One Misconception About Each U.S. State

50 misconceptions about the 50 states of the United States. It turns out, we don't know everything about the fifty nifty.
Is Wyoming really the Equality State? How many cowboys are in Texas? And why might a swim off the coast of California be unpleasant?
Host Justin Dodd (@juddtoday) breaks down some common myths and misconceptions about the 50 states that make up the USA.
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Image Credits:
Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain
Women's Suffrage (LOC)
Tayloe Ross (LOC)
Boreman (LOC)
Mattawa (Williamborg)
William & Mary (Bkwillwm)
UVA (Aaron Josephson)
Woodruff (Lupo)
Vaquero (Time Life Books)
Comanche (LOC)
Reno (David Francis Barry)
Benteen (Jalo)
Finkel (0331mos)
NW Angle (NASA)
Tavern style (shsilver)
Ballot (J.delanoy)
Peachtree creek (Thomson200)
1209 Building (Davidt8)
l'Enfant (LOC)
Capitol Hill (Duane Lemke)
CC 1.0
Runza (rayb777)
CC 2.0
Museum of Art (Erik Drost)
Colombus (J. Jessee)
Cleveland Museum of Art (Erik Drost)
Kaw nation (Flickr's the Commons)
CC 2.5
Darien (Jerry Dougherty)
Hell's Canyon (X-Weinzar)
CC 3.0
Vegas (Stan Shebs)
VCU (Jeff Auth)
Aquidneck Island (SiliconProphet)
Burns Oregon (Finetooth)
Acadiana (Interiot~commonswiki)
Bourbon quote (Epastore)
Hawkeye Point (Evilwop66)
Loess Hills (BillyBlueJay)
Sheridan Circle (AgnosticPreachersKid)
CC 4.0
West VA Historic Map (Dubyavee)
Hampton (Douglas W. Reynolds)
East River (Maxpower2727)
Oregon election map (CookieMonster755)
Cincinnati (EEJCC)
Fargo Title (Xacto)
Detroit Pizza (Supreme Chungus)
Getty Images
Wyoming Capitol (DenisTangneyJr)
Grand Teton (Troy Harrison)
Milwaukee (Walter Bibikow)
Milwaukee2 (Testa Images)
Alice Cooper (Paul Natkin)
Wayne's World (Frank Trapper)
Ojibwa quote (Hulton Archive)
West VA (belterz)
Virginia Farm (Heritage Images)
West VA Mountains (John R / 500 px)
Richmond Ruins (Otto Herschen Collection)
West VA Quote (Heritage Images)
Texas Oil (Benjamin Lowy)
Dakotas (FotografiaBasica)
South Dakota (THEPALMER)
Corn (Scott Olson)
Cows (David Howells)
Deadwood (Real Historical)
Deadwood TV Show (Steven Shugerman)
South Caroline TItle (Print Collector)
Fort Sumter (Heritage Images)
Anderson (Historical)
Beauragard (Library of Congress)
Cowpens (Historical)
Rhode Island (Bob Krist)
Montauk (fotog)
Staten Island (Barry Winiker)
Aleut (Wolfgang Kaehler)
Inupiat (Gilles Mingasson)
Y'upik (Andrew Burton)
Athabascan (John Greim)
Alaskan Indigenous (Farah Nosh)
Cleveland (Mike Kline)
New Hampshire (John Elk III)
Checkout (SOPA IMAGES)
Property tax (Brooks Kraft)
Vegas Paris (George Rose)
Vegas title (George Rose)
Vegas Homes (Ethan Miller)
Nebraska Title (Thomas Jackson)
Omaha (John Coletti)
Lincoln (halbergman)
Mackninac Bridge (Kim Kozlowski)
Michigan map (Hey Darlin)
Hannity (John Moore)
Massachussets (Thomas H. Mitchell / 500 px)
MA Quote (ANDREY DENISYUK)
Puerto Rico (Laurie Chamberlain)
Maryland (Joseph Sohm; Visions of America)
Maryland civil war (Historical)
Crab quote (Mark Wilson)
Maine title (Edwin Remsberg)
Lobster (Doug Grill/Tetra Images)
Maine forrest (Cappi Thompson)
Logging (gmnicholas)
Paper (gerenme)
Cajun and Creole (Michael Lemane / 500px)
Jazz (Tim Mosenfelder)
Mardi Gras (Andrew Lichtenstein)
New Orleans History (Print Collector)
Creole quote (LOC)
Creole food (Owen Franken- Corbis)
Bourbon (Matthew Liteplo)
Bourbon production (Luke Sharrett)
Kansas title (Andy Sacks)
KC Missouri (Edwin Remsberg)
Wichita (John Coletti)
Iowa (David Papazian)
Indiana title (Owaki/Kuila)
Barn (John B. Mueller Photography)
Old factory (chinaface)
Indianapolis (Photo by Scott Dunn)
Steel (David Joel)
Deep Dish (TerenceLeezy)
Deep dish quote (Scott Olson)
Potatoes (Natalie Behring)
Potatoes2 (Natalie Behring)
Idaho Cows (Wolfgang Kaehler)
Wheat (Dean Conger)
Hay (Wolfgang Kaehler)
Hawaii (Warren Ishii / 500 px)
Statehood (Library of Congress)
Queen Liliuokalani (Library of Congress)
Georgia Title (adshooter)
Peachtree street (Davel5957)
Ty Cobb (George Rinhart)
Cotton (Nirian)
Pecans (IAISI)
Peanuts (Christina (mom) Taylor / EyeEm)
Criminal (ESOlex)
Florida beach (Jim McKinley)
Public records (Sean Justicw)
Delaware Title (William Thomas Cain)
Beer helmet (Ryan McVay)
El Chapo (NurPhoto)
Tim Durham (L Cohen)
Viktor Bout (Chumsak Kanoknan)
Grand Canyon (Nico De Pasquale Photography)
Yarlung Zangbo Canyon (Fei Yong)
Alaska title (Danny Lehman)
Alaska Summer (Dagny Willis)
U of Alabama (Wesley Hitt)
Alabama Students (Marvin Gentry)
College fair (Hadrian)
Traffic Circle (Danita Delimont)
National Mall (Mark Reinstein)
Dupont Circle (Westend61)
Shutterstock
Wage gap (Hyejin Kang)
Capri Sun (The Image Party)
Snake arena (Muellek)
Snake (Nynke Van Houten)
Snake2 (PetlinDmitry)
Trampoline park (frantic00)
CT Title (gualtiero boffi)

