# stereotypes of states **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 2, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272 "2003-02-02T07:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dukie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@dukie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dukie)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/1 "2003-02-02T07:08:39Z")
Was just looking for some more embarrassing things to make fun of people because of where they live. I know theres a ton but I wanted to ask this question here to see what kind of response I could get. Can you guys give me some good stereotypes and generalizations to make fun of people for the state that they live in, any state, doesnt matter. In general, state slogans that make the state look bad. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/2 "2003-02-02T07:57:45Z")
I’ll move this thread to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![honkytonkwillie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@honkytonkwillie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/honkytonkwillie)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/3 "2003-02-02T08:05:29Z")
I’ve got my own stereotypes of people from certain places, but I’ve no idea how widespread they are. Based on people I know from Ohio and Minnesota, people from Ohio don’t understand jokes, and Minnesotans tell jokes that aren’t funny. ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/4 "2003-02-02T13:11:06Z")
I take it you’re from Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/5 "2003-02-02T16:24:25Z")
People from **Ohio** and **Wisconsin** are supposedly terrible drivers, if you believe what the editorial staff at _Car and Driver_ says. 'Round these parts, folks on the Kansas side of the KC metro say that **Missourians** are rednecks, while those in Missouri say that **Kansas** residents are hicks. Yes, there’s a subtle difference between the two. Folks in New Mexico and Colorado hold a traditional disdain for **Texas** residents; they’re loud, obnoxious, always saying that “this is the way they do it in Houston,” and so on. I worked as an urban planner in New Mexico for a while, and I can vouch for this; plans submitted by Texas-based chains always included huge signs that violated the city’s strict sign regulations. Their defense … “Well, this is the way it’s done in Houston! They ain’t got no zoning there, and it’s booming!” Basically, it’s the same stereotype that folks living in upstate New York have for those in the NYC area … “Waaaaah! This [insert noun here] sucks! It’s not as good as the [insert same noun here] in THUH CITY!” When I lived in Colorado, the popular stereotype of folks from **Wyoming** was that everyone was a cowboy. Cross the state line north, and pickup trucks dominate the roads, western stores are everywhere, and folks wear western wear like the rest of us wear goods from the Gap or Banana Republic. The state is very in-your-face yee-haw cowboy. ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/6 "2003-02-02T16:50:37Z")
[I like to link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=160171) ---
**Author:** ![Forbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Forbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forbin)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/7 "2003-02-02T18:11:33Z")
The thing is, I can barely post a response. Do you have any idea how hard it is to type on my laptop while surfing? And that’s not all. Each arm is wrapped around a beautiful, bikini clad blonde. (We’re surfing on a longboard) Anyway, I’ll get back to you when I can. From California, this has been Forbin reporting. Cowabunga! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/8 "2003-02-03T01:34:34Z")
Well I know for a fact that people in Tennessee don’t wear shoes. People in Alabama are bigots and those in Mississippi don’t read well. Not sure about the other states. ---
**Author:** ![TeleTronOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4af34b/32.png) [@TeleTronOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeleTronOne)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/9 "2003-02-03T01:44:04Z")
West Virginia gets a lot of inbreeding cracks made about it. It’s a pretty common source of amusement 'round these parts, although I imagine people in the rest of the country make fun of it quite a bit as well. When I was living in other places, I found that most people think Virginia == West Virginia, which isn’t the case. 95% of Virginia (the non DC-metro area) is a bunch of inbred confederate hicks, the parts around DC are uptight pompous jerks who have no idea just how mediocre they and everything around them is, and then there’s the dulles corridor which is a bunch of uptight pompous jerks who have no idea just how mediocre they are, but used to have a zillion dollars worth of stock before all their companies went bankrupt. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/10 "2003-02-03T01:58:48Z")
