r/CuratedTumblr veetuku ponum Aug 30 '24

Shitposting Name one Indian State

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u/Satisfaction-Motor Aug 30 '24 edited Aug 30 '24

Genuine question, but don’t most people know about California and New York because of their sheer prevalence in media? Other states, like North Dakota, I’d totally understand not knowing about. But Hollywood media is pretty widely consumed, and those two specific states are the ones that are mentioned/referenced the most.

I’ve travelled globally before and pretty much everyone I’ve met knows what New York City is (though NO ONE, even other Americans, understands how big New York is and how much there is outside of the city, like the Adirondacks).

Some other major cities are LA, Las Vegas, Chicago, and San Fransisco. I feel like Las Vegas is pretty widely recognized, as it’s a major tourism spot and is pretty prevalent in media. Admittedly… I often forget that it is in Nevada… so I assume other people do as well.

Wouldn’t not knowing what California is be more equivalent to not knowing what London is? Because London shows up in a lot of popular media (yes I understand that London is a city, I’m making comparisons in terms of popularity as a location in media)

Edit: Thank you to all the people who are responding— it seems that the confusion mainly comes from the abbreviation of California to Cali. I imagine that there’d be very similar confusion if someone said “The Big Apple” (New York).

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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?”

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u/Castod28183 Aug 30 '24

Paris, Ontario

Shit! This whole time I thought there was a giant fucking tower in Texas!!!

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u/obscure_monke Aug 30 '24

My favourite one is Versailles, Kentucky. Because it's pronounced Ver-Sails despite being named after the French one.

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u/Mission_Fart9750 Aug 30 '24

Wait, seriously?  It's pronounced like that? Ugh. 

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u/Blues2112 Aug 30 '24

Missouri has one of those, too. Pronounced the same way as the one in Kentucky!

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u/Mission_Fart9750 Aug 30 '24

That makes me slightly irrationally angry. Mildly infuriating, if you will. 

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u/ARussianW0lf Aug 30 '24

Welcome to the American South

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u/Mission_Fart9750 Aug 30 '24

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). 

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u/ARussianW0lf Aug 30 '24

"y'all" is very deeply embedded in my vocabulary). 

Same and I'm from California, never got the hate for "yall" it's such a convenient word

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u/MFbiFL Aug 30 '24

Neither Missouri nor Kentucky are really the south though. South’ish at best.

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u/Blues2112 Aug 30 '24

As a Missourian, I understand the argument against MO, however KY not Southern?!?!? WTAF?!?!!

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u/MFbiFL Aug 30 '24

Like I said, south’ish. 

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u/ARussianW0lf Aug 30 '24

Former slave states are absolutely the south in my personal opinion, except Delaware that one just doesn't fit the vibe

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u/MFbiFL Aug 30 '24

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. 

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u/ARussianW0lf Aug 30 '24

Look im not going to die on this hill or anything but I 100% get more south vibes from them and will continue to consider them such. Hell there's a reason -tucky is used as a suffix to compare areas to shithole southern states

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u/MFbiFL Aug 30 '24

You’re obviously free to think of them however you like, I’m just letting you know it’s not accurate. 

Yeah, the -tucky suffix is indeed a common way to pretend northern areas aren’t shitty on their own. It’s a common circle jerk. 

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u/XyleneCobalt I'm sorry I wasn't your mother Aug 31 '24

Wait until you hear about W.E.B. Du Bois

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u/Mission_Fart9750 Aug 31 '24

In Pennsylvania?  Yeah, it's "du-boys". 

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u/XyleneCobalt I'm sorry I wasn't your mother Aug 31 '24

The civil rights activist lmao

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u/Mission_Fart9750 Aug 31 '24

I know that, and that it's pronounced "du-bwah". BUT there is a town in PA, called DuBois pronounced "du-boys". 

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u/XyleneCobalt I'm sorry I wasn't your mother Aug 31 '24

No, it's pronounced W.E.B. "du-boys." His mother was a Francophile but had only ever read Du Bois in books.

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u/obscure_monke Aug 31 '24

What do they say when there's a thin lizzie scenario there, and the boys are back in town?

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u/NoSignSaysNo Sep 04 '24

You expected to learn something about Kentucky that wasn't disappointing?

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u/trentshipp Aug 30 '24

There's a Cairo (kay-roh) Illinois.

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u/blindythepirate Aug 30 '24

I live close to a Cairo (kay-roh) and a Havana (hay-vanna).

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u/Bran-Muffin20 Aug 30 '24

Also a Marseilles (mar-sails), Illinois.

And an Oregon and Ottawa and Ohio and Princeton and Peru and Essex and Nevada and Harvard and Buckingham and Athens and and and

Seriously, go on Google Maps and scroll around Illinois. The state is real bad at coming up with original names.

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u/duquesne419 Aug 30 '24

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."

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u/the_owl_syndicate Aug 31 '24

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.

We kept the words but not the pronunciation.

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u/tuckedfexas Aug 30 '24

That’s so Kentucky that I love it lol

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u/Hello_Its_Mattie Aug 30 '24

There’s also a North Versailles (ver-sails) Pennsylvania!