[@mellowyellow6572]

Time stamps, just for you! Have a nice day :D Wyoming 0:00 Wisconsin 1:22 West Virginia 2:15 Washington 4:19 Virginia 5:02 Vermont 6:22 Utah 7:41 Texas 9:18 Tennessee 10:47 South Dakota 11:31 South Carolina 12:26 Rhode Island 13:28 Pennsylvania 14:09 Oregon 15:51 Oklahoma 16:47 Ohio 18:19 North Dakota 18:58 North Carolina 19:54 New York 20:23 New Mexico 21:06 New Jersey 22:00 New Hampshire: 22:37 Nevada: 23:10 Nebraska: 23:52 Montana 24:59 Missouri 27:17 Minnesota 28:22 Michigan 30:05 Massachusetts 31:27 Maryland 32:31 Maine 33:24 Louisiana 33:58 Kentucky 36:54 Kansas 38:19 Iowa 39:29 Indiana 40:16 Illinois 40:54 (pizza in a bag, what the heck) Idaho 42:24 Hawaii 43:09 Georgia 44:44 Florida 45:35 Delaware 47:04 Connecticut 48:11 Colorado 49:03 California 49:56 Arkansas 50:59 Arizona 51:31 Alaska 52:11 Alabama 52:46 Washington DC: The Secret Bonus State 53:33

[@MentalFloss]

@@mellowyellow6572 Unpinned if you want to edit it onto the original comment. Sorry about that, and a sincere thank you!

[@mellowyellow6572]

@@MentalFloss It’s alright! Thank you very much, love the video!

[@mellowyellow6572]

@@MentalFloss Alright, finished the time stamps and went back through to make sure everything synched up to my satisfaction. Should be good to go!

[@Fetch26291]

Time you say Missouri is Mississippi

[@mellowyellow6572]

@@Fetch26291 Crap, I can’t fix it because the comment is pinned. Not sure what to do…

[@frankydman]

Florida misconception- Walt Disney World is in Orlando Even though Orlando likes to advertise Disney World like it is within its city, Walt Disney World is, in fact, not in Orlando. It’s actually in a town called Lake Buena Vista, located about 20 miles away from Orlando

[@padamek]

Illinoians love all kinds of pizza but deep dish is expensive. If it comes down to it, ordering 52 pizzas a year, you're going to lil Caesar's not ordering from Lou's or Giordanos. But if you are going to get one pizza a year when you get a random craving, especially when you get to the farther flung Chicago suburbs, you will order deep dish every time. Also, pizza by the slice usually includes deep dish as an option in the suburbs. I would be interested to get numbers on how many deep dish pizzas are sold by the slice.

