Why do Americans give their Postal Address when asked where they LIVE ?

[Dandmb50]

When I chat on ICQ or AOL I often ask people where they are from and they give me an anwer like well "I'm From KY" "I'm from CA" "I'm from NY" No offence but I live in Canada and when people ask me where I live I tell them I'm from Toronto. Are Americans so conceited that they think everyone in the world knows the Zip codes for american cities? Or do most of them just not know how to spell the city that they live in ?
I'm not mailing you a letter I'm asking people where they live. Whats the reason most Americans give out Zip codes. There are other people on the net other than Americans.
Daniel.....M4Y 1K2 TO, ON, CA

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Please feel free to email me
Dandmb50@aol.com

[BurnMeUp]

not to nitpick but a zip code is a 5 digit number, CA is just an abbreviation. It has nothing to do with postal codes. Now it would be different if you asked me where i lived and instead of saying Redomnd WA i said 98052 that would be a zip code.

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To deal with men by force is as impractical as to deal with nature by persuasion.

[falcon2]

Why do you abbreviate your location as "Georgia", Jeffrey? I mean, how am I supposed to know if you live in the Georgia, USA or the Republic of Georgia? Please, for the sake of convenience locate yourself using standard longitude and latitude!

Yeah, and for gods sake include minutes and seconds, cause I could spend all damn night jockying my satelite around looking for ... uh, nevermind.

[Ukulele Ike]

Call me a moldy fig, but I've ALWAYS hated the two-letter state abbreviations.

Ah, for the days when I could go climbing in Colo., sun myself in Calif. and Fla., gamble in Nev., and go for a sail on a Minn. lake!

(Canadians: please read as Colorado, California, Florida, Nevada, Minnesota.)

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Uke

[StrTrkr777]

I am sorry Alpha, what was I thinking.

I live in Georgia, USA. The Long/Lat is about 84 degrees 30 minutes/ about 34 degrees.

I do not have a resource that gets me any closer than that.

Jeffery

Keeves, I give up. What's PQ?

In college, I worked part time at the US post office in North Suburban, IL - a mail sorting facility. (it's got its own zip code: 60199). (Illinois, that is.)

Addresses on mail are required to use these 2-letter abbreviations for states, so if you use the full state name or a quaint abbreviation, it might not get delivered.

When sorting mail, I was amused by some of addresses on letters, including:

H. E. , IL (for Hoffman Estates, of course(?))

Or just: City

The latter was probably intended for the 'local' slot at the neighborhood post office. Bad idea.

A lot of mail for Ontario, CA (California) got misdirected to Canada, and a lot of mail to countries in Central America (abbreviated C.A. as the final line on the address) got misdirected to California.

[Keeves]

I don't know enough French to sure of exactly what PQ means, but I figure "Province of Quebec" to be close enough.

[dougie_monty]

For those of us who live within the range of the Thomas Guides (published from Los Angeles County, CA) the ZIP Codes can be baffling. There is a part of my ZIP Code, Gardena 90248, which is in L. A. City; this zone has a boundary with Los Angeles 90044--which is in the L. A. Postal Zone but not part of any city--as shown in the Thomas ZIP Code atlas. (I live within the city limits of Gardena, which is generally south of central Los Angeles.)

[Alan Q]

I would think any one conversant enough with US geography to have a concept of "Nevada" would be able to make an educated guess about "NV"--next time the situation arises, maybe I'll just say "Winnemucca", and wait for the response.
--Alan Q

[Nickrz]

I have no sympathy for someone who cannot be bothered to learn the abbreviations for the various United States. Not all of us are blessed (or cursed) with living near an immediately recognizable big city.

Do you mean when someone tells you "I'm from KY" you have to ask them where and what that is? Think it's some kind of jelly or something?

[Bluepony]

OK, I'VE JUST ABOUT HAD ENOUGH!!! NOW WE CAN'T GIVE PROPER DIRECTIONS!! INVASION NOW!!! Load the dogs, coolers, and lawn chairs into the trucks. We're going north to teach these Molson-swilling, World Series-stealin', bilingual tuke-wearin', puck lovers a serious lesson!! (They have Wal-Marts in Toronto?) WHO'S WITH ME!!!?????

