Why do we still call the Midwest the Midwest.

[DeadlyYellow]

I'm pretty sure the Midwest is full of these.

Yes, let's use the obscure meaning of a word that hardly anyone is aware of or uses to define the area, rather than the word everyone already identifies with it. That will really make it worth the millions of dollars it will collectively cost people to change their signs, maps, and stationary.

It's fun to cut out the part of a post that gives the joke context

Though I'm not quite sure what the deal is with the seemingly sarcastic derision.

 

[JDKJ]

I'm pretty sure the Midwest is full of these.

Yes, let's use the obscure meaning of a word that hardly anyone is aware of or uses to define the area, rather than the word everyone already identifies with it. That will really make it worth the millions of dollars it will collectively cost people to change their signs, maps, and stationary.

It's fun to cut out the part of a post that gives the joke context

Though I'm not quite sure what the deal is with the seemingly sarcastic derision.

It's a mid-west thing. Not much to do in town but either go to the mall or be sarcastically derisive.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

It's a mid-west thing. Not much to do in town but either go to the mall or be sarcastically derisive.

That explains so much.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go to the mall.

 

[ace_of_something]

I was going to say "it's called the midwest because people on the coasts have an inflated sense of self-importance and think every other part of the country should be based on where it is relative to them," but that would be mean so, i won't say it.

 

[JDKJ]

It's a mid-west thing. Not much to do in town but either go to the mall or be sarcastically derisive.

That explains so much.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go to the mall.

Good idea. Macy's is having a 50% off on everything Customer Appreciation Day.

 

[ace_of_something]

This is the better question

edit: good lord you people can't just enjoy a joke? Does everyone on the Internets have an incessant need to be right all the time? I and I'm sure the author of the cartoon are well aware of the reasons why. It's A JOKE. If you're going to quote me to explain it: don't.

 

[Lilani]

It's fun to cut out the part of a post that gives the joke context

Though I'm not quite sure what the deal is with the seemingly sarcastic derision.

It's a mid-west thing. Not much to do in town but either go to the mall or be sarcastically derisive.

As much as I'd love to refute that, I must sadly admit it is fairly accurate.

The sarcastic derision here, though, more or less comes from my knee-jerk reaction to snarky responses. It seems I just can't get jokes before noon on Tuesdays, lol

 

[JDKJ]

This is the better question

It's all relative. To the Europeans (who got to call the shots long before the Americans ever did), the "East" is actually to their east and the "West" is actually to their west.

 

[Jodah]

Same reason New York state is cut into New York City and Upstate New York.

 

[Alar]

Mid-way point to the West of the United States, maybe? I dunno.

 

[JDKJ]

Same reason New York state is cut into New York City and Upstate New York.

Actually, "Upstate New York" is city-speak for "That Place You Don't Ever Wanna Visit."

 

[vehystrix]

Since the midwest is in the east of the US, i think you guys should rename id... Name states like utah and stuff the midwest instead.

and introduce the metric system while you're at it

but the metric system makes no sense, kilos and grams, and all that noise, plus you'd need to teach every adult in all of america, which is fucking impossible, what you'd need to do is put it in schools first and let it all evolve on it's own, but then you need to replace signs, ect, it all becomes a mess. Also it makes fat people sound skinny.

are you kidding me, kilos(short for kilogram) is exactly the same as 1000 grams. Metric system makes more sense then the imperial system, since there's only a single unit of each type (meters for length, grams for weight, liters for volume(or m^3 if you like))
Educating each adult would indeed be a minor issue, but phasing it in over the course of say 5 years would entirely be possible(we did it with the euro). Also, signs need replacing every couple of years anyway, so this fits well into the phasing too

as for

This is the better question

yeah it's called the west because it's relative to europe, not the US. think about it, you're not the reference point to all. If anything, greenwich should be the reference point. Hence the expression still holds (yeah I do realise it's a joke, but it seems some people really don't get it and think the US is the center of the world, hence why I elaborated on it)

 

[Cowabungaa]

but the metric system makes no sense, kilos and grams, and all that noise, plus you'd need to teach every adult in all of america, which is fucking impossible, what you'd need to do is put it in schools first and let it all evolve on it's own, but then you need to replace signs, ect, it all becomes a mess. Also it makes fat people sound skinny.

Actually it does. It's just 1000's of everything; 1000 gram is 1 kilogram, 1000 kilo is a ton, etc. Same goes for length, but with 100's; 100 centimeter is a meter, 100 meter is a hectometer, 100 hectometer is a kilometer. It's the imperial system that's random as fuck.

But you're right about the huge effort needed to convert to the metric system. Don't forget that a lot of says and stuff ("not an inch further") are based on the imperial system. But at least SCIENCE! has made the jump over there, the plebians don't matter much.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

For the same reason you guys cling to the imperial measuring system.

I know right? Living in the past.

 

[Chemical Alia]

I always found it silly when I was a kid that Ohio is considered midwest, even though it's right next to Pennsylvania which is very much the northeast. I've never been to the midwest, maybe it has some distinct cultural qualities that make it worth grouping those states together more so than geography alone.

 

[Dags90]

yeah it's called the west because it's relative to europe, not the US. think about it, you're not the reference point to all. If anything, greenwich should be the reference point. Hence the expression still holds (yeah I do realise it's a joke, but it seems some people really don't get it and think the US is the center of the world, hence why I elaborated on it)

Pretty sure it has to due with old maps which put Jerusalem as the center, making it relative to Western Asia, not Europe.

Spoiler: Like this one

I always found it silly when I was a kid that Ohio is considered midwest, even though it's right next to Pennsylvania which is very much the northeast. I've never been to the midwest, maybe it has some distinct cultural qualities that make it worth grouping those states together more so than geography alone.

They don't have soda, they have pop.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

I always found it silly when I was a kid that Ohio is considered midwest, even though it's right next to Pennsylvania which is very much the northeast. I've never been to the midwest, maybe it has some distinct cultural qualities that make it worth grouping those states together more so than geography alone.

They don't have soda, they have pop.

This is quite true - my relatives from New York think it's bizarre that we refer to our fizzy carbonated beverages as "pop" instead of soda.