[@Alverant]

I ordered delivery for a deep dish from Gio's and it was nearly $50. But my employer paid for it so I didn't care.

[@dkecskes2199]

Turtle Island Indigenous KZbin Creators I would recommend: (you asked in the 18th minute in this video) Lance Tsosie patrickisanavajo Four Directions Coalition The Halluci Nation I also recommend those who they collaborate with, both on this platform and others.

[@stephenphillips931]

Love how you sort of reverse alphabetized it.

[@besarbears]

Singapore is called "The Lion City" but lions are not native to this part of South-East Asia. "Singapore Noodles" is not a common dish here either.

[@xCptKramerx]

As a native Pennsylvanian who considers himself PA Dutch, the label PA Dutch does not refer exclusively to Amish or Mennonite peoples, but rather the common German ethnic heritage of many naturalized Pennsylvanians whose ancestors emigrated to PA in the 1840s, stemming from the bastardization of "Deutch", which is German for, well, German. Kannst du micka fange?

[@powerviolentnightmare5026]

Ja, wann sie hucke bliebe.

[@mike79patton]

Seltzers. Lebanon. Sweet. Bologna. Best sandwich ever!

[@johannesstephanusroos4969]

Deutsch*, dummkopf

[@lawrencepsteele]

I was surprised the PA "Dutch" misconception of choice for this video.

[@mikefetta6796]

Rhode Island was once the name of Aquidneck Island. The state’s former name was “The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” describing the island and surrounding land masses.

[@lawrencepsteele]

I was amused that our nation's smallest state by land area had the longest name.

[@lilolebob]

From someone that lived in Kansas City, MO, those pictures at 38:42 are accurate. Missouri side is colorful and lively, while the Kansas side is dull, grey, and depressing.

[@eldingo617]

Fair enough, but at least they don’t have to live in Missouri

[@jesseshumway5017]

When it comes to the Little Big Horn, I never thought everyone died. I always assumed all Custer’s troops died and all the Native Americans survived. The part about Custer was interesting, and it would have been interesting to hear about the other side as well.

[@rodok777]

So unconfirmed theory about Florida man: It isn't an increase in crimes, so much as it is a decrease in privacy. As someone who has lived in both Florida and Texas (two states that are both southern, and both have similar populations, and with Texas' violent crime rate being actually HIGHER than Florida's) I can say that I did SEE a lot more crime happening in Florida than in any of the 5 other states I have lived in (which I know is not a lot, but it has been in many corners of the country, so I have gotten a pretty wide view). The reason I believe I saw more Crimes in Florida is because the crime is happening in areas that are very visible, like all over Orlando due to its proximity to Disney World. Most other places I have lived, there has been a form of separation between "Good areas" and "Bad areas" as far as crime rate, but Florida didn't have "good or bad parts of town" so much as it had "Good or bad towns", because the crime was not really hidden to the bad parts of any town, it was very intermingled with the other parts of town. I think this lack of shame is no further demonstrated than by the fact that while Florida's violent crimes are fairly low, they ARE leading the country in arrests for Public Masturbation.

[@Andrew8468]

Buffalo is a half hour drive to Canada? Have you looked at a map lately? The Peace Bridge connects Buffalo NY to Fort Erie ON over the Niagara River and it's probably less than 2 kilometres between Canadian customs and US customs. Maybe half an hour from the farthest suburb or if you are counting the time waiting to go through customs. Watertown NY is about a half hour drive from the border

[@lijohnyoutube101]

I just assumed to go thru customs was included.

[@koretmulder6316]

The explanation about why West Virginia became a state on its own really makes me wonder why California can't ever divide and separate into (at least) two states. It's come up so many times, for obvious reasons, but somehow just never goes anywhere. If you've ever lived here, it's just so very clear that socially, economically, politically, NorCal and SoCal are two entirely different worlds. Oh wait, and then there's the central valley.... No, three states.Three, for sure.

[@TJ52359]

Every so often there is talk/jokes of California Leaving the Union... a lot of this talk always assumes it'd secede as a singular unit... quite clear with any analysis that even IF plausible it simply wouldn't happen that way

[@koretmulder6316]

@@TJ52359 Interesting! I think I know what you're referring to. I think you know, I wasn't actually talking about California (or any section of it) seceding. Rather, I was referring to the repeated motions to break California into two or three states - each still part of the union. And to be fair, any one of these proposed states would still be both sizable and populous states in their own right - particularly in comparison to both East Coast micro-states or midlands states with big size but extremely low population per square mile.