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"...send lawyers, guns, and money..."

Warren Zevon

[SuperNerd]

Okay, enough lurking - I've got to wade into this mess ...

1. I was born in and currently live in Canada and I will never apologize for this. I lived in the States for 12, 13 years (in CA, by the way), I had a choice and I chose here. So there.

2. Bluepony: just try to invade. Ha! We'll arrange a freak snowstorm and when you slide into the ditch we'll beat you sensless with our walrus tusks. We won't even feel your defensive punches through our parkas.

3. Just about every Canadian knows the official state abbreviations, and yes, we have official province abbrevs. as well. And, PQ is (as far as I can tell) Province of Quebec - we don't know what their official country code will be once they finally declare independance.

4. I believe I can paraphrase the OP question as follows: why, when you are asked where you live, do you just give a state instead of a more precise location?

Okay, now then. Canada only has four or five cities of more than a million people, and we tend to identify outselves very closely to our city of residence. I think this is part of the answer. Also, I've been on the web for many years now, I've seen a bunch of strang s**t here and often I don't want people to have too much specific information about me. So, even though I live in (city name deleted), I'll tell people that I live in Western Canada or maybe in AB.

Figure that one out...

-E-

[bantmof]

Ok, I'm a United Statesian(? :-), but I'm familiar with most of the 2 letter abbreviations for the provinces as well: i.e, AB for Alberta, SK for Saskatuwan(sp?), BC for British Columbia, ON for Ontario, NB for New Brunswick, etc. They're are all (intentionally, I assume!) unique with respect to the two letter US state abbrevs, so there is no ambiguity if you specify the two letter abbrev for where you live anywhere in the US or Canada. As an experiment, I once sent a letter to a friend in Canada without specifying "Canada" anywhere, and it got there just fine.

To the author of the original note: you can say "Toronto" and everybody knows where it is because it's a big city. But if you lived in a city with a population of 500 people that nobody every heard of outside of that region, would you be as likely to specify your location using just the city name? No, but you might say "SW Ontario", and people would know where that was even if they'd never heard of whatever tiny burg you were from. And maybe you'd someday get lazy and just say "SW ON" instead of spelling it out. Same deal.

And did you really not know that those were two-letter abbrevs for US states and not "zip codes"?

I usually tend to assume that people in Canada have at least heard of most of the US states, even if maybe they can't place them on the map, and vice versa, that most ppl in the US have at least heard of most of the provinces except maybe for that new one way up north and maybe also Prince Edward Island.

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peas on earth

[SuperNerd]

Okay, Dandmb50 signed the posting with a postal code (we use an alphanumeric variant of the U.S. zip code (which, by the way, is NOT five digits, it's really nine (or actually five plus an optional four)(? Please correct me if I'm wrong))). Okay, according to Canada Post, this puts him/her at an even address between 2 and 52 on Dundonald Street in Toronto, ON. Isn't the web wonderful? Bluepony, if you want to invade, please start with that block and see how far you get.

Next, bantmof, according to your profile you live in Cleveland and it's not surprising that you know about Canada. As you go further south you find that the concept gets increasingly fuzzy. This is one of the biggest things that bug Canadians. Oh yeah, and Toronto in general - those people have a disturbing tendancy to assume that they are ALL of Canada and kind of ignore the rest of the country ... oops, sorry, I digress. Anyway, I'm off now to find out if Nunavit (new Territory in the far north, not an official province) got a mail abbreviation. And along the way, I'll try to confirm that Prince Edward Island (informally, PEI) does not have a two letter cookie - I'm pretty sure that it's considered to be part of Newfoundland/Labrador.

As to whether there was confusion between state codes and zip codes, I don't have an easy answer. As much as I like to promote Canadianisms, even us Northern dwellers make mistakes from time to time ...

Later,
-E-
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YOU try typing with a dog in your lap ...

