# 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:** 2
### Author:  [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/21 "2026-03-02T14:33:12Z")
I moved from New Hampshire to St. Louis for college, and had to constantly correct people who were convinced that Pennsylvania was in New England. At a top-ranked institution.
Ain’t nothing new about any of this.
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### Author:  [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/22 "2026-03-02T15:29:25Z")
Last weekend, we tried to go to one of the locations that have been open for a couple of weeks now. It looked like an hour wait _just to order_. We said, fuck that noise and went to Five Guys.
It did smell good, though.
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### Author:  [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/23 "2026-03-02T15:44:20Z")
hey. I’m still wondering why Ohio is considered Midwest when they’re in EST, and Cleveland is closer to Pittsburgh than Detroit
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/24 "2026-03-02T15:47:12Z")
> [@Telemark](#):
>
> When we moved from the Boston area to Seattle and told people we were from Massachusetts, people asked if that was near Maryland.
Well, yes, alphabetically.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/25 "2026-03-02T16:07:38Z")
The mistake was going to a newly opened location. If you wait a while for the novelty to wear off, the wait time will be much less.
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### Author:  [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/26 "2026-03-02T16:21:54Z")
In general, I agree. But it’s not unusual to see cars lined up and wrapping around the parking lot at any given time ( depending on location, I suppose).
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### Author:  [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/27 "2026-03-02T16:35:33Z")
We figured that two months was enough. It was enough for Whataburger. Maybe now that the Franklin one is open Antioch will be sane.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/28 "2026-03-02T17:04:26Z")
When my kids were growing up I had a large world map mounted on the dining room wall. Whenever they wanted something, I would ask them to find a random country on the map before letting them have whatever it was. We all lived in Europe for about five years or so, so they were well aware of the European countries, so I usually picked something more obscure.
I can do fairly well with geography, although I would have trouble identifying the Stans or some island nations on a map.
The best geography teacher I had in high school didn’t just teach the map; he also explained why borders are where they are and how the weather and terrain determined much of how people lived there.
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### Author:  [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/29 "2026-03-02T17:28:59Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#):
>
> > [@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.
Florida also has a “Bay Area” to add to the confusion.
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> 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.
She caused abrasion in CA with this - the whole “it’s soo hard to raise a family in California boohoo…” thing, and being a billionaire, with religious overtones. Of course, CA is where the company built it’s, and her, fortunes. The talk is that there will be an east and west headquarters, with the east being near Nashville and the west being where it initially was in Baldwin Park.
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### Author:  [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/30 "2026-03-02T17:31:30Z")
This is a fascinating game. You get six tries to guess a country from its outline only-no scale or other info. For each wrong guess they tell you how far away and what direction you are off.
This is HARD. There are a lot of small and obscure countries and territories. I lose almost every day. But I love this game and l learn something daily.
Edit: you can also answer questions re. population, history, economy etc. if you are a real geography nerd.
> **[Worldle - Guess the Country](https://worldle.teuteuf.fr/)**
>
> A daily geography game where you guess the country from its shape and get clues with every attempt. Play daily or explore the archive.
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### Author:  [@knavette57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knavette57)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/31 "2026-03-02T17:33:52Z")
Some people think St Louis is in the South. I live here, and I think it’s a mixture, maybe a bit like New Orleans, but we have our ties to the North, such as Chicago and our baseball team has a big rivalry with the Cubs.
I love a good scale of miles, I like to use this tool bc I was educated in the 1960s and that is how you determined distances on a map, with your ruler and your pencil, haha. Sometimes I can’t find it on some e-maps and that is frustrating.
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### Author:  [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/32 "2026-03-02T17:39:44Z")
Fellow from the Lou here (5 generations!). St Louis has always been considered a Southern city–the Mason-Dixon line did go through here, and Missouri was a slave state, and we have Southern ways so.. Only thing missing is finding grits
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/33 "2026-03-02T17:39:47Z")
> [@fedman1](#):
>
> I’m still wondering why Ohio is considered Midwest when they’re in EST, and Cleveland is closer to Pittsburgh than Detroit
The states which are generally ascribed to being “the Midwest” were not among the thirteen original colonies / U.S. states; a lot of them, including Ohio, were part of the Northwest Territory (which was essentially "west of Pennsylvania, north of the Ohio River, east of the Mississippi River) and became states in the first half of the 19th century.
As far as time zones: that’s often the subject of political choices rather than purely based on geography. AIUI, some states and areas on the western edge of the Eastern time zone chose to be in it to be on the same time as the big cities on the East Coast.
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### Author:  [@knavette57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knavette57)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/34 "2026-03-02T17:44:32Z")
I think it is those who came here from somewhere else who like to dispute that St Louis is southern, not that I have done any scientific research on this theory. Just the half dozen or so who came here from the Real South, maybe. Our city has many interesting nooks and crannies in our history, that is for sure!
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### Author:  [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/35 "2026-03-02T18:03:09Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#):
>
> [https://worldle.teuteuf.fr/](https://worldle.teuteuf.fr/)
that looks fun, I will try that at some point.
so, who likes YouTube channels about geography? I have watched [Geography King](https://www.youtube.com/@GeographyKing) who is very nerdy, and now am also into a few others.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/36 "2026-03-02T18:44:37Z")
> [@snowthx](#):
>
> Of course, CA is where the company built it’s, and her, fortunes.
I’m convinced that if weren’t for the bumper stickers, they never would have taken off.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/37 "2026-03-02T19:25:45Z")
Drives me crazy too. I’m a GIS professional. Geographic Information systems. I did GIS and mapping for 35 years.
Ohio is NOT Midwest by any means of the term.
Colorado is Midwest. Ohio is NOT.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/38 "2026-03-02T20:08:15Z")
> [@enipla](#):
>
> Ohio is NOT Midwest by any means of the term.
>
> Colorado is Midwest. Ohio is NOT.
Not trying to argue, I’m genuinely curious as to why you feel so. I routinely see Ohio grouped into the Midwestern states, but only rarely, if ever, see Colorado listed among them.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/39 "2026-03-02T20:19:39Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> Not trying to argue, I’m genuinely curious as to why you feel so.
I’m not talking about culturaly west or east.
I’m talking geography. Maps.
West is on the west side of the Rocky Mountains.
Sure Coloradoans may wear cowboy boots and hats. So do people in NYC. People in NYC are not westerners.
I will accept that Colorado is the West (really we are mid-west). Ohio, not at all. They are not mid-west, they are in the east.
You must be on the west side of the Mississippi to be considered mid-west.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/40 "2026-03-02T20:31:51Z")
When the inhabited USA stopped at the Mississippi river, the term “Midwest” was coined to describe the western USA that was east of the wild indian country they hoped to soon conquer.
In the •200 years since then, the USA’s borders have moved. The location of the states labeled “midwest” in 1825 has not.
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