Everybody else talks funny. 'Specially them noathuhnuhs. Seriously, why do some places attract detractors? Texas, New York, New Jersey and California get slammed every week here. Well, it’s not like nobody wants to live in these places. I think it’s jealousy, or, in the case of Colorado, the ski biz. ---
**Author:** ![MadScientistMatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@MadScientistMatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadScientistMatt)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/11 "2003-02-03T02:02:13Z")
For some reason, even Southerners seem to have stereotyped Alabama as the most redneck state. One peculiar thing I noticed when I lived in Ohio was that many peopel up there played a card game called eucher, which I hadn’t heard of before. It seems many of them believed this game was mostly played in Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/12 "2003-02-03T02:04:42Z")
Well, it is a fact that the toothbrush was invented in West Virginia. If it had been invented anywhere else, it would be call the _teeth_brush. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/13 "2003-02-03T02:06:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MadScientistMatt \* > For some reason, even Southerners seem to have stereotyped Alabama as the most redneck state. I beg to differ! I’m from Alabama, and in my view it’s well-accepted that Mississippi is just like Alabama, only more so. Plus it’s got more mud. The only reason you never hear any jokes made about Mississippi is that nobody even remembers that it exists. Kind of like the Dakotas. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/14 "2003-02-03T02:12:58Z")
“The People’s Republic of California”. That’s what some people think. > [@](#): > > Ringo wrote: > > Texas, New York, New Jersey and California get slammed every week here. Well, it’s not like nobody wants to live in these places. So true. I can’t speak for all of the states listed above, but in the case of California (and in Texas, I am sure) the residents are pretty damned confident of the merits and value of their home state. So, we aren’t all that put out (or at least I’m not) when someone slams their state. It’s kind of funny, actually. Some of the people here in Hooterville try to put down California, telling me how they _never_ want to visit it, or that when they visited it, they didn’t like it much. They say this with great relish, looking at me carefully and hoping to see signs of hurt feelings or offense. I never give them the satisfaction. For one thing, who cares? California is overcrowded enough—the last thing it needs is more clueless tourists getting lost on the freeways. I sometimes get offended by the _intent_ and sincere _hope_ that I will be offended, but never by the bad things that are actually said about California. Frankly, I think most people should be confident enough in their home state to survive some jabs. If New York, California and Texas are not exempt from slamming, why should any other state be either? ---
**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:** [February 3, 2003, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/15 "2003-02-03T02:13:49Z")
Everyone in the OKC thinks they’re part of Dallas pro sports team’s fan base. Stupids. People from Guam are Guammy Bears. It’s a US territory… Nobody in Idaho bathes. There are too many Californians. Move to Guam. There are no virgins in the US Virgin Islands. Trust me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/16 "2003-02-03T02:16:53Z")
There are no virgins in New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/17 "2003-02-03T02:19:03Z")
Northerners have thorns. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/18 "2003-02-03T02:40:23Z")
Having grown up in Kentucky, I can say the stereotype of the place is that Kentuckians don’t wear shoes, are unfamiliar with forks, bathing, or flush toilets, shoot each other for no particular reason, scream “Yee-hah!” for no particular reason, have operating a roadside fireworks/confederate flag sales stand as their highest career goal in life, and would die of embarrassment if they found out their family trees had branches. (Comments I and my friends would get when we went out of state on vacation suggested that this was how other people regarded Kentuckians.) ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/19 "2003-02-03T05:41:01Z")
Maryland - where northern charm meets southern efficiency. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272/20 "2003-02-03T05:57:00Z")
Drivers in Illinois have reputations as tailgating, bird-flipping, red-running maniacs. I always thought people there were bad drivers until I moved to Wisconsin - and holy god, it’s like playing bumper cars for keeps in slow motion up here. 😛 Also, people in Wisconsin eat a lot of cheese. And then they eat more cheese. And then they put cheese on their heads. And then they tip cattle. And then they go to an all-night diner for a cheese combo plate and a pitcher of watery beer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypes-of-states/152272.md?page=2)