[SuperNerd]

Heck. Nunavit shares code NT with the Nortwest Territories, somthing that probably annoys them terribly. Prince Edward Island is PE, so it really is considered a seperate place. NF covers both Newfoundland and Labrador. Now we all know.

I should have pointed out in the previous post that our postal code is faily powerful: from the code posted, I could pin the address down to one side of the block on a specific street in a specific city in Canada. So, you could probably get a letter delivered (if the postal carrier has a sense of humor) addressed with a last name and a postal code.

-E-

[bantmof]

It's a similar deal with the newfangled nine digit zipcodes in the US. I believe most of them point to a specific house or apartment complex. I know mine is different from my neighbor's.

I definately believe you that it gets "fuzzier" as you go south. I saw an interview on Leno where he was talking to some teen actress from california, asking her about her recent trip to Europe. Jay asked what countries she had visited in Europe. "Germany, France, Canada, ...." Must be that OTHER Canada over in Europe.

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peas on earth

[handy]

I must be more sane then most of ya. I don't give out my city to people on the net [most of the time] cuz I don't know they could be weirdo stalker freaks.

[AzRaek]

Alan Q; AAARGHH WINNEMUCCA!
I lived there foe nine months taking care of my brother's boys (Malamute and Elkhound) when he got a job in Mexico. Which grocery store- Raley's, Uptown market or Albertson's (Used to be Johnson's or something)? I worked at Model T casino, Super 8, The gas station on the north end of Wmca Blvd, and the potato-packing factory.

[Drain Bead]

I say I'm from Ohio. It's four letters, and easy to type out. If anyone cares to know further, I'll say I live in Columbus. I won't say that alone because there's about ten of them, and although mine is the biggest, it's still easily confused.

[dougie_monty]

I have always wondered what the letters and numbers in Canadian "Zip Codes" meant.

[matt_mcl]

Re Canadian zip codes: We call them postal codes, dear. The first letter represents the province or region of province; the rest are pretty much serial. Unlike the US, they go down to street level (i.e. only people on my block have my same postal code).

Re Nunavut: We still use NT for the time being, but Canada Post is going to get us to use NU. There was a bit of annoyance when it was realized that "nu" is French for "naked", but they did some more checking and found out that French people didn't actually mind. There was no controversy over the fact that "nu" is Yiddish for "well now".

Re spelling: Saskatchewan.

I have no sympathy for someone who cannot be bothered to learn the abbreviations for the various United States.

The other day the lady at the Illinois tourist bureau asked me how to spell "Quebec", so don't come complaining to me.

[Keeves]

"I'm From KY" "I'm from CA" "I'm from NY"These are not"Zip codes for american cities". They are abbreviations for American STATES.

Specifically, in your example, Kentucky, California, and New York.

It is not clear whether you are bothered by the use of abbreviations, or whether we refer to our home state rather than home city. How would you feel about someone who wrote "I'm from PQ" or "I'm from BC"?

[Falcon]

I always give the state because no one ever knows where Silver Spring is in Maryland. However, most of the time I just say I live near Washington DC - it's close enough, and then most people know where it is...

[Guy Propski]

Dandmb50--it's just force of habit. We all use the 2 character state abbreviations so often, we forget those outside the US don't automatically know them. Aren't there two-character abbreviations for the provinces?

[Dandmb50]

[These are not "Zip codes for american cities". They are abbreviations for American STATES.
Specifically, in your example, Kentucky, California, and New York.]

Well there you go but the same thing applies do Americans think that everyone in the world knows the abbreviations of your state or city. We just tell people where we live because we realize that people from all over the world may not know "our" abbriviations. Don't get me wrong I love the USA and know most of the abreviations but always wondered why Americans don't say where they're from.



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Please feel free to email me
Dandmb50@aol.com

[StrTrkr777]

Probably just a habit now. I have gone so long typing or writing GA that I seldom spell out Georgia. Just assume if it is a 2 character representation then it is a US State. Cities are not as often abbreviated. LA is Louisiana, but L.A. is Los Angeles. Never use the periods for the states.

