14 Oct

Show me

Who taught: Jessy

Show me state (source : www.plateshack.com)

Have you ever driven in the U.S.? If you have a chance later, try to pay a little more attention to license plates. Each state has its own design. As you may know, I live in Pennsylvania state. Honestly, Pennsylvanian license plate is very boring and nothing much special about it. But, if you go to other states, you would notice something different. They put their nickname on the plates. For example, Florida’s license plate has “sunshine state” and New Jersey’s has “garden state.” They kind of make sense, aren’t they? Maybe someone out there would not agree with NJ’s one??? 🙂

A few weeks ago, Jessy asked me one question, “Do you know what is the nickname of Missouri state?” Well, I did not know that. Can you guess it? Haha, I know! You got a hint from the title. It is “Show me” state. Now, why? Based on my research, it looks like it was coined/popularized by a Congressman Willard Vandiver. He said the following in his speech in 1899.

I come from a country that raises corn and cotton, cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I’m from Missouri, and you have got to show me.

Shorter version you can use is “I am from Missouri. Show me!” This is actually an expression that American people say. It means, “I do not quite believe you. Show me proof.” Interesting, isn’t it? I think I say this “interesting” word so many times. But, it really is to me! The question is then do people in Missouri say like, “Dude, I am in Missouri. You gotta show me.”? Or, what if I go there and say, “Hey I am in Missouri now. You gotta show me!” They would laugh, right?

Shall we try a quick poll here? What is the most interesting state nickname in the U.S.? My choice is Indiana. It is “Hoosier state.” What is yours?

14 thoughts on “Show me”

  1. Pingback: Tweets that mention Show me | Learning English from Friends (LEfF) -- Topsy.com

  2. Andrew Cox -

    Let’s see. The ones I know (these aren’t all on their respective license plates, but are the slogans for each state):

    * South Dakota “Great faces, great places” (can you guess why?)
    * “Virginia is for lovers” (this was a *very* successful state campaign – actually a precursor to “I (heart) NY”)
    * Pennsylvania: “The keystone state”
    * North Carolina: “First in flight”
    * Ohio: “Birthplace of aviation”

    How do you like that, eh? Do you know why North Carolina and Ohio both try to lay claim to flying?

    Reply
    • Phil -

      West Virginia “Wild and Wonderful”
      Hawaii “The Aloha State”

      I remember half these slogans were clues in “Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego?”.

      Pennsylvania’s tag used to say “You’ve got a friend in PA” before they decided to be trendsetters and put a web address on it (first state to do so, and yet I’ve never gone to that website…)

      Reply
      • Terry -

        Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego. Is that a game?
        I have never visited the site either. Is it visitPA.com? I think it is better to stick with the nickname.

        Reply
    • Terry -

      Let’s see.
      South Dakota one is because of Dakota Fanning?
      I know why NC and OH are fighting on that. It is because of Wright Brothers. Wright Brothers were born and researched on Flight in Ohio but they did the first flight in NC. Right?

      Reply
  4. Kelly -

    Have you ever played the license plate game? It’s good for long trips – you try to spot license plates from all 50 states. Phil and I played when we drove cross country in 2003. The parking garages at Vegas casinos are a gold mine for foreign plates!

    Reply

Leave a Reply