[@TJ52359]

@@koretmulder6316 Agreed... I forget what forum I was on prior to my original reply here; but there was a 'conversation' about Texas and/or California seceding, that was just short of a flame war and there was one commenter that that was so firm in his opinions that if they both left; Texas would be a Third World Country in under 10 years while California would be a World Leader so the context of secession was fresh in my mind when i posted

[@Disobeyedtoast]

a new misconception for PA: Lancaster isn't pronounced as "lan-caster" it's pronounced more like "len-kes-ster"

[@itme999]

Yes! Moved to PA from the Midwest, and Lancaster County, NE is pronounced the opposite way.

[@maddiejoy6619]

Thank you for talking about Nebraska culture! Very few people appreciate that Nebraska actually has unique, interesting things about it. It's mostly rural, plain, and sleepy here, but that doesn't mean there aren't things to appreciate about it.

[@sageholla]

Omaha has my favorite restaurant of all time - Spaghetti Works provides Unlimited!!!! Pasta!!!!! Downtown Lincoln is also super uniquely cool… love NE 💕

[@itme999]

@@sageholla Spaghetti Works is one of my faves too 🥰 haven't lived there in years but that's a tasty memory

[@enduringbird]

The best misconception you guys could come up with about new jersey is that people think there's more farms than there really is. Really?! I'm originally from New Jersey and I've heard all kinds of jokes about my state. None of them involve how many vegetables people grow. I've never once met anyone who heard "new jersey" and was like oh that's where there's tons of farms right. More like that's the armpit of America or that whole state is dirty or why would anyone live in New Jersey. I live in Tennessee now and the biggest misconception that I run into is that new jersey is part of New England. It's not. Or that it's a dirty, crappy place to live. It's not. Well, I mean some places are but that's true of everywhere. New Jersey has a lot to offer from beaches to skiing to city and culture to, yes, even agriculture.

[@julesstephenson8935]

I’ve only lived in Jersey for 10 years myself, originally coming from Ontario. I never once had the belief that New Jersey was all farmland. Thanks to things like The Sopranos, I just thought that the whole state was mobsters for a while. 🤣

[@FiveFootPerimeter]

Why does New Jersey have the chemical companies and DC have the lawyers? NJ got first choice.

[@stanwolenski9541]

NJ is industrial and amazingly rural.

[@earlewhitcher970]

I have always compared New Jersey being called the Garden State to Greenland being called Greenland, It's an outright marketing ploy intended to lure future inhabitants to the area thinking that they are going a a virtual paradise when in fact quite the opposite id true.

[@SomeShavedSheep]

Fun fact: North North Dakota is in fact, not part of North Dakota, it isn’t even part of the same country. Manitoba is the geographically central province of Canada.

[@eveolson2127]

I have literally never heard this stereotype of Virginia

[@Bshade51684]

You said Lancaster wrong, I have lived in Lancaster my whole life and have had to deal with the Amish the whole time.

[@jmanj3917]

33:00, The only reason Maryland didn't secede from the Union is because President Lincoln enacted martial law in order to keep the peace.

[@Darxide23]

I'll be deep in the cold, cold ground before I recognize Missourah.

[@mike79patton]

Couldn't be more right about Washington state. The rainforest of the Olympic peninsula is definitely there, but there's so much more than that in Washington. The area where Washington Oregon and Idaho meet (Snake River canyon) looks less like Seattle and more like Arizona or Utah. The Palouse is rolling, grassy farmland. Yakima and surrounding areas look like the Imperial valley in California. As a transplant to Washington state, I have to say that the variety of different geographies in Washington is astounding.

[@therealrunesead]

As you said, PA Dutch isn’t synonymous with Amish, but also “Dutch” means Germanic in this context.

[@route2070]

How to piss off Nebraskans, remind the residents of the Cornhusker State that they are 3rd greatest state in corn production.

[@Walter.Kolczynski]

It's slightly disturbing that so many of these are "X is its own state"

[@route2070]

Amish misconsection, they can't have anything to do with electricity or modern technology. Depending on the community, they can do things like ride buses or trains, they just can't drive them.

[@quintessenceSL]

Per wiki, MGP of Indiana is headquartered in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Their contact address is Atchison, Kansas. I'm so confused.

[@geoffroi-le-Hook]

South Dakota used to be The Sunshine State. Later, their license plate slogan was stolen and altered by South Carolina. (Great Faces, Great Places became Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places in SCar.)

[@lordofthechin]

The Rhodes island = long island thing was so common that I just stopped correcting people. There are folks out in California that still believe I'm a New Yorker to this day some ten years later.

[@PanikaMCD]

Alaska is the other state--though localities are allowed to institute them on certain items. Wasilla is one of the few places to avail themselves of this sales tax option and Sarah Palin doubled it when she was mayor of the exurb.

