Every single state in the US has its very own motto. I mean, New York's state motto is “Excelsior,” and “Eureka!” speaks of California. But what if we try calling the states by their very real names? After all, these do indeed sound a little outdated.
So when someone on r/AskReddit posted a question “If the US States had honest slogans, what would some of them be?” the level of hilarity reached up to the max, and we have some of the most painfully accurate suggestions down below.
We do suspect these will not be approved by the governors any time soon, but hey, we all secretly know that the “You can't afford to live here” motto for California would fit way better. No empty promises, no understatement, simply facts.
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The motto “In God we trust” is known to virtually every American, but do you know what’s the motto for the state of Florida? (This question is for Pandas living in different states.)
In fact, every single US state has its very own motto, a unifying pledge for its people which represents the nation’s common good. Interestingly, 24 of these mottos are in English, 20 in Latin, and the rest are in French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Hawaiian, and Chinook.
Mottos encapsulate the essence of every state and speak of religion, equality, history, patriotism, and other American values.
If they would allow they same speeds as on the German autobahn it would attract a lot of tourists.
I lived in Arizona for 8 years. This is a perfectly accurate description of the heat.
But some states have more peculiar mottos than others. For example, Washington's state motto is "Alki" or "Al-ki" in the American indigenous language Chinook. It translates as "bye and bye," but can be interpreted to mean "Into the future."
According to Forbes, this peculiar motto can be traced back to JK Duncan of Governor Stevens’ state surveying expedition that designed its territorial seal in the 1850s.
“It refers to the forward-thinking nature of the west coast settlers who named their settlement New York when they built it at Alki Point.”
Although millions do... We have the largest county in the US, but it is also one of the poorest.
Other interesting mottos include: "Live free or die" for New Hampshire, "To be rather than to seem" for North Carolina, and "Mountaineers are always free" for West Virginia.
One unique example is Alaska, which adopted the motto "North to the future," which speaks of Alaska as a land of promise since 1967’s Alaska Purchase Centennial.
The sun has riz / The sun has set / And here I am / In Texas yet.
I'm reminded of a description by H. L. Mencken: "The place where there are the most cows but the least milk and the most rivers with the least water in them, and where you can look the farthest and see the least." Doesn't make for a snappy motto, though. Maybe "The most with the least"?
Welcome to Texas. Upon arrival, please pick up your complimentary Stetson and reciprocated hatred of California.
As a Texan, I have to confirm that this is true. We don't determine how long a trip is in miles, we determine it in hours.
Before Covid hit, we drove from CA to the ECoast. I think we all said, "We're STILL IN TEXAS??!" at least twice.
On an old postcard sold at truck stops and cafes: "The sun has riz the sun has set and here we are in Texas yet".
When I was a kid, my parents would always take us on road trips for summer vacation. When it came time to drive through Texas, my dad would always say, "Texas: Miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles."
Haaha. Had a motorcycle bud do a multiple state trip on my motorcycle. He wasn't excited entering Texas.
Yep! We hardly ever use miles, but how many hours to get anywhere in Texas. 🤷♂️
That's true nobody says how far it is they say how long it's going to take
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Absolument*** wow why can't I edit. Can somebody please comment as to how one can edit on bp?
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Yes there is a tree but you can't see it because all of the dogs are lined up!
Better: "There's way more to us than NYC. But you'll probably never get the urge to find out."
Nah, I was thinking of Maine. Maine isn’t a state you confuse with another state. That’d be like Wyoming or Montana or something. Maine stands out.
Im 15 and one of the only black people here because me and my twin sister were adopted by white people. When I see a black person i do a double take 😂
Better: "We have more cows than people. And if you don't like football and beer, just leave."
Note: this post originally had 51 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
this was a good article and was a fresh change from all the disney princess stuff bored panda's been putting out lately
Florida: We aren't really the Sunshine State. We're the "wait 5 minutes and it might turn sunny again" state
I know! It is sunny one minute, pouring the next. I always remember that from summer vacations as a kid. Loved it. It wasn't a trip in Florida unless you drove through at least one rainstorm.
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Why did they shorten it to the top 30 though? The US has 50 states. 🤦♀️
And when you clicked the extension to see all the ones they did (52) they still didn't do every state.
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Well thank goodness it wasn't in there as it would have just been stereotyped and trashed like all the other states.
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Connecticut: Where absolutely everything is taxed in an effort to raise money for all sorts of "improvements." I've lived in CT for 40 years & there are infrastructure "improvements," for example, that were started BEFORE I WAS BORN & are still not even remotely close to being finished.
Wow, the US is so diverse. I wonder how people manage to stereotype Americans.
As a vermonter I must say : we have trees everywhere and a fair that only happens once a summer
As a tourism person with 55 years in the industry, this was so refreshing. Added my own comments for each and hopefully I didn't offend anyone. Biggest surprise was how much land area NYC has compared to rest of state.
Let me tell you a good reason to live right outside of Vegas. 1: On 4th of July the fireworks are beautiful from a certain view. 2: pretty lights at night. 3: Whn we are painting are house or some other thing then we could just drive down to a hotel and stay there for the night and trust me...THERE ARE SO MANY CASINOS/hotels
i read every one hoping to find my state but apparently we didn't get a spot - - _
this was a good article and was a fresh change from all the disney princess stuff bored panda's been putting out lately
Florida: We aren't really the Sunshine State. We're the "wait 5 minutes and it might turn sunny again" state
I know! It is sunny one minute, pouring the next. I always remember that from summer vacations as a kid. Loved it. It wasn't a trip in Florida unless you drove through at least one rainstorm.
Load More Replies... Why did they shorten it to the top 30 though? The US has 50 states. 🤦♀️
And when you clicked the extension to see all the ones they did (52) they still didn't do every state.
Load More Replies... Well thank goodness it wasn't in there as it would have just been stereotyped and trashed like all the other states.
Load More Replies... Connecticut: Where absolutely everything is taxed in an effort to raise money for all sorts of "improvements." I've lived in CT for 40 years & there are infrastructure "improvements," for example, that were started BEFORE I WAS BORN & are still not even remotely close to being finished.
Wow, the US is so diverse. I wonder how people manage to stereotype Americans.
As a vermonter I must say : we have trees everywhere and a fair that only happens once a summer
As a tourism person with 55 years in the industry, this was so refreshing. Added my own comments for each and hopefully I didn't offend anyone. Biggest surprise was how much land area NYC has compared to rest of state.
Let me tell you a good reason to live right outside of Vegas. 1: On 4th of July the fireworks are beautiful from a certain view. 2: pretty lights at night. 3: Whn we are painting are house or some other thing then we could just drive down to a hotel and stay there for the night and trust me...THERE ARE SO MANY CASINOS/hotels
i read every one hoping to find my state but apparently we didn't get a spot - - _
