Idiot People Confusing The USA State of Georgia With The Republic Of Georgia. Jay Leno has been talking about how stuiped somepeople can be since The President went to visit the Republic of Georgia, some people think thats the state of Georgia.

I have one question how could you not know that Georgia is a State in The United States of America, and that the Republic of Georgia is a Country?

maybe they failed geography? or is the average stereotypical dumb american who simply doesn't care?

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Surely, you don't really have such high hopes for all of humanity... that they all would recognize such a simple fact.

Stuff like this doesn't surprise me anymore.

Well, New Orleans has the WestBank--basically whatever's across the River from downtown.

I knew New Orleanians who would hear reports of rioting and suicide bombers on the WestBank--in the Mideast--and think it was going on in Gretna LA.

The US has to put more emphasis on teaching international geography and world issues. But don't feel too bad. Even newspapers were mixing them up! Just be glad you know the difference, and if you feel like it, steer them in the right direction.

And for the record, I'd much rather visit the State of Georgia than the Republic of Georgia.

there is a swimmer on the university of delaware (my swim team up until last year) that's from the republic of georgia. every time someone asks him where he's from, he answers "republic of georgia". usually, the person then replies "how close do you live to atlanta?" he either replies with "no, georgia is in asia", or, "about 6000 miles away". many people don't even know the republic of georgia exists.

I told my haircutter when I still lived in Boston that I was moving to Atlanta. She said that she loved the ocean and going on the boardwalk there.

ARRRGH.

people always have no clue about some of the us states. when i tell people from different parts of the country where i'm from (i always say "i'm from delaware"; it's small enough that i can be somewhat specific with this answer), they are almost always clueless. they reply with "the city?" (meaning, delaware, ohio", or "what is delaware?" (it's a state nitwit), or a lame attempt to guess where delaware is ("isn't that near maine?"; "no, you're thnking of new hampshire"). eventually, i have to tell people that i live near philly. either that, or i exlpain where delaware is: "have you ever heard of philadelphia? well, the city i live in, wilmington, de, is about 30 miles away from philly."

when will these dopes learn basic geography? an average 6 year old could identify all the states if he studied them.

I know someone who thought New Mexico was apart of Mexico. Years ago, but now its a state in the US. Its scary to see just how much people don't know about there own country.

A call-center ticket agent for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics apparantly told someone from New Mexico that they would have to call the international reservation number, and when they responded by emphasizing the NEW, she told them that how old their country was wasn't the issue, and they would still have to call international reservations.

I know someone who thought New Mexico was apart of Mexico. Years ago, but now its a state in the US. Its scary to see just how much people don't know about there own country.

"heyyy...there's a NEW Mexico..." - homer simpson

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Hehehe, nice ;) When I was visiting the US many people asked me where I am from and after I tell I'm from Lithuania there were many different replies. The top one was that Lithuania is near Laos :D

Anyway, I thinks it's the problem only for English-speaking world. In Lithuanian we say "Džordžija" [Georgia] for the state and "Gruzija" [Grusia] for the country.

Why are both places called Georgia? Im not familiar with the history or either Georgia's name origin.
Where were both names derived from?

I would assume that Georgia USA was derived from King George (I or II ???)of England, since that area was typically very sympathetic to the British crown.

I have no idea about former Soviet Georgia, but I would assume Georgia is just a bastardization of it's native name to make it sound familiar to English speakers.

And for the record, I'd much rather visit the State of Georgia than the Republic of Georgia.

b/c TheBrad lives there, right? :hilarious

the state of "Jawr-jah" used to be a debtor's colony...heh. :bash:

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here's another funny thing about this thread...

shouldn't it be "stupid people," or better yet, "idiots" in the title?

hmm...poor knowledge of geography and world events vs. poor use of language.

:bash:

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Hey Guys, that's not a new thing you know. Just get over it. You are very right- so many of them have no idea "what the hell Georgia republic is", but just think- they don't care.
Not everybody is equally smart and educated, and i'd say- it's their problem.

*****that's just my opinion.

some parts of georgia are indeed like another country :-)

Albertville, Alabama had lots of people calling asking for tickets for the 1992 Winter Olympics which were held in Albertville, France. You would think that people would know that the Winter Olympics aren't going to be held in the Southern US and that if it was, you'd hear a lot about it.

