meanwhile we laugh at Americans for not being able to tell where germany lies
this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2023
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I'm American and I don't know where Ohio or Germany is.
I’m American and I don’t know where Oreo is.
It's probably in your local supermarket no?
A correct answer is:
In my belly.
Also American. I know where Germany is because I've had buddies from Germany, which made it useful information. Ditto Romania, Nigeria, and South Korea. I will remember X country when there is something of personal significance about it and apparently not before.
I don't know where Ohio is and will never learn, because there is nothing IN Ohio, and they know there's nothing in Ohio because they're still LYING ABOUT THE AIRPLANE.
I've been studying scientific communication recently and something that's quite striking is how much easier humans understand and remember information when it's attached to something meaningful, such as through a story.
Your comment feels like an example of that kind of thing. I process geography in a similar way, so what you describe is pretty relatable to me
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The only reason to know where Ohio is is to avoid going there
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To be fair most Germans know where America is.
Yes this one is honestly a bit apples to oranges-ish, I can kinda understand though because Germany is about the size of a single US state.
Though it's very hard to fuck up western Europe if you ever looked at a world map. Western Europe only has a handful of countries.
Compared to a country of 50 or so states where only 3 have a memorable shape (California, Texas, Florida), one has a memorable location (Alaska) and NYC being a household name.
Includes Alaska but not Hawaii for memorable locations.
Completely disregards Michigan for memorable shapes.
Refers to NYC as a state.
I'm starting to think you may be an imposter.
Hawaii is way further away from the US than Alaska I forgot it belonged to the US because of that, I am sorry if that offended anyone.
I would consider Michigan a memorable shape if it wasn't cut in half. As someone that's not from the US, without specifically going out of my way to learn about Michigans shape I would have expected the shape that actually represents Michigan to be two different states.
And yes, technically NYC itself isn't a state but honestly it's close enough to the actual name, that if I told natives I'm going to the state of NYC they'd know I'm talking about New York and am just being ignorant, and knowing where NYC is, most people could point out the state of New York on a map.
And yes, I am an imposter because I am from Germany and not the US.
No worries! If you ever saw the Hawaiian flag that would be all kinds of confusing because they are clearly claiming to be a British Commonwealth state, despite never being part of the British Empire. They just liked the Union Jack so much that they slapped it in the upper left corner of the flag. That was back when they were still a kingdom though.
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Hawaii and alaska are simply forgotten as states entirely, and in my experience the same goes for new mexico which blends together with texas and arizona.
Seriously who the fuck thought it was a good idea to have a state called "new mexico" right next to a COUNTRY called "mexico"?
In addition to Michigan and the three op named, I would also argue Minnesota and Louisiana (shaped like an L, the first letter of the state’s name) have distinctive/memorable shapes.
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Sure but that's only equivalent to an American knowing where Europe is, as a lot of US states are as large as a lot of European countries.
But they're still states. States are internal divisions and only meaningful within the US. From an outside perspective there are very few differences between states, nowhere close to the differences between different countries.
Similar to how we don't talk about states or other divisions of china, even though there are probably divisions with more people than half of Europe.
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Not really, as a European I can tell you where all the countries in the north American continent are.
all 3 of em? wow what an accomplishment
You're forgetting 20 countries.
North America doesn't end at Mexico, it ends at Panama, and it also includes the Caribbean.
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The John Oliver bit will never get old for me.
which one?
Talking about a location with a map showing where it is, then revealing that the audience doesn't know geography / the place is not well known, because the map was wrong.
Can't find a good video but it's the one where he names a country and places its name on a world map. Then shows that it wasn't that country at all to show his viewers are bad at world geography.
That was a terribly unfunny explanation by me. But I like the bit.
Why oh why did they get Arkansas right??
Because we're like the 2nd worst state in the country so it sticks out. Whenever I get depressed about being stuck in Arkansas, I tell myself "at least I don't live in Florida"
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the fuck is going on here
Fake ass Euro not comprehending small and weird borders
Every state looks the exact same
They should all be named Square
The only memorable ones are California, nevada, washington, texas, florida, and maine.
Washington and Maine are only memorable because of very easy locations, being in the top corners of the country.
Uhh, fucking MICHIGAN??? THE BIG MITTEN? Easily a contender for that list based on shape alone.
~A salty Michigander
I'm just wondering how you mislocate "Virgin," yet somehow get West Virginia right.
American on Germany: All states look like Bavaria.
American on Germany: other countries have states?
America on German cities: "That's a food!"
As a resident of Oreo, I can confirm that my state is tasty as fuck.
I imagine Minnesotans would take offense to being called “Texas 2”. In both climate and politics, it's the opposite of Texas.
“Uh” and “Minne-sota” are the same state: Michigan. It's the only state whose land is divided by a huge lake spanning the entire state.
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Is nobody going to mention the absence of Alaska?
Bit chilly in Ohio today, innit?
Americans are very sensitive about you knowing which state they're from
It used to be that Prussians, Germans and Austrians would cut you for confusing them for one of the others.
Honestly, that's how I feel about Kansas as well
Probably did a better job than some Americans.
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