# Your geographical misconceptions **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 30, 2020, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294 "2020-12-30T20:58:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/161 "2021-01-02T17:28:46Z")
May have been 1947 or after, following the Partition of India: The Partition of India of 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, India and Pakistan. (Wikipedia) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/162 "2021-01-02T17:39:17Z")
If it shows Newfoundland as the same colour as Canada, I would think that mean it’s likely post 1949. But does it label Newfoundland, but not the other Canadian provinces, like Quebec? If it labels Newfoundland, but not the other Canadian provinces, it may mean that it’s pre-1949, but just using the same colour for both Canada and Newfoundland, as “British possessions”. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/163 "2021-01-02T17:45:16Z")
I remember the colors of maps in the '50s. The British Empire countries were always pink. France and its colonies were always green. U.S. was green, Mexico was orange, China and Brazil were yellow, U.S.S.R. was green. Strangely, nothing was blue. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/164 "2021-01-02T17:46:17Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Strangely, nothing was blue The ocean? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/165 "2021-01-02T17:49:06Z")
It took me about twenty hours to do my drive. When I was a student, I once had a roomie who decorated his room with stolen street signs. The only one I would even want was one I passed on this journey - WARNING! MOOSE CROSSING! NEXT 83 KM ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/166 "2021-01-02T17:57:55Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > May have been 1947 or after, following the Partition of India It’s certainly 1948 or after, because it shows Israel. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > If it shows Newfoundland as the same colour as Canada, I would think that mean it’s likely post 1949. But does it label Newfoundland, but not the other Canadian provinces, like Quebec? It labels the other provinces, and in the same way as it labels Newfoundland. But I’m not sure whether this indicates province status for Newfoundland, or only possession. – by the fact that the US States are mostly shown as different colors, but none of other countries’ subdivisions such as provinces are, I come to the additional conclusion that it was made in the USA. Since that is almost certainly where I got it, that isn’t surprising. (I don’t remember how I got it. I may have picked it up at a yard sale; or it may be some sort of leftover from when I was in school; or it might have been in miscellaneous stuff inherited from my parents.) > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > When I was a student, I once had a roomie who decorated his room with stolen street signs.The only one I would even want was one I passed on this journey The one I want is the one that’s no longer posted in the lot of a library near me, since they redid the lot; I don’t know what happened to it. It was supposed to indicate that drivers should go in one direction around the lot; which it did by showing three arrows chasing each other in a perpetual circle. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/167 "2021-01-02T17:59:41Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > The one I want is the one that’s no longer posted in the lot of a library near me, since they redid the lot; I don’t know what happened to it. It was supposed to indicate that drivers should go in one direction around the lot; which it did by showing three arrows chasing each other in a perpetual circle. Like this? [https://images.app.goo.gl/jDXVchcKmomAb7P57](https://images.app.goo.gl/jDXVchcKmomAb7P57) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/168 "2021-01-02T18:01:06Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Like this? That’s it! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/169 "2021-01-02T18:08:53Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > It labels the other provinces, and in the same way as it labels Newfoundland. But I’m not sure whether this indicates province status for Newfoundland, or only possession. I would guess that means Newfoundland was a province by that time, so sometime after April 1, 1949. Maps from the US rarely show Canadian provinces as different colours, even if the US states are coloured individually. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/170 "2021-01-02T19:52:13Z")
Masked wrestlers were often, though not always, billed as being from Parts Unknown. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/171 "2021-01-02T20:46:37Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > It took me about twenty hours to do my drive. When I was a student, I once had a roomie who decorated his room with stolen street signs. The only one I would even want was one I passed on this journey - WARNING! MOOSE CROSSING! NEXT 83 KM The best street sign I stole was off of a military base: TANK XING. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/172 "2021-01-02T20:59:14Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > This phrase always reminds me of famous WWF wrestler Bob Marcus, who always quickly lost to an opponent who was permitted to have a birthplace, flag, themed costume and catchy song (such as “Love Is Like A Pile Driver”) that would play while walking to the ring. Don’t recall Bob wearing a mask. I think they would say he was from Ontario Canada. If he really was a masked wrestler from ‘parts unknown’ then how would you know he was? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/173 "2021-01-02T22:25:04Z")
Here’s one that surprised me. I was looking at the Amtrak schedule from NYC to Boston and it was labeled Eastbound. I checked it out and, sure enough, a constant heading line from NYC to Boston is a hair less than 45 degrees from a line due east from NY. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/174 "2021-01-02T22:35:25Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I was looking at the Amtrak schedule from NYC to Boston and it was labeled Eastbound. You were surprised that Boston is east of NYC? Oh… meaning you thought of it as north but not east of the city. Got it… yeah, it’s both, just about equally. The coast there runs at a 45º angle. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/175 "2021-01-02T22:45:28Z")
There’s surprisingly little of the east coast of the US that runs north / south. And also surprisingly little of the west coast that runs north / south either. Though a greater percentage of the west coast is n/s versus the east. ---
**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 2, 2021, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/176 "2021-01-02T23:24:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > There’s surprisingly little of the east coast of the US that runs north / south. And also surprisingly little of the west coast that runs north / south either. Though a greater percentage of the west coast is n/s versus the east A lot of people don’t realize how America’s Atlantic coast runs almost as much east to west as it does north to south. Jacksonville is almost directly due south of Cleveland. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/177 "2021-01-02T23:29:45Z")
Along the same lines, Michigan is in the Eastern Time Zone while Alabama is in the Central. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/178 "2021-01-02T23:45:54Z")
Bit irrelevant, so this will be my last post on this matter. My recollection is the introduction went something like: Announcer: In the yellow corner, from parts unknown, weighing in at 207 pounds, Bob Marcus!! (Non-descript man already in ring, wearing plain tights, waves vaguely at the audience.) And in the white corner, weighing in at 273 pounds, from Hollywood, California… (Cue theme music, first bit of ‘Hail The Conquering Hero) Announcer: Jesse “The Body” Ventura!!! (Theme music continues. Ventura takes two minutes to walk to ring. Is carrying and waving large American flag.) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/179 "2021-01-03T00:52:11Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > There’s surprisingly little of the east coast of the US that runs north / south. And also surprisingly little of the west coast that runs north / south either. Though a greater percentage of the west coast is n/s versus the east. When I first moved to California from the northeast US, I went to college at UCSB. In Santa Barbara CA, the coastline runs east-west: the ocean is to the south, and the mountains are to the north. A bit weird, until I got used to it. ---
**Author:** ![smilingbandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@smilingbandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smilingbandit)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/180 "2021-01-03T04:07:53Z")
This is not a misconception of mine, but it’s an odd fact that had a historical significance once upon a time: West Virginia is only 100 miles from Lake Eerie, and in fact extends north of Pittsburgh, PA! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294.md?page=10)