They should just call it Sakartvelo

Wow.... Who is Georgian here?

One thing you have to remember is the Republic of Georgia is a very new country. It existed previously as a Soviet state and little information was known about it. The Republic of Georgia was rarely even shown on maps. It has existed as its own country for less than 20 years. I don't find it at all surprising that people aren't familiar with the country. Certainly not as familiar as they are with China or France by comparison.

I'm old (31), so I remember life before the USSR fell... :)

One thing you have to remember is the Republic of Georgia is a very new country. It existed previously as a Soviet state and little information was known about it. The Republic of Georgia was rarely even shown on maps. It has existed as its own country for less than 20 years. I don't find it at all surprising that people aren't familiar with the country. Certainly not as familiar as they are with China or France by comparison.

this is true. but people familiar with stalin should be familiar with it since he was from there.

I'm old (31), so I remember life before the USSR fell... :)


hey, i'm 31 and i ain't old. not yet.

I'm not defending the ignorance, but anyone that was finished with school before 1991 has at least some excuse in confusing the two. I keep up with current events and pride myself on geography, but if you put up a blank map and say fill in the former soviet republics I don't know if I could get half of them. Before we get cocky, can you point to Turkmenistan (or insert your favorite -stan here) on a blank map?

Sadly though, the vast majority of Americans really don't care whats going on outside of US borders, unless we are "fighting the terrorists" there.

A call-center ticket agent for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics apparantly told someone from New Mexico that they would have to call the international reservation number, and when they responded by emphasizing the NEW, she told them that how old their country was wasn't the issue, and they would still have to call international reservations.

That's hilarious.

I live in Columbia, the capital city of South Carolina. You would be amazed how many people call it "Columbus". When I correct them they say...."oh" with a dumbfounded look. Was my school the only one that taught the capitals of the fifty states?

All that is true, and also, just think, we are 4 millin 4 00 000 people in Georgia, and it's a tiny country... However the crazy thing is , no matter where i went, i met at least one Georgian there. So, there are enough Georgians to live in Georgia, and spread around the world as well. I think it's kind of funny. :runaway:

I'm not defending the ignorance, but anyone that was finished with school before 1991 has at least some excuse in confusing the two. I keep up with current events and pride myself on geography, but if you put up a blank map and say fill in the former soviet republics I don't know if I could get half of them. Before we get cocky, can you point to Turkmenistan (or insert your favorite -stan here) on a blank map?

Sadly though, the vast majority of Americans really don't care whats going on outside of US borders, unless we are "fighting the terrorists" there.


Well, that's how it is...
There are much more important things for them besides Georgia...
But don't forget, not everybody's like that...

...but if you put up a blank map and say fill in the former soviet republics I don't know if I could get half of them. Before we get cocky, can you point to Turkmenistan (or insert your favorite -stan here) on a blank map?

How about not being able to fill in a map of the United States? I distinctly remember eighth grade US History (with geography just tacked on, which just contributes to this problem). We a had a blank map of the US and the World and the teacher called up every student and asked him or her to locate various countries of the world. Tons of student couldn't locate states of the Union, let alone foreign countries.

I, myself, having a freakishly comprehensive knowledge of geography, can tell you without looking at a map that Turkmenistan is located on the east side of the Caspian Sea, south of Khazakstan (sp?).

I'm old (31), so I remember life before the USSR fell... :)

me too, and i'm only 25.

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Test yourself:
http://www.gamescraze.com/games/?g=geographygame.swf

Test yourself:
http://www.gamescraze.com/games/?g=geographygame.swf

Fun, but it omits Ukraine from Europe, several African countries, and Asia, Mexico and the West Indies are nowhere to be found...plus it sez Qatar is Bahrain, and Bahrain isn't there.

Fun, but it omits Ukraine from Europe, several African countries, and Asia, Mexico and the West Indies are nowhere to be found...plus it sez Qatar is Bahrain, and Bahrain isn't there.

no mention of Santa's Island, either.

