The Stereotype Map Of Every U.S. State — According To British People

The Stereotype Map Of Every U.S. State — According To British People

They think the Michigan Upper Peninsula is "basically Canada."

OK, we have to concede that one.

Actually, they are spot-on with several guesses:

Ohio: "Only matters in an election." That should be their license plate slogan.

Upstate New York: "Not really New York." True. I'm originally from Rochester. We're more like Midwesterners than New Yorkers. When I moved to The Big Apple, there was plenty of culture shock.

New Jersey: "Mob bosses and fake tans." Except for foul smells, they've summed up the New Jersey experience.

Missouri: "No idea." I would have said Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and Stan Musial. The Brits have probably never heard of Stan, and they don't acknowledge any American author without a hyphenated name.

They have no idea what to associate with North Dakota or Nebraska. Neither do I. I looked at the history of Nebraska's license plates, and they used to say "The beef state." So they got that goin' for 'em. Which is nice. North Dakota's license plates say "The Peace Garden State." I had never heard that before, and I had no idea what the hell it was. WTF? Do they do a lot of meditating? I looked it up, and it is apparently something on the Canadian border, reflecting the uninterrupted peace between the two nations. It then dawned on me that President Bush never invaded Canada. How did he avoid it? He probably didn't know there was such a place.

Oklahoma: "Musicals." Ironically, that state full of practical, hard-working, no-nonsense Americans is perhaps the last place in the country where you would stage any musical theater. I once suggested that their state motto should be one of the following: "Home of the firm, callused handshake," "Ignore the accents; we're not southerners" or "Don't ask. We don't know what a 'sooner' is, either." But outside the USA, Oklahoma is a musical first, then a state.

New Mexico: "Atomic bombs." When was that, 70 years ago? Some images die hard. The very first test was in New Mexico, but most of America's tests were in Nevada. People now associate Nevada with gambling and prostitution, and I guess people in the UK have nothing else to associate with New Mexico. I would have associated "The Land of Enchantment" with hippie communes and UFOs.