# Ariz. is AZ, dammit **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 17, 2013, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168 "2013-06-17T08:27:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/21 "2013-06-17T15:58:53Z")
I once heard a British weatherman on BBC TV talking about the weather in Arizona around “Tuck-sun.” I bet the OP would have gone ballistic over that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/22 "2013-06-17T16:16:57Z")
I sometimes still use the traditional Ill. when I send cards. When I send them to relatives in Chicago, however, I no longer put the zone. I have progressed to zip codes! Anyway, I too don’t have them all memorized. The traditional abbreviations are easier. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/23 "2013-06-17T16:26:36Z")
And don’t forget that both Canada and Mexico have two-letter postal abbreviations for their provinces and states as well. [Canadian abbreviations](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_postal_abbreviations_for_provinces_and_territories) are ‘compatible’ with US ones, in that they are different; Mexican ones [overlap](http://www.statoids.com/umx.html) with US ones (and Canadian ones as well: BC = British Columbia and Baja California). ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/24 "2013-06-17T16:35:58Z")
I always leave Arizona as [del]is[/del] AZ. ---
**Author:** ![Taiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b2d939/32.png) [@Taiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/25 "2013-06-17T16:39:40Z")
Never like the abbreviation for arizona that way either, I’ve always called it AZ. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/26 "2013-06-17T17:13:17Z")
> [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > Phoenix is NOT the 4th largest city in the U.S. That distinction goes to Houston. Phoenix is the 6th largest (just smaller than Philly) > > [List of United States cities by population - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population) Post #6. 😉 Although to your credit, you do have a cite. Anyway, using AZ takes away a good pun. I live in a town that’s so baseball-crazy, they named it Norunsnohitsno, Ariz. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/27 "2013-06-17T17:17:11Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I once heard a British weatherman on BBC TV talking about the weather in Arizona around “Tuck-sun.” I bet the OP would have gone ballistic over that. 😃 Everybody from around here knows it’s “Too-stoned.” 😃 ---
**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:** [June 17, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/28 "2013-06-17T17:20:34Z")
I dunno, Mich, Fla, Colo, Minn, Wis, Mass all come to mind. Tell you what- get rid of Arpaio and we’ll talk about getting you some respect. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/29 "2013-06-17T17:34:05Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I once heard a British weatherman on BBC TV talking about the weather in Arizona around “Tuck-sun.” I bet the OP would have gone ballistic over that. 😃 And then there was the time in a local paper when some editor, presumably a Brit, Anglicized the state’s spelling to Arisona. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/30 "2013-06-17T18:05:16Z")
Try living in Washington. Guess which one. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/31 "2013-06-17T18:22:11Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > Try living in Washington. Guess which one. LOL! Was just going to post this. “No, the OTHER one”. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/32 "2013-06-17T19:25:02Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > …Kentucky usually does get dropped down to KY (or Ky.)… I’ve had their jelly. It tastes like crap, but goes down easy. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/33 "2013-06-18T00:05:18Z")
> [@PeacePlease](#): > > Find me another state where they use the ‘old’ abbreviation versus the postal code and I’ll shut up!!! (But thanks for the info.) > > AND I still maintain that we are the “forgotten” state. People just don’t realize how huge our urban population is…sigh. Cry me a river: > [@runner pat](#): > > At least no one believes Ariz. is [a foreign country.](http://www.nmmagazine.com/one-of-our-50-is-missing/) Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/34 "2013-06-18T02:02:51Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And I can see all the A and M abbreviations being confusing, which is why in news copy the true abbreviation style (as opposed to the two-letter code system or contractions) is clearer. Actually, I should amend that, as some of the traditional shortenings are contractions and not abbreviations technically (like Fla. and Ga.) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/35 "2013-06-18T02:16:52Z")
> [@PeacePlease](#): > > Every frickin’ news story I see (most lately McCain’s blather) refers to Arizona as Ariz. AS IF this state didn’t have the FOURTH biggest city in the US. \ Sixth largest. Houston is the fourth. > **[List of United States cities by population](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population)** > > Download coordinates as: > Population \ ---
**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:** [June 18, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/36 "2013-06-18T02:41:02Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > And don’t forget that both Canada and Mexico have two-letter postal abbreviations for their provinces and states as well. Australia has postal abbreviations, though a majority are three letters (ACT, NSW, QLD, TAS, VIC). So if you write “WA” in Australia, no one thinks you’re talking about Washington State – you mean Western Australia. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/37 "2013-06-18T04:04:57Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Let me see: I’m from Ind. To my north is Mich. Traveling clockwise, well, nobody around here abbreviates Ohio; then Kentucky usually does get dropped down to KY (or Ky.), and on around to Ill. Nothing unusual about over-two-letter abbreviations in the Midwest (MW). Born and raised in Cincinnati, O.; currently posting from Columbus, O. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/38 "2013-06-18T04:11:05Z")
Has anybody informed the OP, yet, that Houston is actually the fourth largest city in the US, not Phoenix? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/39 "2013-06-18T04:17:04Z")
Maybe he meant tallest? ---
**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:** [June 18, 2013, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/40 "2013-06-18T04:21:19Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Born and raised in Cincinnati, O.; currently posting from Columbus, O. Yes, “O.” is the traditional abbreviation for the Buckeye State, but it dates from the time when the land north of Texas was Indian Territory. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168.md?page=3)