Well .. some states the stereotype fits. But mostly the south and the
southwest. Some of the central USA too.
Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia etc are the target of jokes about poverty
and illiteracy all the way to incest. Texas is mostly size jokes. Iowa,
Idaho etc are routine "in the middle of nowhere" type jokes.
And right next to new york you get new jersey jokes about chemical waste
dumps and corrupt politicians (these are too real for comfort though, to be
true jokes)
Deepa Mohan [02/04/10 10:15 +0530]:
Andre Uratsuka Manoel [01/04/10 23:41 -0300]:
It's just that there are many expressions, like "going south", that
don't exist here. I think there simply isn't such a strong association
Perhaps there is also the association with graphs, where anything "going
south" or down would mean a decrease in (at least numerical) value.
I find the north-south divide still runs in the minds of the Americans, with
(this is a generalization) the north thinking the southerners are "hicks"
and the southerners thinking the northerners are "hoity-toity".(actual
quotes from two people I talked to recently, one from Massachusetts and one
from Louisiana.) We have a similar north-south divide in India...shows often
when the veneer of urbanity is lifted.
Deepa.