Jeffery

[Narile]

Actually falcon, I do know where Silver Springs is....my mother grew up in Takoma Park, and most of her family still lives in Takoma Park or Silver Springs.

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>>Being Chaotic Evil means never having to say your sorry....unless the other guy is bigger than you.<<

---The dragon observes

[funneefarmer]

Frankly I never say I'm from NY, but then again I don't get into the chat thing much. When asked where I'm from I always say " near Cooperstown". Even people who aren't baseball fans seem to know where I'm talking about. Besides when people say NY how do you know if they're talking about the city or the state, and believe me there is a huge difference.

[Alphagene]

Why do you abbreviate your location as "Georgia", Jeffrey? I mean, how am I supposed to know if you live in the Georgia, USA or the Republic of Georgia? Please, for the sake of convenience locate yourself using standard longitude and latitude!

[bantmof]

Ok, so what actually is the difference between a province and a territory?

And which is which? NWT, Yukon, and Nunavut are territories, right? Are all the others provinces?

Obviously this isn't the real definition, but since I don't actually know the difference, I had formed the mental image that "provinces have people in them, and territories don't". I.e, very few people live in NWT or Yukon, but a lot of people live in Ontario or British Columbia. But what is the REAL distinction?

Down here we also have "states" (e.g, florida) and "commonwealths" (e.g, massachusetts), but I have no clue what the difference is, if any. It doesn't seem to be given much attention either way, but the prov/territory thing seems like a more significant difference somehow.

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peas on earth

[eggo]

>>>>Down here we also have "states" (e.g, florida) and "commonwealths" (e.g, massachusetts), but I have no clue what the difference is, if any. It doesn't seem to be given much attention either way, but the prov/territory thing seems like a more significant difference somehow.
<<<<

ummm, no. massachusetts is a state man. i think it was like the second one (after pensilvania--see those new quarters are good for *something*)

people like this make me question the state (no pun intended) of our fine country. *sigh*


eggo

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i am on a never-ending quest to eliminate capital letters

[bantmof]

From eggo:

ummm, no. massachusetts is a state man.

Well, the Massachusetts government calls itself a Commonwealth. From the Massachusetts constitution itself:

"...ordain and establish the following Declaration of Rights, and Frame of Government, as the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."

And even use commonwealth almost (but not quite) universally when not using the proper name, as in:

"...the people of this commonwealth have a right..." etc.

people like this make me question the state (no pun intended) of our fine country. *sigh*

Since you were so snippy about "correcting" my claim that Massachussets is a Commonwealth, perhaps you could explain why Massachusetts appears to call itself a commonwealth, why Massachusetts has a "Secretary of the Commonwealth", a "Commonwealth Ethics Commission", and so on and so forth? Is your assertion that Mass is NOT a commonwealth, in spite of the fact that they call themselves one? And if that's not your assertion, then what in the blazes are you calling my education into question for? I feel that was a little uncalled for.

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peas on earth

[BoBettie]

Handy hit the nail on the head- the question was, why don't we give out city locations?

I live in a reletively city in my large state of NY. If you look at my profile, you can see I'm a computer instructor. I've also given my full first name on other boards in another discussion (It's Suzette). So come to my small town, stalker freak, and start asking around- what computer places do training? Any instructors named Suzette? (Just me, I assure you). Next thing I know some freak is at my house, getting chewed up by my dogs. Who needs that?
Speaking of which, funeefarmer- we're neighbors...I know exactly where Cooperstown is...(case in point). I'll be over on Fri to give you a hand on the farm :)


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An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; A pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity.

[funneefarmer]

Hey Zette I live in a small town called Edmeston. Come on down, if you're a stalker I'll be so flattered. Zip code 13335, yes there is 4 numbers after it but since the whole town uses the same numbers at the end it all seems kind of pointless to me.

[ChuckSki]

Eggo -

Too much syrup on the brain this morning? Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Massachusetts are all Commonwealths. And Delaware is "The First State". Puerto Rico is also oficially a Commonwealth, to note its official status as an autonomous, self-governing political unit voluntarily associated with the United States.

