Not sure I agree. In Georgia, we’re more likely to razz them about not being the real USC.
That’s because Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania due to the intervention of the crew and passengers. Its original destination had been San Francisco (for maximum fuel), and the terrorists’ target was in Washington, DC (the Capitol Building or the White House).
I just visited the Flight 93 Memorial three days ago, and was deeply moved. But it was not ever an “attack on Pennsylvania”.
OK, but I have only ever met one person who said “I was in The City last week” and not be a New York Metro origin type individual referring to being in Manhattan. It was someone from and in San Jose, CA referring to SF.
I understand that 48-ish states would not say “the City” to mean NYC, but I’d also say it’s abnormal for them to use the phrase to refer to ANY city. I’ve specifically asked Midwesterners in Indy, Missouri, Wisconsin and Illinois how they’d refer to Chicago. The only answer? “Um… Chicago?”
In my neck of the woods, a hoagie is the type of bread you make a sub sandwich with. And po-boys are completely different. Hoagies are soft. Po-boys use a light, crusty, almost stale bread that flakes off and makes a mess when you eat it, but boy is it tasty. I am supremely disappointed whenever I get a so-called “po-boy” that is dense and/or soft. Might as well go to Subway.
I was about to retort, “But St. Louis!”, and then I read closer. 
As I said in an earlier post, in Oklahoma, “The City” refers to Oklahoma City. Regardless of whatever other town might be closer. Been that way for years here. I don’t expect anyone outside of OK to know that, but I wonder how many other states have something similar?
Maybe if you ask people point-blank like that they would be confused by the question, but I’d bet you that if a couple in the Chicago metropolitan weekend was asked what they were doing this upcoming weekend and they said “We’re heading into the city for some fun,” there would be little doubt they were talking about Chicago. And no one would ask them what time their plane landed at JFK.
(Of course, confusion would crop up the further outside Chicago you got, though that’s true of New York as well.)
I don’t think we ever got an answer to these questions about independent cities in Virginia, did we? I went to college in one of them so I can answer in generalities.
My city was surrounded by three counties and completely independent of all three. However, some of these cities are very small and contained entirely within a single county. These will sometimes (often?) function as the county seat and share many functions of government and local services. I’m not even sure why they are independent cities in the first place, that’s where we need a local to explain. There also appears to be a gaggle of independent cities clustered in the Hampton Roads region, some of which border only other independent cities. I’m pretty sure these are mostly, if not solely, autonomous, too.
Don’t act so certain. I have it on good authority that Osama bin Laden secretly hated the Amish.
I thought this was one of those facts “everybody knows is true but is, in fact, false.” I had heard that prostitution was legal in Rhode Island, primarily because there were no statutes against it. I just read, however, that it was made illegal in 2009. So up until 2009, it was legal in Rhode Island.
J.
Sets up a Hawaiian straight line about Don Ho
Sorry but people are wrong then. It’s not part of DC. DC is a federally defined special area that is not under the jurisdiction of any other state. The pentagon is not part of that, as far as I’m aware? Unless it is some sort of exclave? Please correct me if I’m mistaken.
In Oregon, OSU is not Ohio State.
I’m now imagining you driving up to a hitch-hiker a few miles outside of Chicago.
“Need a lift?”
“Yeah! Where ya headed?”
“The city.”
How do you figure he replies? “Well, could you stop in Chicago along the way?”
In North Jersey, “The City” means Manhattan.
In South Jersey, “The City” means Philadelphia.
Most Jersey folk will say some variation of “I’m going to the city for dinner” (or whatever), and based on where you are it’s known.
The only people who get confused are those in Mercer County (Trenton area) where it can kind of go either way since NY and Philly are almost equidistant.
Hmm… I wonder if NJ is the only state where “the City” virtually always refers to a city in another state…
Pretty much everywhere I’ve ever lived “I’m going to the city” means “I’m not from around here. Please make fun of me.”
“I’m going into town” is acceptable, but only if you’re out in the country.
I have never seen or heard 9/11 referred to as anything other than “9/11” or perhaps “9/11 attacks” or Sept. 11 attacks. I don’t know anyone who qualifies or expands it in such a way as “9/11 attacks on (insert specific place in the U.S.)”
I am pretty sure it is a New Mexico thing. “The truck went off the road and landed up in the ditch.” Any where else it would have ENDED up in the ditch.
Also anywhere else a mess is a flat topped plateau. In New Mexico it is pretty much any area of natural desert.
That’s funny because in India “We landed up at Pinky’s house after we left the nightclub” is a very common usage. It always sounds strange to me.
In 49 states children play “duck, duck, goose.” Children in Minnesota play “duck, duck, grey duck.”
In the other 49 states, if there are several people in a row waiting for something, they say they are “in line.” But in New York (or more specifically, the NYC/Long Island area) you would be waiting “on line.”