# Do other states call themselves by their initials? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217 "2005-08-23T02:11:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/1 "2005-08-23T02:11:14Z")
In Pennsylvania, many people including me call the state by its initials (PA) in casual conversation. I’ve also heard people refer to residents at PAers, both in print and in speech. Do any other states do this? And does anyone know why PA people do it? I’ve always just accepted it without thinking about it critically but my mom said “PA” last night and so now I’m really curious! ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/2 "2005-08-23T02:12:28Z")
And obviously, I mean people in other states. States are inanimate. Silly me. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/3 "2005-08-23T02:21:40Z")
Generally, no. Pennsylvania is fairly unique in that regard. I am from Louisiana but LA is already taken. I live in Massachusetts now. People often call the state “Mass” which is a variant of the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/4 "2005-08-23T02:22:15Z")
No, never. > [@davenportavenger](#): > > And obviously, I mean people in other states. States are inanimate. Silly me. _Ohhhhhhh!_ Ok then, I have sometimes called the state I live in [del]disorganized[/del] MD. I have also heard others doing this, but rarely. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/5 "2005-08-23T02:29:26Z")
I’m from West Virginia, and I always remember “P.A.” as shorthand for Pennsylvania. (“P.A beer” was the higher-alcohol stuff). FWIW, West Virginians occasionally call it “W.V.” (ca. 1985, a local band did a cover of ‘Rocky Top’, replacing the lyrics _“Rocky Top, Tennessee”_ with _“Morgantown, Dubya Vee”_). ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/6 "2005-08-23T02:30:28Z")
I would wag if the postal code is fewer syables then the name then it woud be used. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/7 "2005-08-23T02:39:12Z")
I know people who used to call Oklahoma “OK,” on occasion. Everybody I knew referred to Oklahoma City as “OKC.” When I lived in California, Texas, and Colorado, I never heard the state referred to by its two-letter postal abbreviation although people did shorten the name on occasion. Well–never in Texas unless they were doing that “ass went to Washington” joke. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/8 "2005-08-23T04:07:23Z")
I’ve heard people call Vermont “VT” but it’s rare. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/9 "2005-08-23T04:13:49Z")
In the Australian context: - I’ve frequently heard people talk about WA (instead of Western Australia); - the Australian Capital Territory is universally referred to as “the ACT”. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/10 "2005-08-23T04:51:55Z")
I’ve heard some denizens of Massachusetts (such as the Magliozzi brothers on CarTalk) refer to their towns as “Cambridge, Ma.” They pronounced it as in “matter.” I have heard some folks in St. Louis, MO say their state as Moe. I worked with a guy from Kentucky, and everybody knew him as K-Y. His wife and kids still lived there, and he drove back every weekend. I have never heard anyone say IN as “in.” Even the hippest hoosiers don’t think of Indiana as “in.” ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/11 "2005-08-23T05:41:32Z")
I’ve mostly heard PA called that, but I’m pretty sure I’ve also heard people in Virginia say VA, although it could’ve just been me saying that. 🙂 I’ve heard southern California called “SoCal,” and I’ve seen northern California written as NorCal, but I don’t recall anyone ever saying NorCal. We northern Californians would probably take the time to say, “northern California.” ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/12 "2005-08-23T14:00:36Z")
I hear state initials almost all the time in reference to universities, at least. Nobody callls South Carolina “SC” on a regular basis, though. Sometimes we call it “South Calackalacky” to be funny. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/13 "2005-08-23T14:20:26Z")
We call ourselves Yoopers - that is, UP-ers, that is, residents of the **U** pper **P** eninsula of Michigan. Does that count? ---
**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:** [August 23, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/14 "2005-08-23T14:35:06Z")
Keep in mind that two-letter state abbreviations have only been around for 40 years or so, and didn’t really become popular until universal computerization of marketing databases in the 1970’s and '80’s. Before that, Pennsylvania was relatively unique in having a two-letter abbreviation. So for Pennsylvania, you had a two-syllable abbreviation, P-A, as opposed to a four-syllable state name. A two-syllable saving! In most states, the state name was shorter, and/or the abbreviation was longer. You don’t save anything by saying M-A-S-S instead of Massachusetts. If anything you might pronounce the “mass” as in UMass. Now that the two-letter abbreviations have become standard and well recognized, there’s no reason that people couldn’t say MA or CT or NM, but habits take a long time to become established. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/15 "2005-08-23T14:57:11Z")
> [@Freddy the Pig](#): > > Keep in mind that two-letter state abbreviations have only been around for 40 years or so, and didn’t really become popular until universal computerization of marketing databases in the 1970’s and '80’s. Before that, Pennsylvania was relatively unique in having a two-letter abbreviation. Into the 60s & beyond for some older folks, the mail abbreviation for PA was “Penna.” “PA” has been verbal preceding that to my knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/16 "2005-08-23T15:10:50Z")
Washington, DC is often referred to as **DC**. As in ‘District of Columbia,’ whatever _that_ means. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/17 "2005-08-23T15:12:00Z")
> [@Crandolph](#): > > Into the 60s & beyond for some older folks, the mail abbreviation for PA was “Penna.” “PA” has been verbal preceding that to my knowledge. I think PA (or its older rendering, “Pa.”) was a common alternative, though, even before the USPS conversion. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_U.S._state_abbreviations) shows both “Pa.” and “Penna.” as “traditional” abbreviations for Pennsylvania. ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/18 "2005-08-23T15:16:15Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I’ve mostly heard PA called that, but I’m pretty sure I’ve also heard people in Virginia say VA, although it could’ve just been me saying that. 🙂 > > I’ve heard southern California called “SoCal,” and I’ve seen northern California written as NorCal, but I don’t recall anyone ever saying NorCal. We northern Californians would probably take the time to say, “northern California.” Of course, those northern Virginians like to call it “NoVa.” It’s possibly even smarmier and more vomit-inducing than “SoCal” As a native West Virginian, I grew up hearing and saying “PA” all my life. And still the only example of that I’m familiar with. DC would count, except you limited it to states. And it’s a good thing Kentuckians don’t use the postal abbreviation in speech…it would cause too many giggles. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/19 "2005-08-23T15:21:52Z")
Yes, but “P.A.” was in use even before the postal codes: \*They’re really rockin Boston In Pittsburgh, P. A. \* – “Sweet Little Sixteen”, Chuck Berry, 1958 > [@Crandolph](#): > > Into the 60s & beyond for some older folks, the mail abbreviation for PA was “Penna.” “PA” has been verbal preceding that to my knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji_Kitakyusho)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217/20 "2005-08-23T15:27:12Z")
Here in BC, we call it… um… BC. Nobody says “British Columbia” unless they are forced to explain the acronym by foreigners. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-states-call-themselves-by-their-initials/318217.md?page=2)