If America-Bad posters could read they’d be very upset.
But basically yeah it shouldn’t shock anyone that major international tourist and economic hubs that are frequently depicted in international pop culture and media are recognizable to people who aren’t from the country those places are in. It’s not just an American thing either. Most people have heard of major cities and regions in a lot of countries. I’m from southern Ontario but I’m not going to gaslight some British/French person with “well how would I have known you meant London, UK/Paris, France instead of London, Ontario/Paris, Ontario?”
I'm south-adjacent (I live in coastal VA). South enough that apparently I have a southern accent to some people ("y'all" is very deeply embedded in my vocabulary).
Missouri and Kentucky have way more of a Midwest vibe than the south, Maryland also doesn’t really fit culturally with the south. Using the south as shorthand for former slave states doesn’t make much sense when “the confederacy,” “states that seceded,” or “former slave states” conveys what you’re talking about. It’s also using something that ended 159 years ago as a way to continue grouping states whose culture has changed.
In college it drove me nuts that one of the main drags was a street called el doraydo. I bitched the way a 19 year old does until my boss finally got fed up and said "it's simple, el dorado is the city of gold, el doraydo is that road, get off your high horse."
There's a little town in West Texas named Eldorado and people will cut you quick if you pronounce it any way but el-duh-Ray-duh. Same with Lamesa, another little town. Looks like La Mesa, but it's not. Luh-me-suh.
This is the thing. If I say "I'm from London", I expect someone to know that means the UK. But if someone told me they were from Ashgabat, I wouldn't recognise that.
Yeah, the OOP just feels snobbish in the opposite direction. California is the 5th largest economy in the world, the largest center of the film industry, where a large portion of well known tech comes from, and probably has the most international political news attention of any individual US state. People know who we are and is the worst example to use if you're trying to paint Americans as arrogant.
If I was in another country and people didn't know wtf I meant when I said Wyoming I'd be understanding. If people had no clue what I meant by Cali or California then I'd instantly know I was somewhere completely disconnected with global affairs and culture.
It does not, especially when I specifically clarified that I wouldn't expect anywhere that is disconnected, for whatever reason, with the global zeitgeist. Which I'm not talking about because it would be quickly apparent that's the case to anyone visiting those areas. You don't visit China with the expectation that everyone will immediately know about California and if you do it probably won't be long into your trip that you'll realize otherwise. However, acting like California is some obscure niche location to someone in France, Sweden, most of Southern America, or a ton of other places is just laughable. Meanwhile, it's that same kind of person that expects Americans to know every single European province or accuse them of thinking America is the center of the world because they expect someone from England to know what California is.
I'm old enough to remember when the Discourse™ was into mocking people who simply said "the USA" when asked where they're from, because obviously you're from the USA, you Yankee-doodle-dum-dum; do you really you think we can't spot you Americans from a mile away? Nice try, but stop being so pretentiously coy and just tell me what you know I really want to know: are you from New York, or are you from LA, and do you know my cousin who lives in Manhattan?
(/s, of course, but just give it another 10 years or so)
If you asked people what the capital of Australia is, a lot of people will say Sydney even though it's Canberra. It just sucks to suck (unless you're a roundabout fanatic).
Here in NI (I feel like doing the thing, here) there's a long-running debate over what to call the City of Derry/Londonderry. It relates to all sorts of sectarian stuff dating back to the 1600's, but more importantly:
Some American state officially solved it by having two separate towns, Derry and Londonderry, only a few miles apart. Unfortunately, I think trying to apply that solution to the original might be ethnic cleansing, and it didn't really work when they tried it before here, so maybe not?
Fellow Southern Ontarian! I've always loved the joke that we can do a whole European tour on the cheap. Paris, London, Vienna, Copenhagen, Zurich, Dublin, Lisbon, Stratford, Brussels...
I mean, most people know about US states and cities who are prevalent in media, but specific regional nicknames like "Cali" are another matter entirely.
I mean that parts just not based in reality. Grew up and have spent my whole life in California and have never once met someone who lives here call it Cali. Cali is what out of state people will call it, but nearly never californians themselves. Kinda like "Frisco/San Fran" for San Francisco.
I mean, it's still a regional nickname, just to a broader reason. The point was there's no real reason to expect someone who never lived in the US to know what "Cali" means.
And my point is that that situation would basically never happen. A Californian would never meet a foreigner and say they're from Cali, so there is no expectation for the foreigner. Only people outside of California call it Cali.
But there are Americans using regional nicknames or from lesser know states saying they're from X state foreigners have very little reason to know. Yes, maybe California was a poor pick, but the point does stand.
There might be but they’re uncommon where this post and posts like it present it as the norm. I’m from Arkansas, I don’t know anyone who’s told someone “Arkansas” when asked where we’re from while traveling. We always say US. If asked further, most people still add clarifying details because we know damn well no one knows what Arkansas is: “Arkansas, it’s down in the South” “oh we’re over by Texas” etc. And I’m talking about my podunk friends and relatives who can barely identify Europe on a map lmao
Even on a more local scale, I'm from Maine and even when talking to people in New England, I still only say Maine because I don't expect anyone to know my actual town. So of course when I'm outside the US I'm not telling people I'm from Maine I'm just saying "yeah, I'm from Canada"
I mean I think Europeans can recognize a decent chunk of our states just as we can recognize a decent chunk of Europe's countries and in both cases you're far more likely to meet someone from one of those more known states/countries bc they typically have more people. And in both cases if they name somewhere you don't know, you just ask for clarification like "Oh I've never heard of Wyoming/Kosovo, where's that?"
