Why do Americans always mention state they're from?, page 5

originally posted by: LadyGreenEyes

originally posted by: croatianguy
I can understand when they mention a small town, then the state..like Flint, Michigan. But why say "I'm from LA, California or Chicago, Illinois?" Do some people in US not actually know which state LA or Chicago might be in?

If I mention a state, in the way you described, it's because I don't assume that someone from another country knows where everything here is. Many do, of course, but not everyone. It's just a courtesy in that case. Plus, there are some smaller towns that share a name with a big city, and, knowing that, someone from the big city might want to be sure we know that is the place they mean.

In General, mentioning a state can be for other reasons, such as cultural differences. There are a lot of differences in habits, how people think, speech patterns, even common activities, from state to state.

Yeah I see your point, but I am sure everyone in the world knows that LA is in Cali. I also recall last year in Brazil during World Cup where an Aussie journalist was interviewing American fans there and asking where they were from and nearly all of them mentioned the state after the city. I just found it funny they were saying California after saying Los Angeles (not LA). I initially thought they were saying this because they generally thought Aussies and outsiders didnt know where LA was. But now from reading your replies and others on here I guess its just a custom thing to do. Thanks for clearing things up.

edit on 2-7-2015 by croatianguy because: (no reason given)