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(Talking about moving to a town in Washington with my mother)
Me: We're moving to Pullman, Washington.
Mom: Oh, that nice. You've got to go see the Lincoln Memorial and the other things there.
Me: Pullman, Washington…
Mom: Yeah, Washington is our national capital.
Me: Our capital is Washington D.C.. We're moving to Washington state.
Mom: There's a difference?
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Go Cougs!
Just clicked here to say the same thing
Go Cougs!
Ya, go Cougs but I would never want to stay there and live in Pullman…
I only learnt there was a difference a few years ago. But my excuse is that I’m Australian.
It’s well known that a lot of Americans are bad at world geography, so my level of surprise at reading this exchange isn’t too high.
Yeah, pretty much. If they aren’t your neighbors, you don’t know jack squat about them. The only two countries over 50% of americans can pin location-wise are Canada and Mexico, and similarly, the only states most of the population can pin accurately are the ones that directly border whatever state one lives in.
I dont get it. If you are in Washington you are far more likely to go visist the memorial , no ? I certainly did and im from Sweden
There are two Washingtons, as indicated by the fail post. The one you probably visited is Washington D.C. The one the girl is going to is Pullman, Washington State. (A state is like a province). The city or town is named first, followed by the comma, followed by the name of the state. For example, “I visited Pullman, Washington.”
If you went to Washington D.C., you would just say “I visited Washington D.C.” because it does not belong to any state in the U.S.
Pullman is in the west side of the U.S., and Washington D.C. is in the east side.
- A francophone Canadian who never set foot in the U.S. (sorry if I did make a mistake in geography in the explanantion).
Wow, I just learned Washington DC isnt in any state… live and learn
There is Washington DC, where the White House is, and the Capitol Building etc, which is not a state. Then, at the other side of America, top left hand corner is the state called Washington. Where it rains a lot.
It only rains a lot in the western part of the state, where Seattle is located.
The other half of the state is semi-desert, seperated from the wet part by the Cascade Mountains. Pullman is on the eastern side
Being from Washington state- this drives me nuts. And the fact that whenever I’m outside of WA or OR I have to add the state part to Washington. Washington DC is DC! The state is just plain Washington!
^This. Thank you, fellow Washingtonian.
From one Washington native to another, I totally agree!! Thank you!
THANK YOU, fellow Washingtonian. I’m from Seattle and this has always driven me up the wall!
Neat, I live in Pullman, Washington too!
I live in Pullman!
I live in Washington, and I often have people on the interwebs asking if I’m near the capital building, or something equally nonsensical. Someone even said they were gonna take the bus to come see me once, and see the Lincoln Monument while here. Even when I say, “No, near Seattle.”
TL;DR: People fail at geography.
I think whoever decided that the NATION’S CAPITOL would have the same name as an entire state on the opposite coast wasn’t thinking too clearly. Doesn’t excuse our own citizens for not knowing the difference, but it certainly would have prevented a lot of confusion to name the state something else. And I say the state because, to me, it makes the most sense for the capitol to be named after our first president.
* AMERICANS fail at geography. I’m Canadian, and I know there’s a difference… As do most other Canadians I know.
There’s also the state was named in years after the US capitol was, before it was admitted in 1889. The committee was trying to avoid confusion; the original name put forward was… Columbia. DC stands for… District of Columbia. Yeah. (Google it.)
That said, if someone can’t remember DC/country capital >east coast and state >west coast, and won’t understand it after it’s *explained*, I invite them to make a submission to the Darwin Awards.
That’s hilarious. I’m Canadian and know this >.<.
I understand people living in Pullman, but I don’t understand people moving there by choice….
truth.
Maybe they really enjoy getting drunk, “having fun” with animals, and being bored out of their minds….thats all that happens in Pullman.
This drives me insane! Washington is Washington state, DC is Washington DC. Get it straight. Also, I feel sorry that they’re moving to Pullman. GO HUSKIES!!! And WSU people, UW is one of the top 50 universities in the world and WSU is only in the 100-200 range, so your arguments are invalid.
GO HUSKIES!! I have deep anger problems for people that can’t get the location of Washington right. When I’m not in Seattle for college I live in Vancouver, Washington. So I have it real bad. I’ve had people ask me about my accent when I tell them I’m from Vancouver.
Also, some news articles list the location of Washington D.C. as just Washington. For example:
“Washington- Once again, both political parties blamed each other for not doing anything and then went on vacation.”
Vancouver, not B.C. Washington, not D.C.
really* bad
Thanks for the save
I hate it when people do this. But luckily when I say “Oh, I’m from the Seattle area” people get what I mean.
But yes, the DC is essential! Whoever writes those news articles should burn in a fiery pit of angry commenters.
Washington, District of Communism
dear god no kidding…..i moved to spokane when i was 12 from Philadelphia……i had to explain to every idiot that there were actually 2 different washingtons and i was moving to the state, not the capital…..i didnt want to move at first but by the time we did i was thrilled to get away from all those idiots……
Bill Pullman played the President in the movie Independence Day
This is so true! I live in Washington and everyone outside of Washington thinks I live in Washington D.C. We were first! I knew the state’s name should have been Columbia…