# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/41 "2013-06-18T18:15:33Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Has anybody informed the OP, yet, that Houston is actually the fourth largest city in the US, not Phoenix? No, I believe not yet. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/42 "2013-06-19T10:44:58Z")
_"Standing on the corner in Houston, Arizona and such a fine sight to see…_ -The Eagles (the fourth largest band in history) ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/43 "2013-06-19T11:46:45Z")
Actually the fourth largest band (largest = best-selling) band would be [AC/DC. Eagles are number 8.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists) (I’m not counting solo artists as ‘bands’. If I did, the Eagles would be #15 - still smaller than Houston [Whitney Houston, that is, at number 11]. ) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/44 "2013-06-19T12:04:54Z")
Yanno, I live in Philly, which continues to be the fifth-largest city in the U.S. – that upstart Phoenix hasn’t yet overtaken us, despite their spreading their borders over all kinds of suburban/unincorporated areas, a la LA. (That’s Los Angeles, not Louisiana.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/45 "2013-06-19T12:09:39Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Agreed. I mean if I saw AZ, I would no doubt pick Arizona, but what about MI? Is it Michigan? Is it Minnesota? Is it Missouri? Mississippi perhaps? > > Sorry, I don’t have them memorized. it was on the news the mroing a mother in ar who had kill her three kids. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/46 "2013-06-19T12:41:03Z")
> [@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. 😃 That was a plot point on the old _FBI_ series. A Russian spy was coming through customs at a port. The agent asked him what ship he came in on, he looked at some board listing recent arrivals, and selected the “Tuck-son Queen”. He got in, but the the mispronunciation prompted the guy to report him, and Efrem and his team caught him by the end of the hour. Who needs the NSA and their snoop programs? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/47 "2013-06-19T13:57:25Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > 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). And even some “traditional” Mexican state abbreviations are the same as US ones. I once owned a hat labeled “HECHO EN MICH.” – made not in Michigan, but in Michoacán! ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/48 "2013-06-19T14:00:59Z")
> [@PeacePlease](#): > > As far as I can see they do this with NO OTHER state. I guess, even in that clear desert air, you can’t see very far. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/49 "2013-06-19T15:03:28Z")
I’m afraid OP will feel especially humiliated to know I don’t abbreviate Arizona often enough to even know how I do it. But I do _not_ substitute CA for Calif. … And won’t until Canada changes its Internet Country Code. And BTW, in 1700 Paris (France) was only the 4th largest city in the world – behind Ayutthaya (Siam), Beijing (Empire of the Great Qing), and Constantinople (Ottoman Empire). ---
**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 19, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/50 "2013-06-19T18:57:35Z")
Artesia, NM is (not has, IS) the 6th largest trailer park in New Mexico (USA). Just kidding, I don’t know what the trailer park ratings are, but Artesia sure has a lot of 5th wheels as residences. After the job was finished and we moved back to a relatively sane area (OKC) a couple of months ago, even my mother was thinking I had been out of country. We try to explain… ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/51 "2013-06-19T23:06:45Z")
The most outlandishly egregious falsehood that the OP indubitably fabricated for nefarious reasons that perhaps only he/she understands, and apparently only **I** had the wherewithal to sleuthfully unravel and unselfishly reveal to you all is: Arsezona quite certainly does not contain the FORTH largest city in the UnitStAm—that title, sir, belongs to Hustn., TXA. Hell, ARSA. doesn’t even contain the Fifth largest city! That title belongs to [Philla](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16387989&postcount=57)., Pnnsylvna. ---
**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 20, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/52 "2013-06-20T02:18:10Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > -The Eagles (the fourth largest band in history) This is difficult to believe. They’re only four guys. I’ve seen much larger bands. ---
**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 20, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/53 "2013-06-20T04:00:06Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > This is difficult to believe. They’re only four guys. I’ve seen much larger bands. Luther Vandros was pretty big for a while. The Bar-Kays, man. Those guys had some fat asses. 🆒 ---
**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:** [June 20, 2013, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/54 "2013-06-20T08:20:52Z")
A lot of people seem to think the postal code is AR, so I thought I was going to be feeling this rant. Instead, my comment about getting mail where the addresser wrote out “Hicktown,” Arizona will seem horribly out of place. ---
**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 20, 2013, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/55 "2013-06-20T08:57:42Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > A lot of people seem to think the postal code is AR … There should be a rule that names of states can’t start with the same two letters, but that would have meant that, back in 1788, either Maryland or Massachusetts would have needed a new name. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/56 "2013-06-20T11:54:48Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > This is difficult to believe. They’re only four guys. I’ve seen much larger bands. What is the deal with Earth, Wind, & Fire anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/57 "2013-06-20T12:36:23Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > What is the deal with Earth, Wind, & Fire anyway? EWF? They’re a band originally from Ill. who moved out to Calif. and became the 4th most pop. R&B band of all time. ---
**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 20, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/58 "2013-06-20T13:47:18Z")
Blood Sweat & Tears were that popular once. For 20 minutes… ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/59 "2013-06-20T16:55:29Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > EWF? They’re a band originally from Ill. who moved out to Calif. and became the 4th most pop. R&B band of all time. I know who they are. But how in the world do they manage to have 15 current members and 50 former members? Oh, I see what you did there. However, I still can’t figure out how they have so many people. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168/60 "2013-06-20T19:45:36Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > EWF? They’re a band originally from Ill. who moved out to Calif. and became the 4th most pop. R&B band of all time. 6th. Parliment is fourth, I believe. but, only if you include Funkadelic as a suburb. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ariz-is-az-dammit/661168.md?page=4)