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Hehehe, nice ;) When I was visiting the US many people asked me where I am from and after I tell I'm from Lithuania there were many different replies. The top one was that Lithuania is near Laos :D

Anyway, I thinks it's the problem only for English-speaking world. In Lithuanian we say "Džordžija" [Georgia] for the state and "Gruzija" [Grusia] for the country.

in serbian we also call geogria - gruzija, and US georgia - džordžija.. it's kind of weird that we use same letters and pronounce the same, even though our 2 languages are extreamly different.. (:

One thing you have to remember is the Republic of Georgia is a very new country. It existed previously as a Soviet state and little information was known about it. The Republic of Georgia was rarely even shown on maps. It has existed as its own country for less than 20 years. I don't find it at all surprising that people aren't familiar with the country. Certainly not as familiar as they are with China or France by comparison.

I'm old (31), so I remember life before the USSR fell... :)

Agreed with 100% as I myself am 28. Very good point.

I wonder how many U.S. states the average person in the Republic of Georgia could name? Or the average person in Paris? Or the average person in Berlin? There was a concensus in another thread that the majority of Europeans had never heard of Orlando...I think it's a pretty major city to be unknown in an area that is superior in geography skills.

People in the U.S. aren't that ignorant. The famous geography quiz that is so popular in the media was given to 18-24 year olds. That's not a group that I would expect to get high marks in geography.

Yeah, everyone's always questioning us, but are they are never questioned themselves...!

Hmm, I'm pretty good at geography. I was a contestant at the National Geography Bee in Washington D.C.

One thing you have to remember is the Republic of Georgia is a very new country. It existed previously as a Soviet state and little information was known about it. The Republic of Georgia was rarely even shown on maps. It has existed as its own country for less than 20 years. I don't find it at all surprising that people aren't familiar with the country. Certainly not as familiar as they are with China or France by comparison.

I'm old (31), so I remember life before the USSR fell... :)

I totally agree...but...there was a violent 1990's civil war in Soviet Georgia that was well-covered by the media. Back in the 80's there was also an attempt to gain independence that was violently squashed by the Soviets. That was the first time I really remember hearing about Tbilisi or Georgia - there were human rights demonstrations...

You never see this kind of incompetence in other developed parts of the world. Just another sign of how our government has systematically oppressed US citizens by keeping them D**B and S****D.

Someone has to work at McDonalds.

You never see this kind of incompetence in other developed parts of the world. Just another sign of how our government has systematically oppressed US citizens by keeping them D**B and S****D.
Someone has to work at McDonalds.

I don't think that it is a dark government plot.
Americans are fat, spoiled and lazy and don't think they should have to learn anything about "those little countries" outside of the US. After all, we are the center of the Universe, aren't we?
I told a person once that I was a refugee from Cuba to the US. They asked me, well, did you take a plane or a bus to get here? Shocked me. The level of ignorance is appalling.

Americans are fat, spoiled and lazy...

Precisely! Do you not think that the government offered a helping in this (i.e. welfare)?

^^
Yes, absolutely.
If you are lazy, fat, stupid, whatever, it's the "educational system's fault" or "the restaurant's and fast food outlets fault", or "lack of opportunity's fault". If you are an alcoholic, it's a "disease" that we must help you with, no, actually a "disability". Yeah, every bad habit is a disability. And don't worry, we'll make employers hire you anyway.
For every $20.00 we spend on "slow" students, we spend a quarter on advanced students. Is that a hint on where the emphasis lies?

^^
Yes, absolutely.
If you are lazy, fat, stupid, whatever, it's the "educational system's fault" or "the restaurant's and fast food outlets fault", or "lack of opportunity's fault". If you are an alcoholic, it's a "disease" that we must help you with, no, actually a "disability". Yeah, every bad habit is a disability. And don't worry, we'll make employers hire you anyway.
For every $20.00 we spend on "slow" students, we spend a quarter on advanced students. Is that a hint on where the emphasis lies?

You've basically made my point. Isn't it government's responsibility to regulate big business, such as resturants that want to biggie size all of our portions? Isn't it government's responsibility to protect citizens from epidemics such as obesity and HIV the same way they protect us from smallpox? Isn't it government's responsibility to set the educational standards and promote higher education as a means of becoming a more productive citizen?

