico! BTW, the fact that only the US country has options separated by state reminds me of when I lived in Europe, and sometimes we got together with a bunch of international. Invariably the "where are you from" question would pop up, to which almost everyone would answer with their country... except Americans, who would answer with their state haha. Once, I asked someone where they were from and I think they answered some random US state, he then asked me the same, and I answered with the state where I am from in Mexico... he had no clue where that was hahaha.

onionisafruit 5y ago
As an American I do this because I always get the follow up question of where in the US. It’s just more efficient this way.
- austinjp 5y ago
  If you asked someone where they're from, would you expect them to say, for example, Almaty instead of Kazakhstan?
  - lolinder 5y ago
    Did you miss the part where OP said that most people expect them to specify which state they're from? Whether you like it or not, it's usually insufficient for someone from the US to simply say that they're from the US. It's a big enough place with enough externally-visible cultural variation that people want to know.
    - gus_massa 5y ago
      Inside Argentina, if someone ask me where I'm from I', expected to specify the province where I'm from. (And in some cases, the part of the province, like "Santa Fe" and "Rosario".) My guess is that it happens in all countries. But if I talk with people that lives abroad, usually "Argentina" is enough. The US is not special in this.
kinduff 5y ago
I was very glad too, and I'm pretty sure not everybody has answered yet since it's "viernes godín". I'm from Michoacan, and reading or seeing the clueless expression when I answer gives me some sort of joy and proudness.
- elboru 5y ago
  I’m from Chihuahua, I always explain the dog comes after the state, not the other way around XD
burlesona 5y ago
US states and EU countries are generally similar in size. If you ask an Italian where they are from it would be a bit odd if they said “Europe” wouldn’t it? I think it also speaks to the degree of autonomy and identity among the states. The US originally thought of itself more like the EU is now, a collection of sovereign nations that agreed to a very strong alliance (first confederation, then federation). The difference is when the US’ “brexit” moment happened the northern states decided the southern states didn’t have the right to leave and enforced their opinion at the cost of 1 million lives (out of a population of about 32M at the time). So that settled that and now the US is one country, not a collection of countries. But the original idea still plays a large role in how people think about things.
- austinjp 5y ago
  If you asked someone where they were from and without context they said "Molise", that would be a bit odd, no?
  - lolinder 5y ago
    Molise has a population of 300k. The smallest state in the US is Wyoming at almost twice the size (580k). That also doesn't address the parent's observation that US states view themselves as having very distinct identities. A better example from Italy might be Naples, which has a population big enough to be a US state and which does have a very distinct identity. And I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear someone introduce themselves as from Naples.
    - Handytinge 5y ago
      > That also doesn't address the parent's observation that US states view themselves as having very distinct identities. Most countries I've been to do this. However just as you wouldn't be able to pick the (to me) obvious differences between someone from Perth and Victoria, I wouldn't be able to pick the nuanced difference between someone from Wyoming and New York. They all sound American to me.
    - Morgawr 5y ago
austinjp 5y ago
When someone says they're from America I'm occasionally tempted to ask, "which, north or south?"
- aunty_helen 5y ago
  This is a very very common retort if you call the USA “America” whilst in South America. Of course you can double down if you really want to get eyes rolling by following up with something like “the good one”, “el primer mundo”, or “the rich one”
- xorcist 5y ago
  The geographic version of "PC or Mac" perhaps? Honduras, Guatemala and the other countries in Central America would be the Linux equivalent, being left out.
dkarl 5y ago
When I was in Europe as a student, everybody wanted to know what state I was from, so I got used to answering that way. Surprisingly, everybody seemed to know all the U.S. states, and had pretty strong mental associations with a lot of them. I'm from Texas, and to them, that meant horses and cowboys and George Strait and "howdy, y'all!"
- skydhash 5y ago
  A few I have from watching TV and games (probably incorrect). Vermont -> green hills Dakota -> hard deserts and Amerindians Nevada -> sand desert Texas -> ranches. Arizona -> Lots of sun and hot. Florida -> beach and spaces. Kansas -> Big corn farms. Massachusetts -> US version of Europe. Missouri -> Rivers.
  - silpheed5 5y ago
    Missouri, I bet you watched Tom Sawyer cartoons as a kid?
  - skykooler 5y ago
    > Massachusetts -> US version of Europe. Really, that's all of New England - New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, maybe parts of Pennsylvania depending on who you talk to.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]

onionisafruit 5y ago

As an American I do this because I always get the follow up question of where in the US. It’s just more efficient this way.

