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Can you name the 50 states?

post #1 of 48
2/21/10 at 10:36am
Thread Starter 
Hey guys.
A friend of mine asked me if I could name the 50 states (she can, she lived in Seattle for a few years).
Anyways, I started doing a list and the first 28 were easy, but then it started getting hard. After 37 stated I gave up and checked the internet.
I think it's quite good for someone who visit the US only once, when I was 11 and it was only FL, NY and DC.
It's also very confusing because there are cities that I was sure they were states (like Pittsburgh or Boston).

It reminded my of the Friends episode where Ross tries to find all the 50 states and fails.

Good Luck
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post #2 of 48
2/21/10 at 10:54am
Not a chance!
Opened up a text editor and started typing states out of my mind. Stranded at 21 states . . .
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post #3 of 48
2/21/10 at 11:50am
I can easily name the 50 states but I imagine that I may easily forget a few temporarily like trying to remember 50 songs that I grew up with.
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post #4 of 48
2/21/10 at 11:57am
Let's see. Off the top of my head:

Hawaii
Alaska
Washington
Oregon
California
Idaho
Utah
Nevada
Arizona
Montana
Wyoming
Colorado
New Mexico
North Dakota
South Dakota
Nebraska
Iowa
Kansas
Oklahoma
Texas
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Illinois
Missouri
Arkansas
Louisiana
Michigan
Indiana
Kentucky
Tennessee
Mississippi
Ohio
West Virginia
Alabama
Florida
Maine
New Hampshire
Vermont
Massachusetts
New York
New Jersey
Rhode Island
Connecticut
Pennsylvania
Maryland
Virginia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia


Dang.. I'm missing one. Can't figure out which one I forgot.


How about a bonus question: Name all EU member states & Canadian Provinces
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post #5 of 48
2/21/10 at 11:59am
Yes, thanks to a song learned in elementary school
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post #6 of 48
2/21/10 at 12:07pm
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post #7 of 48
2/21/10 at 12:21pm
I made it to five then quit; maybe could get to ten with some concerted effort.
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post #8 of 48
2/21/10 at 12:41pm
The easiest ones for most people to remember would most likely be California, New York and lets not forget New Jersey.
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post #9 of 48
2/21/10 at 12:50pm
Yes, all 50, can point them out on a map and name most of the Capitals. I attribute this to grade school geography and Social studies and my interest in current events.
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post #10 of 48
2/21/10 at 1:06pm
No, but then Im from India and I just got to the US.
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post #11 of 48
2/21/10 at 1:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MD1032 View Post
(((snips unnecessary and insulting image)))
Why the double face palm? Can you name all of the countries in Africa? What about Europe? Asia? Or even the Canadian provinces?

I think this will be an interesting thread, especially since Head-Fi has such an international membership base. It should provide a sense of how familiar non-US people are with the US.

As to the Americans who can't name all 50 states... well, that's no big deal, IMO. There are a lot of things that a lot of people can't do and memorizing a list of 50 items (be they states, or state capitols or whatever) shouldn't be the crowning achievement of a human being's life.

I personally don't think that an adult American who can't name all 50 states should automatically be thought of as another "stupid American", I do have to admit that it would kind of surprise me that someone in that situation has never taken the time to learn the names of the states. Not interested in traveling, geography, or history? Simply apathetic? Hmmm... it would be interesting to know what someone's reasons are, but I wouldn't necessarily think badly of someone simply because they haven't memorized a list.

What would be a more interesting poll to me would be knowing how many of the 50 states that people have traveled to. I've been to all of them with the exception of Alaska, Hawaii, and several New England states (Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island). So I guess that means 44. Shamefully, I've never been to Boston, but I'll get there one day.
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post #12 of 48
2/21/10 at 2:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MoodySteve View Post
Yes, thanks to a song learned in elementary school
YES! That's how I remember them.

In fact, I cannot recite the states in alphabetical order without using the tune
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post #13 of 48
2/21/10 at 2:54pm
To make the concept more entertaining, try to do it with a time limit imposed of 4 minutes. A group of 12 of us or so did it a couple of years back as a gag, and with pressure, it really gets hard: I think the best I did that day before time ran out was 47.

Seriously though, what is with all the facepalming? It isn't necessarily the end of the world if you don't remember all 50 states in the US, even if you live there. I used to live in India for 5 years and the only time I could list every state in India was in 5th grade when we had to for geography class. Next year, I couldn't remember them off the top of my head if you paid me, but if a news article mentioned a specific state, I could see exactly what geographical region it was in without a map. I have the same opinion here: I don't think it's exceptionally important for an individual living in the US to know the names of all 50 states in the US, but I do expect that if Oklahoma is mentioned to him, he be able to realize it is one of the states and be able to show that it is more or less in the middle of the US and not the East Coast.
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post #14 of 48
2/21/10 at 3:22pm
When I was 12, yes. Now that I'm 50, no way Jose. I was just watching the olympics and there was an athlete from Idaho. And I thought to myself, Idaho, there's a state that doesnt come to mind often.
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post #15 of 48
2/21/10 at 3:24pm
Can you name the 32 counties? No? Neither can I, nor do I care :|
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