# What's up with New Jersey? Why is it the butt of so many jokes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 21, 2006, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237 "2006-11-21T02:24:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/61 "2006-11-22T04:29:11Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Sorry, try it [now.](http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiNJMILLS;ttROLLBORD.html) As always, as always . . . [/QUOTE] I am going to make your night a little worse. Please review [post #11](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7984953) by \*\*Colibri \*\* In fact I commented on it in [post #28](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7985808)šŸ˜ƒ That said, great song. I really enjoy singing it at environmental events. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/62 "2006-11-22T04:47:51Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] Iā€™ve been in a couple of different places in Jersey. And when you see nothing but Newark Airport, which is what a lot of people see, you start to think itā€™s all like that. That is a filthy little confusing airport. [/QUOTE] That was true years ago, but not any more. Now it is a filthy **big** confusing airport. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/63 "2006-11-22T05:23:29Z")
One of my uncles by marriage was from Bayonne, I remember him always smoking Camels and talking in a tough accent, but he was also a talented landscape painter. I must be a patriotic American: the first things that come to mind when I think of New Jersey are Molly Pitcher the warrior woman of the Revolution, and Washington crossing the Delaware. Also, Princeton is where Albert Einstein lived at the end of his life. I guess I have NJ filed in my brain under American history and science. I just want to point out that Iā€™m Sicilian-American, I have no interest in _The Sopranos_, not all Sicilian-Americans fit the stereotype of the Mob. Many of us are kind of tired of hearing about it since it never had anything to do with our families, and there are lots more interesting subjects in the world. Like women warriors and unified field theoriesā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/64 "2006-11-22T08:16:31Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] \ chicks with big hair and acrylic nails that crack gum and talk funny. [/QUOTE] Yoose guys better leave my wife outta dis here conversation. Grew up in Jersey (Cinnaminson: _Sin-city_, baby). The fun and sun here in Florida gets a little tiring at times and I pine for the Pine Barrens, jug handles, Jersey corn, tomatoes, pizza, hoagies, cheese steaks, salt water taffy, shoe fly pie, big-headed mutant feral cats, Tasty Kakesā€¦etc. People poke fun at Jersey because theyā€™re jealousā€”period. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/65 "2006-11-22T13:00:17Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Iā€™ve also heard that the residents of the New Jersey [Pine Barrens](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_Pine_Barrens) are a lot like the isolated, inbred hillbillies in _Deliverance._ Donā€™t know if thatā€™s true, but Iā€™ve read horror stories based on the thesis. [/QUOTE] Donā€™t listen to Jim, you are 100% correct. ---
**Author:** ![Shecky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shecky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shecky)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/66 "2006-11-22T13:06:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Rank State Number of Superfund Sites > > 1. NEW JERSEY 116 WOO!!! Weā€™re number one!!! And, FTR, itā€™s outshadowed by NYC, but the value canā€™t be beat. Many immigrants (legal/illegal) like to live as close as possible to New York, but make home in NJ because nobody can afford NYC. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/67 "2006-11-22T13:06:33Z")
The Pineys are also [radioactive.](http://www.cdi.org/Issues/NukeAccidents/accidents.htm) scroll down to June 7, 1960 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/68 "2006-11-22T13:22:16Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] Donā€™t listen to Jim, you are 100% correct. [/QUOTE] I am reasonably sure you are joking again. In case you are not, have you really found some serious populations of ā€œisolated, inbred hillbilliesā€ in the Pine Barrens? I would be quite shocked from my limited time spent in the Barrens and knowing people who grew up in the Barrens. There are some older families that have been there for centuries that seem to have kids with what I think of as horse faces, but they go to school, get normal jobs and more often than not move out of the Barrens or even out of state. The Barrens are large enough to in theory hide some old inbred swap rats, but I have not heard of more than a few isolated individuals living well off the roads. They are usually old and alone. [QUOTE=Shecky] > [@](#): > > Rank State Number of Superfund Sites > > 1. NEW JERSEY 116 WOO!!! Weā€™re number one!!! [/QUOTE] Quite a thing to be #1 in. For what it is worth, we have had more successful clean-ups than any other state. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Nothing\_Special](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9f8e36/32.png) [@Nothing\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nothing_Special)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/69 "2006-11-22T14:15:13Z")