austinjp 5y ago
If you asked someone where they're from, would you expect them to say, for example, Almaty instead of Kazakhstan?
- lolinder 5y ago
  Did you miss the part where OP said that most people expect them to specify which state they're from? Whether you like it or not, it's usually insufficient for someone from the US to simply say that they're from the US. It's a big enough place with enough externally-visible cultural variation that people want to know.
  - gus_massa 5y ago
    Inside Argentina, if someone ask me where I'm from I', expected to specify the province where I'm from. (And in some cases, the part of the province, like "Santa Fe" and "Rosario".) My guess is that it happens in all countries. But if I talk with people that lives abroad, usually "Argentina" is enough. The US is not special in this.

kinduff 5y ago

I was very glad too, and I'm pretty sure not everybody has answered yet since it's "viernes godín". I'm from Michoacan, and reading or seeing the clueless expression when I answer gives me some sort of joy and proudness.

elboru 5y ago
I’m from Chihuahua, I always explain the dog comes after the state, not the other way around XD

burlesona 5y ago

US states and EU countries are generally similar in size. If you ask an Italian where they are from it would be a bit odd if they said “Europe” wouldn’t it? I think it also speaks to the degree of autonomy and identity among the states. The US originally thought of itself more like the EU is now, a collection of sovereign nations that agreed to a very strong alliance (first confederation, then federation). The difference is when the US’ “brexit” moment happened the northern states decided the southern states didn’t have the right to leave and enforced their opinion at the cost of 1 million lives (out of a population of about 32M at the time). So that settled that and now the US is one country, not a collection of countries. But the original idea still plays a large role in how people think about things.

austinjp 5y ago
If you asked someone where they were from and without context they said "Molise", that would be a bit odd, no?
- lolinder 5y ago
  Molise has a population of 300k. The smallest state in the US is Wyoming at almost twice the size (580k). That also doesn't address the parent's observation that US states view themselves as having very distinct identities. A better example from Italy might be Naples, which has a population big enough to be a US state and which does have a very distinct identity. And I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear someone introduce themselves as from Naples.
  - Handytinge 5y ago
    > That also doesn't address the parent's observation that US states view themselves as having very distinct identities. Most countries I've been to do this. However just as you wouldn't be able to pick the (to me) obvious differences between someone from Perth and Victoria, I wouldn't be able to pick the nuanced difference between someone from Wyoming and New York. They all sound American to me.
  - Morgawr 5y ago

austinjp 5y ago

When someone says they're from America I'm occasionally tempted to ask, "which, north or south?"

aunty_helen 5y ago
This is a very very common retort if you call the USA “America” whilst in South America. Of course you can double down if you really want to get eyes rolling by following up with something like “the good one”, “el primer mundo”, or “the rich one”
xorcist 5y ago
The geographic version of "PC or Mac" perhaps? Honduras, Guatemala and the other countries in Central America would be the Linux equivalent, being left out.

dkarl 5y ago

When I was in Europe as a student, everybody wanted to know what state I was from, so I got used to answering that way. Surprisingly, everybody seemed to know all the U.S. states, and had pretty strong mental associations with a lot of them. I'm from Texas, and to them, that meant horses and cowboys and George Strait and "howdy, y'all!"

skydhash 5y ago
A few I have from watching TV and games (probably incorrect). Vermont -> green hills Dakota -> hard deserts and Amerindians Nevada -> sand desert Texas -> ranches. Arizona -> Lots of sun and hot. Florida -> beach and spaces. Kansas -> Big corn farms. Massachusetts -> US version of Europe. Missouri -> Rivers.
- silpheed5 5y ago
  Missouri, I bet you watched Tom Sawyer cartoons as a kid?
- skykooler 5y ago
  > Massachusetts -> US version of Europe. Really, that's all of New England - New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, maybe parts of Pennsylvania depending on who you talk to.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]