One of those things.

[theweaselking]

EDIT: Please assume that, for the first question, the first answer is "Virginia" and not "West Virginia".

Assuming you can tell the difference, given the implications of the first answer.


[Poll #1492685]

Comments

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

"Which is furthest west" is a trick question.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Define "trick"?

[dreamshade.livejournal.com]

Not all of West Virginia is to the West of all of Virginia.

[chaosrah.livejournal.com]

I think that was the point

[dreamshade.livejournal.com]

Trickery! The center of gravity of one is further West than the center of gravity of the other!

[singingnettle.livejournal.com]

But, but, most of West Virginia is further west than Virginia...except for that little doohickey that sticks out.

[kafziel.livejournal.com]

It's true that Virginia is west of West Virginia. In the sense that Alaska is east of all the rest of the states and Canada.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Well, fuck, that first question is SUPPOSED to be "Virginia" and then "West Virginia" in the first two answers.

Bah!

(People from the Identical States can split the vote, I suppose.)

[stormfeather.livejournal.com]

You can't edit the poll, but shouldn't you be able to edit the actual entry so that you can put a "please assume that the first option for the first question is "Virginia"? :p

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Posted as I was mid-doing that!

But, really, if you're accepting "yes", can you *tell*?

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

While yes, much of Regular Virginia is very hillbilly-ey, West Virginia veers more towards a Deliverance vibe.

[stormfeather.livejournal.com]

a) The proper name from the state is West-by-God-Virginia, damnit.

b) Question 1 needs a "no, but I am from Way Too Damn Close to W-b-G-V" option.

c) I answered question 3 as West Virginia, despite knowing that people like to say that technically Virginia is further west because one little bit of it stretches out beyond W-b-G-V, which I call silly antics. The bulk of West Virginia is farther west than the bulk of Virginia, damnit.

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

"because one little bit of it stretches out beyond W-b-G-V,"

Given that I'm in that little bit, and said little bit still manages to have greater population density than W-b-G-V, I call silly antics right back atcha.

[stormfeather.livejournal.com]

Bah, but which is further west has nothing to do with population density. It has to do with actual geography!

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

y'ain't from 'round here, are ya?

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

(the whole population density thing is a cheap and easy dig at W-b-G-V. I was just feeling somewhat uncreative, and it's an easy standby)

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

Wait, you're from MD, so you *are* from 'round here. Or near enough to have the same jokes at W-b-G-V's expense, I would imagine. Probably with more right to them than I have, at that.

[stormfeather.livejournal.com]

Heh, yeah, believe me I'm not one to stop people taking digs at West Virginia, just from a physical geography standpoint, I'd still have to call West Virginia further west, in general. :p Unless the question is phrased basically something like "Which state has a portion that stretches further west?" which the question almost always isn't. :p

And yeah, I'm like a five-minute-at-best drive from West Virginia, and the only reason it'd take that long is because there's a railroad yard to my south, so you have to drive west a bit and sit at a long-assed stoplight before going south under the underpass to get there.

(Obligatory W-b-G-V dig: "You know what they say in West Virginia: "If she's good enough for her brothers, she's good enough for me!")

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

See, since John wasn't specific in his phrasing, I'd argue that both interpretations can be accomodated. I'm using the horse race interpretation (first horse any portion of whom crosses the finish line, wins), whereas you're using the democratic interpretation (the majority wins) or the balance interpretation (if you hung it off the bit under discussion, which way would it tip?)

But really, from my current vantage points, you're both traitor states, from back in the day of the War of Northern Aggression.

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

Also, I'm using this to avoid work. Six seven comments in ten minutes; can you tell?

[stormfeather.livejournal.com]

Why yes, the term "cat vacuuming" DOES come to mind. :p

And also, hey, we were north of the damn capital. I think the entirety of the state's population would have been lynched had we tried to secede. Even being from Maryland, I can never really say whether we're a northern or southern state.

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

I was actually betting you, given your proximity to W-b-G-V (I am totally adopting that term!) were south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Excuse me. Must unclog vacuum.

[stormfeather.livejournal.com]

Well, all of MD is south of the Mason-Dixon. ;)

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

That's why it's a trick question.

[harald387.livejournal.com]

As mentioned over IM, I think it's a lot like saying 'Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, what's the difference'?

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

What *is* the difference?

[opaqueplanet.livejournal.com]

NB: Acadians and American Loyalists
NS: Celts

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

I don't recall Nova Scotia and New Brunswick ever being engaged in civil war, though.

[harald387.livejournal.com]

That's largely because it was a very civil war.

[spartonian.livejournal.com]

Not sure what the point of the poll is, but the DC area of Virginia needs to be a separate state from the rest of the Virginia. It's a little bastion of sanity in a state of crazies.

[dreamshade.livejournal.com]

Wait. DC and "sanity" in the same sentence?

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

It's relative.

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

That's why we call it Northern Virginia. Even though it's south of West Virginia.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

NoVa: Spanish for "DO NOT GO".

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Ah, but Northern Virginia is not "Nova", it is "No Va".

I win!

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

Actually, It's NoVA.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Point is, you don't write it as the single word "Nova"

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

I would argue that the entire Urban Crescent (I-95/I-64 corridor) is sane, and the rest of the state is nuts, but I've lived in Hampton Roads and NoVA, and spent a lot of time in Richmond over the years.

[singingnettle.livejournal.com]

I think everyone actually on the road around here (NoVA/DC) is nuts.

[ambug666.livejournal.com]

Yes, instead of Virginia/West Virgina, we need Sane Virginia/South Virginia.

[shemale.livejournal.com]

Not really true. There are plenty of crazies up in the city i grew up in, too; everyone in this group, for example.

[shemale.livejournal.com]

It would have been more honest of you to phrase Q3 as "Which goes the furthest west?" :p

[kadath.livejournal.com]

West Virginia exists because it didn't want to be in the Confederacy, so I'mma give them the edge.

[pope-guilty.livejournal.com]

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