To quote YOU:
"people like this make me question the state (no pun intended) of our fine country.
*sigh*"
I know what you mean.

Chuckski

[Keeves]

Hawaii is a state. Guam is a territory.

Any more questions?

[cmkeller]

Supernerd:

Anyway, I'm off now to find out if Nunavit (new Territory in the far north, not an official province) got a mail abbreviation. And along the way, I'll try to confirm that Prince Edward Island (informally, PEI) does not have a two letter cookie - I'm pretty sure that it's considered to be part of Newfoundland/Labrador.

Nunavut doesn't have an official mail abbreviation yet, but, in NU is indeed problematic, NN should do the trick just fine, and I imagine it will.

Prince Edward Island is a separate province from Newfoundland and Labrador (in fact, it was one of the first provinces, while Newfoundland and Labrador is the most recent). It does have PE as an official postal abbreviation, but most people still use PEI because it looks more descriptive. NF covers both Newfoundland and Labrador, but I've seen LB used for Labrador in one or two places. I'm pretty sure it's not an official postal abbreviation, though.

eggo:
ummm, no. massachusetts is a state man. i think it was like the second one (after pensilvania--see those new quarters are good for *something*)

Apparently the new quarters aren't good for teaching you the order of states, because otherwise, you would have noticed that Pennsylvania itself was the second to come out (after Delaware) and following Pennsylvania came New Jersey. Massachusetts was the sixth state.

As for the difference between states that call themselves commonwealths and states that don't, there is none. See http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_307.html for how Cecil explains the matter.

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Chaim Mattis Keller
ckeller@schicktech.com

"Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be
the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible.
The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks."
-- Douglas Adams's Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective

[Akatsukami]

bantmof writes:Jay asked what countries she had visited in Europe. "Germany, France, Canada, ...." Must be that OTHER Canada over in Europe.
Old Brunswick? Scotia Senex? Foundalongtimeagoland?



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"Kings die, and leave their crowns to their sons. Shmuel HaKatan took all the treasures in the world, and went away."

[John W. Kennedy]

Or just: City

The latter was probably intended for the 'local' slot at the neighborhood post office. Bad idea.


Must be someone fairly old. Back before the introduction of ZIP codes and automated sorting equipment, an address of "City" was perfectly normal and expected.

As to the size, the original ZIP codes had five digits, which got to the specific post office. The longer 5+4-digit ZIP codes get it down to a block or so, so that the mail will be put into the right carrier's sack.

By the way, the two-character state abbreviations are a direct result of ZIP codes. Some (ME for Maine) go back earlier, but other states were longer (Cal for California, Mass for Massachusetts). The P.O. created the two-character codes so that bulk mailers would have room on their computers (or pre-computer systems) to fit the ZIP code in.

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John W. Kennedy
"Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays."
-- Charles Williams

[Markxxx]

Mass mailers use either 12 or 15 digit zips. By the way ZIP means Zone Improvement Plan. But getting back to the author's gripe I must confer.I tell people I am from CHICAGO. Not IL. What use is it I'm more likely to have something in common with someone from Milwaukee (WI) than downstate IL. I think it's people in chat rooms are afraid they may meet someone in their they know in real life.

[mr john]

Basically Americans are isolationists (us not the govt.)We don't think or care about other countries much. W e assume that everybody we are typing with is a U.S.of American. We certainly don't think about whether our familar abbreviations are familiar to every one. Aside, I never used to get "are we there yet" when driving with the kids. But I used to get "what town is this?',Sometimes the answer had to be"We aren't in a town we are in the country." " Oh,what country is it?" I eventually got to paying attention so I could tell them what COUNTY we were in,except in LA ,uh,Louisiana . Also i can't spell Miss. vs Mississippisipissipi. When I lived in New Mexico it was not at all unusual to have a phone conversation with some supplier who would politly apologize that they did not ship international orders.Even after I repeated and even spelled the name.They were not just not hearing the NEW.

[dkgreath]

I always say I am from Dallas. Everyone seems to know where Dallas is. Sometimes I just say D/FW or Big D.

