Inspired by this post of mine, I have decided to do a piece on how many official US state nicknames I can name off the top of my head (the order is done in which ones I think of first). I could come up with ten, plus some bonuses:
"Beaver State" - Oregon
"The Golden State" - California
"Sunshine State" - Florida
"The Empire State" - New York
"Evergreen State" - Washington
"Lone Star State" - Texas
"Show-Me State" - Missouri
"Keystone State" - Pennsylvania
"Silver State" - Nevada
"The Last Frontier" - Alaska
I named "Tar Heel State" for North Carolina, but the state appears to have two main nicknames ("Old North State") so I decided not to count it in the above list. I thought "The Peanut State" was Georgia's nickname (it is the "Peach State"); plus I thought of "Empire State of the South" for Georgia and "The Rocky Mountain State" for Colorado, though I did know that both are rarely used as nicknames for them nowadays. Finally, I named the "Bellwether State" for Ohio, but that is actually one of Missouri's lesser-known nicknames.
How many US state nicknames can you come up with off the top of your head? (Please state which of the above you already knew, too.)
I forget what Wisconsin's state nickname is.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to have "Badger State" and "America's Dairyland" as state nicknames.
DeleteOther than "The Golden State", "Sunshine State", "The Empire State", "Lone Star State" and "Show-Me State", I also know "The Blue Grass state" - Kentucky, "The Garden State" - New Jersey and "The Aloha State" - Hawaii :D. I learnt a whole load of them off to help me in pub quizzes but these are the ones that actually stuck :p
ReplyDeleteEight...that's a good amount! :) I was trying really hard to remember what Hawaii's was when doing this post. :D
DeleteThanks :). It's always the seemingly simple ones that are the most difficult to remember. I only know "The Garden State" one because Zack Braff directed a film named after it. If he didn't direct that film, I wouldn't be able to remember that to be honest as I don't understand why it's called "The Garden State". I have great problems remembering a lot of the other ones as some nicknames could be used for more than one state and I can never remember which is the correct one. :)
DeleteThe irony with "The Garden State" is that I saw that film not too long ago, yet I forgot the nickname. :)
DeleteUtah is the Beehive State
ReplyDeleteIndiana is the Hoosier state
Iowa is the Hawkeye state
New Jersey is the Garden State
Nebraska is the Corn Husker State
Michigan is the Great Lakes State
Kentucky is the Blue Grass State
Idaho is the Gem State
Arizona is the Grand Canyon state
I already knew California, Florida, Texas, New York, and Missouri.
All correct. :) I was annoyed I couldn't remember "Hawkeye State" for Iowa since I've seen that nickname several times recently!
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