New York City and State

[Charles Wells]

Some personal observations about "New York", for none of which I have
printed citations:

In northeastern Ohio, "New York" seems to mean the state of New York; we
say New York City for the city.  As far as I can tell, in the northeastern
US, "New York" means New York City.  I am a native southerner (Atlanta and
Savannah) who has lived in Ohio most of my adult life (with frequent visits
south for family & Sacred Harp singings), so what I say about the south is
suspect, but I think in the South "New York" usually means the city.

This difference gave rise to two misunderstandings that I remember.  A
student, a fluent English speaker from another country who had lived in one
of the Dakotas before coming to Cleveland, asked for directions to New
York, and following the directions found himself going towards Buffalo when
what he wanted was NYC.  And: for many years I thought Julliard School was
in upstate NY, because I had heard people say it was in New York.  It is in
fact in NYC.


Charles Wells,
Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, Case Western Reserve University
Affiliate Scholar, Oberlin College
Send all mail to:
105 South Cedar St., Oberlin, Ohio 44074, USA.
email: charles at freude.com.
home phone: 440 774 1926.
professional website: http://www.cwru.edu/artsci/math/wells/home.html
personal website: http://www.oberlin.net/~cwells/index.html
NE Ohio Sacred Harp website: http://www.oberlin.net/~cwells/sh.htm