[@stecky87]

I'm from Milwaukee, and I don't know anyone who actually pronounces in "Mwakee" - it's always said jokingly. We don't drop the 'l' entirely, but we don't emphasize it either.

[@jazclarinetist]

As a West Virginian who travels for work the amount of times I have heard "I love Richmond" or similar comments is myriad. I think most people DO know it is an independent state but in the moment forget West is part of the name rather than an adjective (i.e. West Philadelphia...)

[@williamwhalen746]

When I was stationed in West Virginia, I had to remind them that they voted to be Yankees not Southerners. Maryland on the other hand was kept in the Union at literal gunpoint.

[@MisterTengu]

Why is pizza a round food, delivered in a square box that we eat as triangles?

[@sikkitty]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 never thought of that it's seriously funny

[@johannesstephanusroos4969]

Pragmatism

[@macaylacayton2915]

I would even say my home state of NC is decently educated, i mean we quite the number of labs, colleges, research places, freaking graveyard of the atlantic, blackbeard came from here, andy griffith came from NC, kitty hawk flight(although sand hills and wind at the coast were probably the reason, those in the know will get what i mean), also pepsi and krispy kreme can't forget those.

[@jesstessieri6731]

Largest employer in nc is unc... i think we got virginia beat on breaking country bumpikn stereotype

[@macaylacayton2915]

@@jesstessieri6731 yeah lol I’m in college for biotechnology myself

[@KierTheScrivener]

Most of Canadians live rurally, 70% of Canadians live between Windsor and Montreal, live urbanly, with 52% of people living in Toronto being people of colour (with a strong East and South Asian population). The stereotype of bitterly cold, accented white hicks is a little odd. I (along with many Canadians) live in southern Ontario, more laterally south than Boston, New York, Seattle, Minneapolis and many more large American cities.

[@EamonBurke]

Texas has no income tax and a massive tax reduction(basically zero taxes) for agricultural property. The result is huge swaths of land and many dispersed pieces of land doing the bare-minimum to maintain their status as "ag properties". If we had legislated a special appraisal rule or tax exemption for hotels, we'd be the hotel state. Ever since the oil boom, that's FAR more of the Texas economy than cattle, and in the last 10 years there's been another boom. The majority of things being considered agricultural properties or wildlife preserves in Texas are neither farms, ranches, nor parks. Most of the cows you see driving through Texas are not a sufficient enterprise to actually support a single family. Their money comes from oil and gas royalties or straight up outside employment, the agricultural stuff is gaming the government system.

[@apophis456]

I hope that this video gets time stamped for each state

[@ChawkletStudios]

C’mon, not enough time for a hour long yt video?

[@apophis456]

@@ChawkletStudios correct

[@mellowyellow6572]

Working on it now!

[@apophis456]

@@mellowyellow6572 legend

[@angl149341]

So the deep dish pizza in chicago is good for a change but its a very calorie dense food. No one is going to want to eat it all the time. My family has it every once in a while maybe 2-3 times a year. Its just a lot.

[@misttylyn]

While visiting SC, I was told it wasn’t the “Civil War”, it was the “War of Northern Aggression.” I had never heard that before.

[@libertinadarbini]

A friend of mine moved to Alabama years ago and heard that as well. I was so surprised how it was spun!

[@ref5095]

Born and live in SC, and have never heard that, even in history class. :/

[@drytrunks8875]

Reverse alphabetical order! As a person who solely cares about Wisconsin I thank you.

[@crowninthesky]

43:08 Hawaii

[@brandonfuqua9964]

Nashville Tennessee is only nicknamed "Music City" because in the late 1800's a gospel group from Fisk University (An all black HBCU) called the "Fisk Jubilee Singers" went to England to perform for Queen Victoria. She loved their music so much that she dubbed Nashville as "Music City"

[@marihawley]

On our New Mexico license plates it says "New Mexico USA" just so there's no confusion..... because there's always confusion. And the strip is in Paradise, NV.... not Las Vegas. When we moved here we found out how much of the greater Las Vegas isn't even "Las Vegas", lots of unincorporated or master planned areas.

[@blackdoomduck]

The cockney/ London accent is not the only accent in the UK , UK accents change very drastically over very short distances, most cities and even some groups of towns have very distinct accents despite being a 10min drive away

[@SecretFiri]

As a Costa Rican, I need to clarify all the time that San Jose isn't a beach. Dammit Jurassic Park!

[@tmurphy0919]

25 years living in and near Milwaukee and I never heard anyone pronounce it that way. Not even from drunk people.

