# Geography is apparently a lost art, sorry, skill
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [March 1, 2026, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118 "2026-03-01T19:43:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2026, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/1 "2026-03-01T19:43:58Z")
I recently read a blog on Microsoft Edge, where poster stated “In & Out opening in the East Coast” exact headline. Turns out they were referring to new location in Tennessee–when did they become “East Coast”? East of Mississippi River maybe, but doesn’t anyone look at a map anymore? I could only shake my head. Hope this person doesn’t help their kids with geography
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2026, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/2 "2026-03-01T19:50:09Z")
Two possibilities:
- AI-generated clumsy crap
- People are dumb
And, honestly, people not understanding U.S., geography, and misusing geographic terms, is nothing new.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2026, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/3 "2026-03-01T22:59:32Z")
I was thinking it might be a question of administrative regions for In & Out, and Tennessee was just lumped into the “East Coast” region.
But I googled it, and it turns out that it’s probably AI crap; apparently TN is the first location East of the Mississippi for In & Out, and it’s apparently a big deal because they apparently proclaimed at some past time that they’d never expand east of the Mississippi.
Get ready to be underwhelmed, Tennessee!
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2026, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/4 "2026-03-01T23:08:13Z")
The first couple years we lived in Florida, the radio kept mentioning the West Coast but nothing about Los Angeles or Frisco. 🤪
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### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2026, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/5 "2026-03-01T23:14:00Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> The first couple years we lived in Florida, the radio kept mentioning the West Coast but nothing about Los Angeles or Frisco
That’s at least better-justified than is calling Tennessee “East Coast.” Florida _does_ have distinct east and west coasts, after all.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2026, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/6 "2026-03-01T23:14:08Z")
I went to high school in Northern Idaho, and I can’t think of a single person that couldn’t name five states. The absolute ignorance I see today is disparaging to the max.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2026, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/7 "2026-03-01T23:18:55Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#):
>
> Florida _does_ have distinct east and west coasts, after all.
It does, though its “west coast” is often called the “Gulf Coast,” and its “east coast” is often called the “Atlantic Coast,” probably to reduce confusion.
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### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2026, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/8 "2026-03-01T23:21:44Z")
True. And there are any number of promotional names floating around to cause confusion (“Emerald Coast,” “Treasure Coast,” “Gold Coast,” “Sun Coast,” etc. etc.)
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2026, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/9 "2026-03-01T23:23:38Z")
“Space Coast.” (Didn’t he have his own talk show? 😄 )
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### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2026, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/10 "2026-03-01T23:45:26Z")
Well, kind of (_ **Space Ghost Coast to Coast** _ --an excellent program!) But, yeah, “Space Coast” is one of the commonly-used location terms in Florida.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2026, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/11 "2026-03-01T23:48:56Z")
Actually, checking In N Out’s website, they already have four Tennessee locations. So I don’t know what the news is.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/12 "2026-03-02T00:04:54Z")
Googling, apparently their location in Franklin, Tennessee (the fourth in that state) only opened five days ago.
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/13 "2026-03-02T01:13:54Z")
When we moved from the Boston area to Seattle and told people we were from Massachusetts, people asked if that was near Maryland. To them, anything east of Colorado was “back east”.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/14 "2026-03-02T05:18:41Z")
The fries are terrible. Sorry.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/15 "2026-03-02T05:42:07Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#):
>
> True. And there are any number of promotional names floating around to cause confusion (“Emerald Coast,” “Treasure Coast,” “Gold Coast,” “Sun Coast,” etc. etc.)
I’ve also seen “Third Coast” used.
And, yes, here along the Great Lakes, I’ve seen “Fourth Coast”.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/16 "2026-03-02T05:45:24Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> Actually, checking In N Out’s website, they already have four Tennessee locations. So I don’t know what the news is.
Probably related to Lynsi Snyder, the CEO of In-N-Out. She and her family are moving from California to Tennessee. This has apparently led to speculation that she will move the company’s headquarters to Tennessee as well.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/17 "2026-03-02T06:49:38Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#):
>
> The fries are terrible. Sorry.
There’s nothing to apologize for in that statement. They are palatable when you order them Animal Style, though.
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### Author:  [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/18 "2026-03-02T08:04:12Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> “Space Coast.”
[ ](https://i.makeagif.com/media/11-09-2017/IgdvT8.gif)
[ ](https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhi4yn8uTU1qzr8nao1_500.gif)
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/19 "2026-03-02T12:32:34Z")
As a SoCal native, “back east” began at the eastern border of CA. And so included AZ & NV as part of the irrelevant “east.”
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/20 "2026-03-02T13:49:15Z")
Whoa! I have never seen that; must’ve been watching **Jonny Quest** re-runs. For the ninth time.
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