# When giving your address over the phone ... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 20, 2010, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-giving-your-address-over-the-phone/557763 "2010-10-20T12:04:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hende](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/aca169/32.png) [@hende](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hende)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-giving-your-address-over-the-phone/557763/21 "2010-10-20T21:40:05Z")
I just say “Wisconsin”. I figure whoever is asking for my address is smart enough to figure out the abbreviation themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-giving-your-address-over-the-phone/557763/22 "2010-10-21T01:51:43Z")
And this is why all those web forms insist on me supplying a state or province even though we don’t use them. Mind you, sometimes someone has entered some semi-appropriate abbreviations but there never was a Waikato province, abbreviated WK, as they seem to enter it. Occasionally I feel the urge to enter New Ulster, the original provincial designation for NZ’s North island when it was separated from New South Wales in 1840. Apart from that, there haven’t been provinces as political entities in NZ since 1876. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-giving-your-address-over-the-phone/557763/23 "2010-10-21T03:11:31Z")
I say New South Wales in full. It’s fewer syllables than the abbreviation NSW. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-giving-your-address-over-the-phone/557763/24 "2010-10-21T03:42:00Z")
I’ve been asked to repeat myself many times by people in other states and countries, as evidently “Sawfkerlayna” is not a state recognized by the Union. ---
**Author:** ![Allthegood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Allthegood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allthegood)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-giving-your-address-over-the-phone/557763/25 "2010-10-21T03:57:10Z")
I say “New York.” It takes just as little time as saying “N Y.” However, even if I lived in Mississippi, I can’t imagine saying “M S” just because it might save a few nanoseconds. I think most abbreviations are best saved for written communication. Spoken communication deserves full words and phrases, certain exceptions which prove the rule to the contrary notwithstanding. ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-giving-your-address-over-the-phone/557763/26 "2010-10-21T04:23:31Z")
> [@Allthegood](#): > > I say “New York.” It takes just as little time as saying “N Y.” However, even if I lived in Mississippi, I can’t imagine saying “M S” just because it might save a few nanoseconds. I think most abbreviations are best saved for written communication. Spoken communication deserves full words and phrases, certain exceptions which prove the rule to the contrary notwithstanding. The Grapist did it better. ETA: I say California and let them figure out the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-giving-your-address-over-the-phone/557763/27 "2010-10-21T07:29:52Z")
People from Pennsylvania are generally the only people that call their state buy its abbreviation by the way. It confused me when I first heard people from “P-A” saying it that way. You aren’t going to get the same response from people from other states. I am from Louisiana and you can’t say “LA” for obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![sugar\_and\_spice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@sugar\_and\_spice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugar_and_spice)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-giving-your-address-over-the-phone/557763/28 "2010-10-21T09:00:12Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > People from Pennsylvania are generally the only people that call their state buy its abbreviation by the way. It confused me when I first heard people from “P-A” saying it that way. You aren’t going to get the same response from people from other states. I am from Louisiana and you can’t say “LA” for obvious reasons. I had a friend who lived in Binghamton NY for a while (by the PA line) and I remember noting that she and her friends would say PA in normal speech all the time. Like “We’re going to PA today to look at a car.” The only other time I’ve heard this is a friend from western Massachusetts who would say “western Mass” now and again. I say “Chicago Illinois” if I’m giving my address. If it’s a “Please confirm your address” then I slur over it and get to the zip but I still say the full state. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-giving-your-address-over-the-phone/557763/29 "2010-10-21T09:27:22Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Wait, in other countries the customer service reps actually already have the information you gave the phone tree? And you don’t have to repeat it? Well, in this particular case the phone tree hands my call to one person or to another depending on my answer, so if the person is in the Seville team she already knows she’s getting calls for Seville only. But yeah, they also do things like ask “and your phone number is 786556655?” instead of requesting it again; actually, if I call my ISP I only have to enter the phone number because I can’t call from it (I need the number for the DSL, but haven’t bothered get an actual telephone for the landline - I call that “antispam measures”), as the branch says “if your call is about the phone you’re calling from, click 1; otherwise, click 3”. When I call the company that does my gas installation checkups, they ask whether I’m calling from my registered phone (yes) and use that to pull my file, so I still need to say my name but not say it slooowly or explain that the lastname is three words or any of that shit which I have to do when someone has to write it down instead of just confirming the onscreen data. I’ve got a huge nerdcrush on whomever got these ideas into fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-giving-your-address-over-the-phone/557763/30 "2010-10-21T09:36:08Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Well, in this particular case the phone tree hands my call to one person or to another depending on my answer, so if the person is in the Seville team she already knows she’s getting calls for Seville only. > > But yeah, they also do things like ask “and your phone number is 786556655?” instead of requesting it again; actually, I only have to enter the phone number because I can’t call from it (I need the number for the DSL, but haven’t bothered get an actual telephone for the landline - I call that “antispam measures”), as the branch says “if your call is about the phone you’re calling from, click 1; otherwise, click 3”. When I call the company that does my gas installation checkups, they ask whether I’m calling from my registered phone (yes) and use that to pull my file. I’ve got a huge nerdcrush on whomever got these ideas into fashion. Yeah, this actually seems to work, at least half the time, in Israel as well (including the “if you require service for the number you are calling from…” As to the OP – what are these “provinces” and “states” you are speaking of…? 😕 🙂 (while Israel actually _has_ some form of “official” sub-divisions, no-one but possibly govt. agencies use them.) ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-giving-your-address-over-the-phone/557763/31 "2010-10-21T22:42:30Z")
If I say KY, Kentucky is not the first thing people will think of. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-giving-your-address-over-the-phone/557763/32 "2010-10-22T03:47:41Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I say “Arkansas”. > “AR” can get stuff sent to Arizona. 🙂 You know, I notice that, too, but I’ve always wondered why it wouldn’t more often work the other way. It’s usually people writing AR when they want to get to Arizona. Why would they put AZ to get to Arkansas? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-giving-your-address-over-the-phone/557763/33 "2010-10-22T12:43:03Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > You know, I notice that, too, but I’ve always wondered why it wouldn’t more often work the other way. It’s usually people writing AR when they want to get to Arizona. Why would they put AZ to get to Arkansas? They believe that “AR” is Arizona, as you said. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-giving-your-address-over-the-phone/557763.md?page=1)