# When you tell people where you are from , what do they usually say? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 13, 2018, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570 "2018-01-13T22:16:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/21 "2018-01-14T01:34:54Z")
I’m from West Virginia. Some polite (albeit ignorant) people say, "Oh, I have relatives in Virginia. Jerks ask, “Do you fuck your sister?” (I reply, “No, yours”.) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/22 "2018-01-14T02:00:19Z")
I’m Newfoundland born, so I get asked if I had family in the fishery. (Not really. One lobster fisherman, but that’s it.) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/23 "2018-01-14T02:05:06Z")
**Nobody** has ever heard of my town, so I default to the nearest pair of big cities. Because what people say when I say “My Town” is “Whuh?” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/24 "2018-01-14T02:28:18Z")
“Do you know Sarah Palin?” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/25 "2018-01-14T02:46:27Z")
I get asked about a certain group of a certain segment of society that decided to make my state their home, to which I usually reply, “No, we jailed those fuckers and burned down their compound years ago” ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/26 "2018-01-14T03:06:34Z")
“Oh, wow, _you’re_ from Texas. Well…I’ve been to Austin once!” ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/27 "2018-01-14T03:09:46Z")
Dunedin, New Zealand. Sheep jokes. Hobbit jokes. Then they ask what town I’m from, and if I’m lucky they will mention albatrosses, but most likely it’s quizzical confusion as they’ve only ever been to Auckland and Queenstown. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/28 "2018-01-14T03:37:53Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > If I’m abroad and tell people I’m from Chicago, they usually say either “Bang Bang! Al Capone!” or “Michael Jordan!” If I’m traveling in the US, they say something like “isn’t it dangerous?” > > If I’m in northern Illinois, they usually say, “what suburb?” :smack::smack: This is, word-for-word, entirely accurate in my experience. I was actually going to bring up the Al Capone vs Michael Jordan example (although most of my travelling abroad was 80s-00s, so I don’t know if Michael Jordan is still as solid in the public imagination, but I was shocked to find out that Al Capone was still so well known out there, so maybe not much has changed.) ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/29 "2018-01-14T03:41:23Z")
It used to be “Do you smoke a lot of pot?” Now that it’s legal statewide I don’t get that anymore. Now it’s usually “How much snow do you get?”, which doesn’t really have an answer - it all depends on the year. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/30 "2018-01-14T04:36:43Z")
Nothing from my hometown, but when I say where I’m from now it’s always “So do you go to Disney a lot?” Yes, yes I do. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/31 "2018-01-14T04:47:02Z")
I now live in west Michigan, but I’m from the Detroit suburb of Dearborn (mentioned above by Spice Weasel); grew up there and spent 36 of my 43 years there. Usually when I tell people around here that I’m from Dearborn it’s something along the lines of “Oh, yeah, glad you got out. What was it like being the only non-Muslim?”:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sveltington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@Sveltington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sveltington)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/32 "2018-01-14T04:48:57Z")
You’re from Massachusetts??? (said with skepticism) Why don’t you have an accent? Then they do their cah and pahk Hahvard Yahd impersonation. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/33 "2018-01-14T05:05:55Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Nothing from my hometown, but when I say where I’m from now it’s always “So do you go to Disney a lot?” Yes, yes I do. You should start looking puzzled and ask them what a “Disney” is. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/34 "2018-01-14T06:15:26Z")
The farther I am from Cleveland, the more likely I am to say Cleveland. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/35 "2018-01-14T06:25:12Z")
If I tell people I’m from New York, they assume I’m from New York City. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/36 "2018-01-14T06:25:42Z")
I spent my early childhood in the town where I now live (with a nearly 50yr hiatus in between). And when I tell folks where I came from/now live, they almost always say, “Ooooh, lucky you”. Except it’s a very different town to the one I grew up in, has grown four-fold both geographically and population-wise, and is nothing like the town of old. However, it still has a gorgeous ocean beach and estuarine river, and the tourists are still a scourge during the holiday season. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/37 "2018-01-14T07:48:27Z")
> [@ioioio](#): > > My response to your post was “wow”. Then I noticed your user location. Good match. > …Location: Hey! I’m located! WOOOOW! Well, I keep moving 🙂 I’d have to change that every few weeks if I wanted to be perfectly accurate, and whatever location I currently happen to be in doesn’t necessarily match those I talk about. I’m delocalized, like electrons in resonant rings 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/38 "2018-01-14T10:13:05Z")
If I answer ‘The North West (of England)’, the commonest response is ‘whereabouts?’ I say the nearest big town, they ask ‘where’s that?’ I stopped answering ‘Cumbria’ because such a scary proportion of my fellow English had no idea where it was (it’s the 3rd largest county), and I got fed up of telling people that no, it’s not in Scotland. ---
**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:** [January 14, 2018, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/39 "2018-01-14T11:02:51Z")
“What exit?” :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570/40 "2018-01-14T11:06:50Z")
“Where’s that?” If they know it, they’ll make a comment about the smell (paper mill), to which the only permissable response is “Smells like money to me”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-tell-people-where-you-are-from-what-do-they-usually-say/806570.md?page=3)