[@hollandlafave1780]

40 years living in and near Milwaukee, and yes, we pronounce it that way. No L and smooshed.

[@Wumf]

I loved the Jeopardy! reference!

[@PanikaMCD]

your map of territories that were once Mexico and are now parts of states in the US clearly shows about half of NM was in the Pecos region of Texas.

[@missheadbanger]

Do a video of a misconception of each of Canada's provinces and territories, it would be a shorter video with only 13 entries. My province of Saskatchewan for example doesn't just grow crops, like wheat mustard and canola Saskatchewan also has a large mining industry and the province is the largest producer of potash in the world. Saskatchewan is very flat, has a 100,000 lakes and 3 major rivers. The province is named after one of the major rivers, the north & South saskatchewan river. Assiniboine and Churchill are the other two rivers.

[@zmanjace1364]

As someone from Columbus ohio, it always drives me nuts watching the weather in other states. They always list cleveland and cinci but never Columbus even though it's the biggest city AND the capital.

[@JacobBroylesTheFishinGamer]

People love to dunk on columbus, I am also from cbus.

[@nebulan]

I want to thank you for going in reverse alphabetical order.

[@dongordayiii6976]

Japan joined the UN in 1956. The misconception about Japanese speakers always switching L's and R's stems from the Japanese language not having either sound natively. The L sound in English is made by pressing the tongue against the teeth, while in the R sound pulls the tongue away from the teeth. The sound native to Japan, ラーリールーレーロ, which they use in place of both L and R, uses a light tap of the tongue on the ridge of the pallet between the teeth and roof of the mouth. The sound is neither L nor R but something in between, and to the ear of native English speakers, may sound as though they are making the wrong sound every time.

[@nebulan]

Mr Beat called west Virginia a south eastern state.... i agreed with the east part

[@marilyn8490]

Yeah, Michigan-born here...the UP always feels disconnected, probably because it can take from 5-7 hours to get from the southern areas of Michigan (higher population) to the UP. And when you meet a fellow Michigander, like everyone holds up their hand to show you where they grew up. Yes, everyone born there does that. Yes, Florida is the flattest place I have been along with Oklahoma and parts of west Texas...and finally, AZ does have the most spectacular and beautiful canyon😃

[@julesstephenson8935]

Only listening to the video, my immediate thought when talking about Maine and you said lobster over logger, I thought lager like the kind of beer. I was confused, because I didn’t think of Maine as a particularly beer manufacturing state started laughing as soon as I realized that you were talking about the wood, cutting kind.

[@devoncantrell2595]

The thin crust pizza from Illinois is more of a St. Louis/ southern Illinois thing, most of the downstate takes cultural influences in some cases more from St Louis than Chicago. My town has 2X and he amount of cards fans than cubs. I also remember kids had to make model arches in school for some reason 😅

[@cynicalrabbit915]

I am like alot of other northerners who via Hollywood thought that Creole was the name of a Native American tribe. Also another misconception that was knocked out was Cajun, again via Hollywood. A Cajun was a person of mixed biological heritage with common ancestry with the nonexistent Creole tribe. A Cajun was someone with one part rooted in a native American tribe the other part being any ethnicity, black, white but speaking with a particular accent and slang derived from English, French and the Creole languages. Wow! Hollywood has really played with and distorted my perception of the state of Louisiana.

[@PanikaMCD]

oh, sweet cheeks. you're most likely to see a cowboy hat in Austin on a legislator, lobbyist or state trooper--not someone headed for a costume party. the same is often true of the other metropolitan areas with the exception of Fort Worth. because: Cow Town.

[@grahamrankin4725]

As an acquaintance in West Virginia produced t-shirt "West Virginia, not part of Virginia since 1863"

[@amberroderick171]

If Rhode Island merged with any state, it would be Massachusetts. Even the debunking is a misconception 😂😂

[@HayTatsuko]

I enjoyed that shout-out for Hattie B's. They may not be the original -- that's Prince's! -- but they sure are pretty good. Big Shakes ain't bad, either -- and they are in my city down here in UnAlabama, so I get to enjoy 'em most any time I want. Wish Hattie B's would open a location here in Huntsvegas! Also, as a Marylander by birth, I don't care whether it's north or south, but I do care that the glory of the Calvert & Crossland banner be hailed by all lovers of good flags, even if it really is a visual trainwreck of the highest order.

[@robbruce2128]

It's a picky misconception that there are 2 Kansas Citys. There's a *third*: Kansas City, Oregon is an unincorporated community west of Portland.

[@Stickywicket]

You're pleasant to listen to, Justin.