Big problem is that the 2 main thoroughfares in the state, I-95 and the Jersey Turnpike, run through much of the worst industrial sections that New Jersey has to offer. Many people never see anything other than this. There was a hilarious parody in the National Lampoon from the late 1970ā€™s called ā€œNew Jersey Smell Tours,ā€ in which one was transported through the state on a bus with an enormous air scoop on top, and provided an exhaustive (pun intended) list of all the pollutants one would encounter. Then governor Brendan Byrne ā€œendorsesā€ the tours, and they managed to find a picture of him looking like heā€™s taking a crap. Nearer to the coast there are some superb stretches of open, rural land and a section of the Appalachian Trail runs through the northwestern part of the state. I still wouldnā€™t want to live there because of the massive amounts of pollution produced just to the west, carried on the prevailing winds to the nicer areas. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/70 "2006-11-22T14:39:15Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] There are some older families that have been there for centuries that seem to have kids with what I think of as horse faces [/QUOTE] You mean like [this?](http://quest.cjonline.com/images/122300/whitman2.jpg)šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/71 "2006-11-22T14:42:42Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Hsst! Ix-nay on the efense-day! New Jersey sucks. Sucks sucks sucks sucks. Sucks big donkey balls. Everything youā€™ve heard about it is true, only itā€™s worse. Mafioso everywhere, except where thereā€™re industrial slums and chicks with big hair and acrylic nails that crack gum and talk funny. Horrible, horrible place. Donā€™t ever go there. In fact, donā€™t read anything about it either. Including this thread. Youā€™ve been saved, just close it and move on. Are they gone yet? OK, cool! My dadā€™s got a place in Hopewell Township, and itā€™s the most beautiful countryside Iā€™ve ever seen, without the extremes that make other places uncomfortable. I love it so much I want to cry everytime I leave. I grew up part time in Long Branch, and while it was a shithole for much of my childhood, the run down boardwalk, the beach, the smell of salt in the airā€¦I wouldnā€™t give it up for the world. I love that state. Although my husbandā€™s extended family are Joisey ā€œFamilyā€, so itā€™s not like that stereotype came from nowheres, you know what Iā€™m sayinā€™? Of course you do. [/QUOTE] Haha! Ditto NW Morris county & my new digs in Warren county. Beautiful, beautiful areas. I can leave my door unlocked at night and still be on Broadway in about an hour. Perfect. NJ is like any other state - it has its good and bad points. I lived in Fort Lauderdale for years, which to me is like NYC with better weather & less culture šŸ˜› I donā€™t see the love for it _except_ the weather. Happiness is where you find it - no matter what state itā€™s in. VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/72 "2006-11-22T14:46:10Z")
[QUOTE=Johanna] One of my uncles by marriage was from Bayonne, I remember him always smoking Camels and talking in a tough accent, but he was also a talented landscape painter. [/QUOTE] Pre-industrial Bayonne was actually sort of a nice old town to be from. A couple of my minor cultural heroes came from there: Dave Harris, saxophonist with the [Raymond Scott Quintette](http://nfo.net/usa/rayscott.jpg), and Al Protzman, televisionā€™s first [technical director](http://www.mediacollege.com/employment/television/td.html). ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/73 "2006-11-22T14:56:18Z")
I just plain didnā€™t believe you guys when you said that the Appalachian Trail went through NJ. But I just looked it up and sure enough thereā€™s a 72 mile stretch taking a nick out of the north end of the state. Ignorance fought. I think one reason for some of Jerseyā€™s issues is that its a place where trends happen first. They donā€™t have the benefit of watching someone else do things first and learning from the other guys, mistakes. NJ industrialized before pollution was ever a concern. When postwar white flight took off, there was NJ to take in NYCā€™s huddled masses. So NJ got to be the example of suburban sprawl and all of itā€™s consequences. So we should be grateful to the Garden State for always taking one for the team. Theyā€™re there to show us how not to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/74 "2006-11-22T14:56:32Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I am reasonably sure you are joking again. In case you are not, have you really found some serious populations of