OK, I'VE JUST ABOUT HAD ENOUGH!!! NOW WE CAN'T GIVE PROPER DIRECTIONS!! INVASION NOW!!!

Oh come on, our Salvation Army could kick thier ass.

I apologize for that. I heard a comedian say it once and I have always wanted to say it.

[Dandmb50]

I have always wondered what the letters and numbers in Canadian "Zip Codes" meant.
That has always been my beef too I think having letters and numbers was such a stupid idea since letters sound similar and makes people have to say my postal code is M like Mary 1 K like Kenneth etc. It does however make sence since M for instance is all of Toronto and so on but it is damn confusing when giving the code to someone.
I honestly think they did it that way just to be different from the US, but when someone asks me on-line where I live I still say Toronto, not ON.....

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Please feel free to email me
Dandmb50@aol.com

[Markxxx]

I hate Canadian Postal codes cause you have to hit the shift key and it slows you down typing to go to number CAPITAL LETTER number etc. All numbers keeps my WPM average higher.

[matt_mcl]

Obviously this isn't the real definition, but since I don't actually know the difference, I had formed the mental image that "provinces have people in them, and territories don't". I.e, very few people live in NWT or Yukon, but a lot of people live in Ontario or British Columbia. But what is the REAL distinction?

Ok, here goes.

The Yukon, NWT, and Nunavut are all territories. All the rest (BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island) are provinces. There is a slight distinction between provinces and territories, chiefly that Ottawa has a greater influence on territorial governing than in provincial.

Prince Edward Island is indeed a province, the smallest in Canada, and has been for a very long time. Even if it were a part of another province, it would probably be a part of New Brunswick, to which it has recently been connected by the Confederation Bridge. But it is quite separate.

The province of Newfoundland is composed of the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the mainland, and for that reason is sometimes called Newfoundland and Labrador. But it is one province.

[Lute Skywatcher]

When I am telling someone where I am orginally from, I say "Kankakee County, Illinois." I spent the first 11 years of my life in the small town of Bonfield but hardly anyone outside the county, and quite a few inside, has ever heard of it.

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"Age is mind over matter; if you don't mind, it don't matter." -Leroy "Satchel" Paige

[golgo13]

According to Canada Post <www.mailposte.ca>
Canda has 12 province codes, corresponding to our (United States) State codes, such as QC for Quebec and SK for Saskatchewan.

Canadian postal codes are always listed in the same format: K1A 0B1, for example. The sequence is always Alphabetical character/Number/Alpha (full space) Number/Alpha/Number. Each code represents a specific geographic location, ranging from one side of a city block to a specific company which receives large volumes of mail.

The significant character in their postal code is the first one which refers to a
province or territory. The letters W and Z are not used as the first letters of
postal codes; D, F, I, O, Q, and U are never used in Canadian postal codes.

For the most part the remaining 18 characters refer to provinces, but a few refer to
cities ( Toronto and Montreal). Of the provinces only Quebec and Ontario are further
divided into Quebec (G), Quebec West (J), Eastern Ontario (K), Central Ontario (L),
Southwestern Ontario (N), and Northern Ontario (P). This of course ignores their special Postal codes such as H0H 0H0 for Xmas and other holidays.

[dougie_monty]

Regarding the flak about "Commonwealth" versus "state": The Constitution, by its own terms (the 7th Article) would not go into effect until it was ratified by three-fourths of the original thirteen "states": in other words, nine. When New Hampshire ratified the Constitution, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts ("commonwealths" both), had already ratified it; so as far as the Constitution itself was concerned, Pennyslvania and Massachusetts were both "states" for legal purposes, and I believe it is safe to assume that Kentucky (1792)and Virginia (1788) were also "states." Cecil Adams took this topic up in "Return of the Straight Dope."

[Doobieous]

Personally i say "Monterey" (Because my hometown, Marina is not well known), then i get people fron New York, or eastern states who say "Where?" so then i have to clarify,and say "California". Then they say "oh", which leads to stupid questions about celebrities and other things..

Anyway, to answer the original question, most Americans say their state because a lot don't live in big recognizeable cities (like, those of us in Central California, where the nearest well known city is 100 - 200 miles to the north). If you asked me where i'm from i would say California (not abbreviated), but if you asked me where i lived i would say Marina.

[ruadh]

I'm from Maryland right outside of DC. When people ask me where I'm from I say DC - I don't say the name of the town because nobody has ever heard of it, and I don't say I'm from Maryland because then people think of Baltimore, which is much further away from my hometown than DC is.

Actually I suppose now they'd probably think of Burkittsville, which is even further.

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Never regret what seemed like a good idea at the time.

[Falcon]

Exactly ruadh! No one's ever heard of my town either, except for people who live here. (Burtonsville and Silver Spring aren't too big.) And the area around DC is *very* different from the area around Baltimore.

[ruadh]

Falcon: Largo. You?

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Never regret what seemed like a good idea at the time.

[ruadh]

oh duh, I just saw Burtonsville, I was reading too fast and thought you were just referring back to Burkittsville, never mind.

(feels stupid now)

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Never regret what seemed like a good idea at the time.

[Dandmb50]

W e assume that everybody we are typing with is a U.S.of American. We certainly don't think about whether our familar abbreviations are familiar to every one.

Exactly, that is my point.
It seems to me that americans think they are the only country in the world and I like the USA but common guys you are one small country in the world no matter how big your heads are. It seems the world is hearing more and more about your country nearly every day lately, unfortuneately I feel those jerks are a very very small minority.

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Please feel free to email me
Dandmb50@aol.com

[ebeth]

Drat. I thought I could resist adding my two cents, but I find my hand drawn to the keyboard.....


Ok, PQ doesn't stand for Province of Quebec. It stands for Province de Quebec. Pronounced: proVAINSs duh k(w)ayBECK, and it's (surprise) French.

so THERE.

-trilingual Canadian

When I chat on ICQ...

I guess some people are just in the habit of using acronyms without thinking whether they'll be understood.

Is Labrador the 11th province? I'm having trouble even locating it on maps I've looked at. Is it that roughly triangular area of mainland N.E. of Quebec, which, together with the island of Newfoundland makes up the province of Newfoundland?

[Kat]

ICQ doesn't stand for anything, it just sounds like "I Seek You" when spoken.

[Tengu]

That 'roughly triangular' bit is, indeed, Labrador. (The province is often (officially? I, as a Newfoundlander am ashamed to admit I don't know this....) referred to as Newfoundland and Labrador.)

So, there's still only 10 provinces and 3 territories.


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'They couldn't hit an Elephant from this dist...!'

Last words of General John Sedgwick

[Dandmb50]

When I chat on ICQ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess some people are just in the habit of using acronyms without thinking whether they'll be understood.

Well ver good you caught me there and ICQ I don't even know what it means. After reading these posts you have all made me re-consider my position because in all honesty I see what you mean now. I mean I even admit that I sometimes have a runny nose and reach for a "kleenex" it's actually a facial tissue, or after I relieve myself I pull up my ??
"zipper" wrong again it is a metal fastner Zipper and Kleenex were brand names of the products and we (the people) used the word so much it started to be the word for the thing.

But isn't it interesting in these posts how far off track people get. There talking about the Northwest Territtories and Labrador and Newfoundland, what a great world this is... eh?



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Please feel free to email me
Dandmb50@aol.com

[bantmof]

It seems to me that americans think they are the only country in the world and I like the USA but common guys you are one small country in the world no matter how big your heads are.

Not the only country in the world, but for a while, the only country present on the internet in a big way. It was really not long ago that 90% of the people on the internet were from the USA, so most people just assumed anyone they met online was a fellow yank.

Obviously that's not true any more, but the US is still by far the largest country on the net - something like 8 times bigger than the next closest - so there are a lot of people who still make that assumption, fair or not.

As for how big our heads are: thankfully, big enough to invent the internet (ne arpanet) in the first place! :-) You're welcome. (Just trying to fit into the ugly american thing here :-)

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peas on earth