[@papadave3084]

@29:20 "Mississippi?" I think you meant to say Minnesota. BTW, when you challenged us to quickly name the other of 7 states (besides Missouri) that begin with the letter M, I scrambled my brain after naming 5 to come up with the final one. Then, after a bit of a delay, it dawned on me. Michigan... um, my home state. Doh! ~Cheers from Michigan

[@nathaliedesrosiers2104]

Acadians are much more associated with New Brunswick than with Nova Scotia. Wish both had been mentioned. Also, don’t know if it’s attributed to anyone, but I’ve heard Maryland referenced as “the southernmost northern state and the northernmost southern state.”

[@CharlieMermelstein]

The official nickname for Connecticut is The Constitution State. "Nutmeg State" isn't official. That nickname refers to early settlers being called "Nutmeggers" due to the shrewd business practice of selling wooden nutmegs.

[@karenscheltema9671]

In most parts of Kansas, Kansas City, KS is frequently referred to as KCK.

[@carlosvillanueva8530]

For rainfall average you should have used Mountain View, HI. Their average rainfall is 202" per year, that's 16.83 ' per year....and that's not the rainiest place in Hawaii.

[@katiehernandez514]

I really want to applaud your handling of the topic of polygamy in Utah (or the greater church as a whole) and say THANK YOU all for doing your research, reporting accurate facts, and being kind about it.

[@saradenhalter1141]

this!! we're so often misrepresented because people just take was they hear on the street as fact. also, fact for anyone reading this, Mormons belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints do not practice polygamy, the ones who do belong to a group that branched out of the church and created the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints (FLDS). They are only associated with LDS because it originated from the LDS church.

[@jmanj3917]

25:42, Custer was a General Edit: ...but not a very good one, it turns out

[@jakeheadley2241]

“I’m gonna say pretty much all of our American audience members know that WV is a state.” I work in West Virginia with people from all over the country. The majority of people from outside of the state or surrounding states that I’ve met genuinely don’t know that it’s a state.

[@mygreenfroggy]

Washington state has no income or sales/pharmaceutical tax, but everything else is taxed like crazy!

[@What_Makes_Climate_Tick]

I am originally from Minnesota, but am not familiar with the misconception that you mention. The one that impacts me is more akin to what you say about New York, i.e. Minnesota=Minneapolis. My home is much closer to Fargo and Winnipeg than to Minneapolis. An east-west line between Duluth on the Wisconsin border and Moorhead, immediately across the border from Fargo, is close to dividing the state equally by area, but is well beyond what many from the Twin Cities would consider to be where "Up North" begins.

[@hadleyjapan]

Japan, the supposed tech wonderland is very out of date. It was ahead in the 80s but never kept pushing. In fact fax machines are still used and only recently did credit cards become widely accepted outside of the big city.

[@jr52990]

Just started, hoping that "You're pronouncing Oregon wrong" is in here. Edit: Gad damn it!

[@jmanj3917]

20:15, it sounds like those numbers are already decreasing...WAKA WAKA WAKA!!

[@nato7.62mm4]

"Deadwood " was AWESOME!

[@sorensonjaneti]

Your pronunciation of “Loess” was surprising to my ears. I grew up near Smithland, Iowa in the Loess Hills and have only heard it said more like if los and luss were smushed together, similar to your pronunciation but as one syllable. Obviously other folks outside the region may use a 2-syllable pronunciation as I haven’t gone around asking them. Enjoyed learning new information today while watching this!

[@pvtpain66k]

"Native American" for Indian is just as useful as "white". It's just a catch all that's not actually useful. Also, as a Washingtonian, the worst part of travel is having the same extremely awkward conversation, with almost everyone. It goes, "where are you from?" Washington. "OOOH, what's the capital like?" The State, not DC. "OOOH... okay..."

[@lesnyk255]

NH may not tax wages, but interest and dividend income is considered taxable. Don't get me started about our property taxes though. I pay more now than I did when I was in the work force.

[@jesstessieri6731]

As a Jersey girl living in Raleigh... you got both wrong... no one outside Manhattan thinks Jersey had farms... other places think of NJ as giant Superfund site... oh wait that's true... or we all live of an exit on interstate... oh yea... also true... it is most densely populated state ... with 15% farmland half state rural asf... and with no cities over 500k... that the surprise... and NC... could have done better... it assumed red but surprisingly purple... largest employer is UNC... so it ain't as hillbilly as presumed... also ... first In flight on the plates...but Wright brothers built plane at bike shop ( in state I'm not sure enough to name) and only tested in NC because of soft beaches and gorgeous weather...