Yes, people have choices and yes the government can't be big brother nor should it be, but any reasonable person should stop and ask themself...is my government doing all that it can do to enhance my life and overall well being? Afterall, what do we pay federal taxes for other than to support foreign invasions?

I don't think that it is a dark government plot.
Americans are fat, spoiled and lazy and don't think they should have to learn anything about "those little countries" outside of the US. After all, we are the center of the Universe, aren't we?
I told a person once that I was a refugee from Cuba to the US. They asked me, well, did you take a plane or a bus to get here? Shocked me. The level of ignorance is appalling.

You apparently don't realize the level of ignorance it takes to make a broad, sweeping statement like: Americans are fat, spoiled and lazy and don't think they should have to learn anything about "those little countries" outside of the US.

That statement is more ignorant that any lack of geography knowledge one can imagine. And why were you so desperate to get here and live among the fat, spoiled and lazy? That doesn't make sense at all.

And your story about how you got here from Cuba...I would say that most Americans realize that Cuba is an island because of its proximity to the U.S. and it is in our hemisphere, so if it happened at all you must have asked someone from the short bus.

All I know is, when I attended school in Albany, Georgia (USA) several years ago, people would always respond..."oh, in South Carolina," when I told them I was from Charlotte. look you freakin' idiots, the two states are close enough to you for you to know that Charleston is in S. Cac and Charlotte is in N. Cac.

lol @ people not from the south always getting Charleston and Charlotte confused. Everyone is always like oh, you're from South Carolina! I know have family/friends who live in Charlotte. I guess it's the "Charl" and the Carolinas that get people confused

Fun, but it omits Ukraine from Europe, several African countries, and Asia, Mexico and the West Indies are nowhere to be found...plus it sez Qatar is Bahrain, and Bahrain isn't there.

I tried US, Europe, South America, Australia and Canada.

The states are shaped very strangely (Massachusetts is a small triangle between NY and CT.

look you freakin' idiots, the two states are close enough to you for you to know that Charleston is in S. Cac and Charlotte is in N. Cac.

But Charlotte is right on the border, so that's possibly where some of the confusion lies. Interestingly, a lot of people are prone to put Charlotte in SC, but I've never known anyone to put Charleston in NC.

^ It's funny, but since moving to Charleston, I've had to switch a lot of stuff over to my new address with my card companies, and I've had a lot of trouble with people thinking it's Charleston, NC.

Yeah, I can see Charlotte being confused because it's right in the middle of the two states on the border, so people dont know which side of the border it's on. they just know its in a Carolina lol

I had gone to Atlanta for an interview and an executive asked me where I was from. I said Raleigh and she was like, where is it????

I had gone to Atlanta for an interview and an executive asked me where I was from. I said Raleigh and she was like, where is it????

Good grief; how on earth did that person ever get to be an executive?

Some people also say columbia, instead of colombia (the country).

I am from Azerbaijan and here in the US most of the people know little about that part of the world; however they know Armenia and Georgia better than Azerbaijan.

I wasn't aware that there was a state in the U.S. named after the Republic of Georgia. I guess you learn something new every day. Was it originally settled by Georgians? Was it once a Geogian colony?

I wasn't aware that there was a state in the U.S. named after the Republic of Georgia. I guess you learn something new every day. Was it originally settled by Georgians? Was it once a Geogian colony?

:lol:

it was and is still a penal colony

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I had gone to Atlanta for an interview and an executive asked me where I was from. I said Raleigh and she was like, where is it????

I hope Raleigh-NC sees the above comment. :lol:

Thanks to you, g-man, I did see the comment... Not everybody knows Raleigh, which is fine because we want to keep our city well hidden from the ignorants. That executive can certainly stay in Atlanta :lol:

Thanks to you, g-man, I did see the comment... Not everybody knows Raleigh, which is fine because we want to keep our city well hidden from the ignorants. That executive can certainly stay in Atlanta :lol:

Like Bob Ellis or dare I say me? :D

I had gone to Atlanta for an interview and an executive asked me where I was from. I said Raleigh and she was like, where is it????

Not everyone knows where Raleigh is. I could see this happening.

Not everyone knows where Raleigh is. I could see this happening.

Who? The guy in Cambodia? :nuts: