# An unusual demographic map of the U.S. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 28, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762 "2014-10-28T15:09:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762/1 "2014-10-28T15:09:18Z")
[![](https://johngushue.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451f25369e20168e7366512970c-pi) ](https://johngushue.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451f25369e20168e7366512970c-pi) Source material: [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmIsdMWzdaE) ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762/2 "2014-10-28T15:19:34Z")
Good: maps nowadays are more often including the UP of Michigan. We’re not seeing as much of [this](http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/11/wheres_the_up_map_on_white_hou.html) as we used to. Bad: this is the second map in about a week where the maker seems to be unsure just want that thing hanging off of Wisconsin is. WTF? Did Brian Wilson sing “The midwest farmer’s daughters except for those in the UP of Michigan make you feel alright”? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762/3 "2014-10-28T15:29:04Z")
Although I’m an LP guy I can sympathize with the Yoopers feeling slighted. I think the mapmaker blew it more on the Midwest and northern definitions. I don’t think WV is a Midwestern state, plus I’d lump MI, WI, and MN in the north as opposed to the Midwest. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762/4 "2014-10-28T18:37:26Z")
I think the cartographer is confused as far as the SoW is concerned. As a neighbor’s bumper sticker put it, “Washatonians don’t tan, they rust”. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762/5 "2014-10-28T18:57:30Z")
I guess I never paid much attention to the lyrics, but I’m guessing the “tanned” girls are not from _that_ West Coast. WV doesn’t go into any of the categories, really, and not sure if KY and TN are in different ones. If SoW means what I think it does, what about NoW? P.S. pasty rhymes with tasty. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762/6 "2014-10-28T19:16:03Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I don’t think WV is a Midwestern state So what do the Appalachian girls do? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762/7 "2014-10-28T19:32:50Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > … I don’t think WV is a Midwestern state, … Kentucky isn’t in the Midwest either. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762/8 "2014-10-28T19:42:30Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > P.S. pasty rhymes with tasty. Not [this kind](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasty) of pasty. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762/9 "2014-10-28T20:10:45Z")
Forget the cartography. The dataset is 49 years out of date. The young females under study would now be 65 to 75 years old. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762/10 "2014-10-28T21:31:29Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > \<…\> > > If SoW means what I think it does, what about NoW? > > \<…\> The definition of “SoW” is in my location. It stems from a comment by James Farley (Postmaster under FDR) who referred to the “47 states and the . . .”. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762/11 "2014-10-29T20:03:02Z")
And what’s with Long Island? And the western part of Maryland? And what if you live within a letter like “O”? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762/12 "2014-11-05T16:23:55Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And what’s with Long Island? And the western part of Maryland? And what if you live within a letter like “O”? I don’t know. How are the girls there? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762/13 "2014-11-06T03:18:57Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Although I’m an LP guy I can sympathize with the Yoopers feeling slighted. I think the mapmaker blew it more on the Midwest and northern definitions. I don’t think WV is a Midwestern state, plus I’d lump MI, WI, and MN in the north as opposed to the Midwest. I agree that WV is not really a midwestern state, but the comment about farmer’s daughters works. Though I think it would fit better to put them in the South. They have the accents–at least as much as Arkansas does, despite not really being Southern, either. And Virginia part of the Confederacy, so it could be moved down, too. I do agree with you on the Northern states, but I think, other than Alaska, the ones he does have marked as Northern are Western. Minnesota is _the_ state I think of when I think of Northern states. Also, it needs to show the rest of the world with a caption “not the cutest.” ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762/14 "2014-11-06T03:26:14Z")
Various areas of “no data” is where I’ve spent literally my entire life since 1998. It’s a wonder I’ve done even as well as I have with no guidance from the Brian. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Joker_and_the_Thief)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-unusual-demographic-map-of-the-u-s/702762/15 "2014-11-06T07:38:07Z")
But there is data on the southwestern states–they’re the cutest girls in the world! (though so are the rest of the states). And he messed up the lyrics too. It’s “dolls by a palm tree in the sand”, not “stand by palm trees”. Incompetent. Someone needs to remake this (and they should take care of the terrible .jpg artifacts and dimensions too).