[@StephanFitzgeraldTay]

Funny... if you ask most Northerners, they would cast Maryland and Delaware into the Upper South

[@enduringbird]

Really? I'm from New Jersey and lived in Baltimore for a time and now live in the actual south and I've always thought of Maryland and Delaware as part of the North. They have more in common culturally with the north than with the south.

[@keving8006]

Fun fact about Arkansas's bill about pronunciation. In Kansas, we call it the Our Kansas river, because that part of it is ours. At least that's the way my Dad put it. I can't say if it's true or not. Dad never let the truth get in the way of a good story!

[@Apophis324]

Misconceptions about the Amish? There's probably quite a bit in Weird Al's parody song Amish Paradise that isn't exactly true, right?

[@JephLewis]

Feeling painfully betrayed by that Ohio Burn, Justin.

[@Figgy5119]

Always happy to hear of more members of the Detroit-Pizza-is-Better-than-Chicago-Pizza Club

[@robertmiller9735]

Nice to hear Nevada pronounced correctly. You're not originally from Back East, are you?

[@disneybelle3594]

This episode should be called “Things Idiots Believe About Each State”

[@Apophis324]

A misconception about countries in the United Nations.. hmm.. Well I live in a country erroneously called Amsterdam, which is just the name of our capital, not the name of our entire country. And we don't all wear clogs either!

[@FishBola1991]

The ones where states are combined or moves to different countries are from non Americans, right? If there’s one thing school and the Animaniacs drilled into my skull its the state names.

[@Zeyev]

1) New Mexico's license plates now usually say "New Mexico USA" to signal to the illiterate what country the State is in. A confusing license plate used to be issued by the state of Michoacán; they had the abbreviation of "MICH" and that made some Usonians think they were from Michigan. Confusion goes both ways across the border. 2) When we moved to North Dakota in 1962, the locals often said they were asked by outsiders how the Indians were, apparently thinking the wars continued. The accent from the movie "Fargo" is alive and well in much of Sunny NoDak but is becoming less common. 3) I'm not sure where you heard "Alabamans" but I was brought up there and we were always called "Alabamians." I'm not sure why and I have seen your version as a variant but I think the preferred term contains the "i."

[@Prospector32]

There are too many misconceptions about Canada, but I'll list a few and maybe you can pick one or two. No one in Canada pronounces the word about "a-boot". In fact, most people from outside of North America can't tell Americans with a standard American accent from most Canadians. Canadians don't all play hockey. Many of us do, and even more love the game but it is not the only sporting pass time in the country. Like your Alaskan myth, Canada is not a permanent winter wonderland. There are parts of Canada that have similar growing climates to northern Florida. In fact, the southern most point of Canada is below the northern border of California. Canadians do not all eat exclusively maple syrup, Tim Horton's or poutine. There is a wide variety of cuisines that span the globe. Canadians do not all live in igloos, log cabins or other such back woods domiciles. They do not all either work in the woods, the fields or on the ocean. They know how to dress for winter but do not all wear toques (the proper term for stocking caps), logging jackets, or plaid shirts. Canadians are not all super polite, they are no more polite than you're average human and regularly do boneheaded things without saying sorry. In fact, most times we say sorry, it's because the other person has ticked them off and they are saying it ironically. Which leads to another misconception, Canadians are not pushovers, they just have a very good sense of humor, and will laugh at you when you walk away. Because of this, there are more working famous Canadian comedians, per capita, than any other country.

[@anthonytropiano6650]

Square pizza is commonly called Sicilian pizza in the east

[@lukaslambs5780]

As a New Yorker, I can confirm that New York has three parts. NYC, Long Island, and Canada.

[@s.marlin5540]

In Texas, Pleasanton claims to be the birthplace of the cowboys.

[@MentalFloss]

Is that the guys who work w/ cows, or the guys who try to get a ball into the end zone?

[@dalaneyday179]

I live in Missouri I can't forget sadly

[@mikmik9034]

Because of the Virginia problem, My MUM alwas refered to it as "West BY G*D Virginia"... I found it irritating when maps 'supposed' to be of the 13 Original Colonies showed the Bite taken out of Virginia, as West by G*D Virginia did not exist until the War between the States. Sanders, is an independant who never worked a real job in his life, straight from college to politics. He also manages to get the Democratic National Committe to finance his runs for office (as an Independant). People may vote in ellections, but at the early morning it is the Ballot Count that Wins.

[@RavenFilms]

I love how my state is the only state that got a (…) in the timestamps!!!

[@isabellaangeline2175]

Washington isn’t all rainy? Seriously that’s it? 🙄

[@delpullen730]

Texan here: Cowboy hats are stupid. Don't wear them, we laugh at you.