ā€œisolated, inbred hillbilliesā€ in the Pine Barrens? I would be quite shocked from my limited time spent in the Barrens and knowing people who grew up in the Barrens. There are some older families that have been there for centuries that seem to have kids with what I think of as horse faces, but they go to school, get normal jobs and more often than not move out of the Barrens or even out of state. The Barrens are large enough to in theory hide some old inbred swap rats, but I have not heard of more than a few isolated individuals living well off the roads. They are usually old and alone. Quite a thing to be #1 in. For what it is worth, we have had more successful clean-ups than any other state. Jim [/QUOTE] Stop pissing in my Corn Flakes. What good are having stereotypes if you canā€™t have fun with them? I distinctly heard _Deuling Banjos_ while driving through New Egypt. ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/75 "2006-11-22T15:00:26Z")
[QUOTE=Veuve\_ClicquotNJ] Haha! Ditto NW Morris county & my new digs in Warren county. Beautiful, beautiful areas. I can leave my door unlocked at night and still be on Broadway in about an hour. Perfect. NJ is like any other state - it has its good and bad points. I lived in Fort Lauderdale for years, which to me is like NYC with better weather & less culture šŸ˜› I donā€™t see the love for it _except_ the weather. Happiness is where you find it - no matter what state itā€™s in. VCNJ~ [/QUOTE] I also wanted to include some links to the purty part of NJ: My old stomping grounds in Long Valley: [http://www.washtwpmorris.org/](http://www.washtwpmorris.org/) Well Sweep Herb Farm - Warren county: > **[Welcome - Well Sweep Herb Farm](https://wellsweep.com/)** > > Our farm, a family endeavor, is located in the picturesque mountains of Warren County and is home to one of the largest collections of herbs and perennials in the country. Germinating from the seed of handed down tradition and hobby ā€“ to a business... View from my back deck - Warren county: [![](https://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/VeuveClicquotNJ/viewoflake.jpg) ](https://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/VeuveClicquotNJ/viewoflake.jpg) VCNJ~ (NJ apologista extraordinaire) šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/76 "2006-11-22T15:14:17Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] You mean like [this?](http://quest.cjonline.com/images/122300/whitman2.jpg)šŸ˜ƒ [/QUOTE] Much worse, think buck teeth, lots of gaps in the teeth, large mouths, somewhat pronounced jawline. I cannot describe this any better, but I did observe it. Runs stronger in the woman. [QUOTE=Loach] Stop pissing in my Corn Flakes. What good are having stereotypes if you canā€™t have fun with them? I distinctly heard Deuling Banjos while driving through New Egypt. [/QUOTE] šŸ˜ƒ A link from the last Jersey dopefest at my house. [Deer in my backyard during the fest.](http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b127/jrfranchi/P1010615.jpg) Jim ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/77 "2006-11-22T15:17:49Z")
I must say I hate Jersey. Their trafic systems that emininate left turns just suck. Iā€™ve spent many times lost in Jersey. As a rule I never get off an exit in jersey because I will get lost. I remember spending two hours within view of my hotel but unable to get to it. I donā€™t have problems getting around like that in other states or even other countries. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/78 "2006-11-22T15:25:47Z")
[QUOTE=boytyperanma] I must say I hate Jersey. Their trafic systems that emininate left turns just suck. Iā€™ve spent many times lost in Jersey. As a rule I never get off an exit in jersey because I will get lost. I remember spending two hours within view of my hotel but unable to get to it. I donā€™t have problems getting around like that in other states or even other countries. [/QUOTE] We make it difficult to keep out the riff-raff. Glad to see itā€™s working. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/79 "2006-11-22T15:33:51Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] We make it difficult to keep out the riff-raff. Glad to see itā€™s working. [/QUOTE] Itā€™s not the greatest plan. Once I get in Iā€™m stuck there. Wouldnā€™t I sign saying ā€˜donā€™t come hereā€™ work better? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237/80 "2006-11-22T15:37:17Z")
[QUOTE=boytyperanma] I must say I hate Jersey. Their trafic systems that emininate left turns just suck. Iā€™ve spent many times lost in Jersey. As a rule I never get off an exit in jersey because I will get lost. I remember spending two hours within view of my hotel but unable to get to it. I donā€™t have problems getting around like that in other states or even other countries. [/QUOTE] That is just the NJ required intelligence test in action. Would you like to know the results of your testing? šŸ˜ƒ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-new-jersey-why-is-it-the-butt-of-so-many-jokes/381237.md?page=5)