[Ads-l] If you flattened out West Virginia, it would be bigger than Texas

[Jonathan Lighter]

I believe I heard this in the early '80s, but it was about Idaho.

JL

On Sat, Apr 14, 2018 at 3:01 PM, Jim Parish <jparish at siue.edu> wrote:

> One of Isaac Asimov's essays did the math, and showed that if you scraped
> the lower 48 down to sea level and cut Texas out with a cookie-cutter, you
> could pile the debris into Texas - it has enough curvature to form a decent
> pan. And it even has a handle....
>
> (I read this many moons ago, and my memory may be faulty, but the imagery
> was striking enough that it's stuck in my mind.)
>
> Jim Parish
>
>
>
> On 4/14/2018 12:51 PM, David Wilton wrote:
>
>> "In this report, we apply basic scientific techniques to answer the
>> question 'Is Kansas as flat as a pancake?'":
>>
>> http://www.usu.edu/geo/geomorph/kansas.html
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
>> Of Barretts Mail
>> Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2018 10:45 AM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: [ADS-L] If you flattened out West Virginia, it would be bigger
>> than Texas
>>
>> I’ve never been to West Virginia, but having relatives from there, I have
>> heard this my whole life. Today I received an e-mail in which someone talks
>> about a West Virginia transplant who has never heard of this joke.
>>
>> https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=434018 <
>> https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=434018>
>> quadzool
>> 24 Aug 2007
>> ——
>> If you flatten out West Virginia, would it be bigger than Texas? This is
>> what some (West Virginians, prolly) have claimed. And if this is true,
>> would it still hold true if you flattened out Texas, too?
>> ——
>>
>> http://mockable.org/a-collection-of-little-known-facts-
>> about-west-virginia-the-mountain-state/ <http://mockable.org/a-collect
>> ion-of-little-known-facts-about-west-virginia-the-mountain-state/>
>> mockers
>> 16 December 2009
>>
>> ——
>> Locals often claim that if the many mountains and hills of West Virginia
>> were somehow flattened-out, the state would be larger than Texas.
>> ——
>>
>> Benjamin Barrett
>> Formerly of Seattle, WA
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