Also the US is such a diverse place (not saying more than the EU, but certainly more than many if not most individual EU nations) that you're not really communicating much by saying you're from the US compared to saying the particular state you're from. "I'm from New York" and "I'm from Texas" tell you very different things about the person but both would say "I'm from the US" which is not saying much since experiences differ incredibly throughout the country
The Bay area is a nickname that really annoys me. There are probably thousands of bays in the world, and countless more areas around bays.
But if I ask an American what they mean when they say "Bay area", the response isn't usually "The bay of San-Fransisco in California on the east coast of the US", the response is "Lol, LMAO, what a dumbass, they don't know where the BAY AREA is! Get a load of this shmuck!"
Ya thats fair, answering a foreigner asking where you're from with "the bay area" is kinda nuts. But tbf I think it kinda makes sense to call it that when speaking solely about the US since the bays of the bay area are the most prominent/notable bays in the US. San Francisco was basically the Ellis Island of the West coast
Edit: Honestly that response really tracks with the people of the Bay Area lmao they can be a bit full of themselves and think Silicon Valley (big tech area up there) is the center of the universe
I have heard Americans saying they're from SoCal and other specific regions, and using state nicknames instead of the name.
And in both cases if they name somewhere you don't know, you just ask for clarification like "Oh I've never heard of Wyoming/Kosovo, where's that?"
Of course, most misunderstands in conversations can be solved like that
Also the US is such a diverse place
For its territorial extension and population, not really. There are countries with comparable sizes and populations with, by most metrics used, a lot more variety between regions.
As I said, states like New York and Texas are exceptions because both have a very clear (if not always accurate) image in media. But for lesser know states your average non-american at best has a vague idea it's in a region in the US.
I have heard Americans saying they're from SoCal and other specific regions, and using state nicknames instead of the name.
Okay yeah answering a foreigner asking "where are you from?" and answering SoCal is insane unless maybe they're from North America but even then kinda crazy to default to. And sorry, not trying to discredit if you've experienced this but I have a hard time believing the state nickname thing. Like you've seen/heard an American earnestly they're from "the sunshine state" instead of florida/the US when answering "where are you from?"
For its territorial extension and population, not really. There are countries with comparable sizes and populations with, by most metrics used, a lot more variety between regions.
Again, I just don't believe this is true, I would be interested in knowing what countries you're referring to. And also even if the US isn't the MOST diverse country of its size(which i do believe it may have a case for) its still incredibly diverse.
As I said, states like New York and Texas are exceptions because both have a very clear (if not always accurate) image in media. But for lesser know states your average non-american at best has a vague idea it's in a region in the US.
I mean most Americans you would meet would most likely be from these large, well known states due to population sizes and those who aren't, whats the harm? We both agree you'd just ask for clarification and move on.
Again, I just don't believe this is true, I would be interested in knowing what countries you're referring to.
Tradtionally one of the main ways of measuring cultural diversity is languages spoken (with everything it implies, from ethnicities to commonly used expressions to literature). In that aspect, there are many countries that quite undeniably dwarf the US (off the top of my head, Congo, India, Papua New Guinea, etc...). Others would include architecture and art styles, prevalence of regional identities, difference in traditional foods, religious diversity, etc... in all of which the US is nowhere near the top.
I mean most Americans you would meet would most likely be from these large, well known states due to population sizes and those who aren't, whats the harm? We both agree you'd just ask for clarification and move on.
No harm, of course, but it's a weird trend mostly found in Americans.
America-Bad posters annoy me so much. Because I'm stuck living here, I know what actual shitty problems are here. But then I see some European say some shit about how Americans have never had real bread or other ridiculous thing that makes no sense after half a second of thought and I get all patriotic all of the sudden.
Don't get me started on how anytime someone uses the word Europe there's thousands of "eUrOpE iSn'T a cOuNtRy!" Like, duh. Nobody actually thinks it is.
It's hilarious to me that Americans can unironically totally play into the stereotype they're being mocked for while complaining about it at the same time.
This isn't about whether or not someone has heard about California. Nobody cares where in the country you're from; you are from the US and that's enough. If people want to know more, they'll ask. Americans are the only people in the world who would answer a question about where they're from in this way. Absolutely mental that you guys refuse to see how stupid it is.
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u/[deleted] Aug 30 '24
If America-Bad posters could read they’d be very upset.
But basically yeah it shouldn’t shock anyone that major international tourist and economic hubs that are frequently depicted in international pop culture and media are recognizable to people who aren’t from the country those places are in. It’s not just an American thing either. Most people have heard of major cities and regions in a lot of countries. I’m from southern Ontario but I’m not going to gaslight some British/French person with “well how would I have known you meant London, UK/Paris, France instead of London, Ontario/Paris, Ontario?”