Nickname (cont)

Come to the Gem State - The Land of Lincold
and the Crossroad 0f America.

The Gem State - Idaho

Now, the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.

As we told you last week, every American state has a nickname. Here are some more of them.

Idaho is known as the "Gem State." This is not because it has diamonds but because it believes it is the jewel of the western Rocky Mountains.

Illinois is the "Land of Lincoln." It is named for Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president who led the nation through the Civil War in the 1860s.

The Midwestern state of Indiana is called the "Hoosier State," but nobody is quite sure why. One story is that the word was used to mean poor farmers or uneducated people. No wonder the state legislature instead calls Indiana the "Crossroads of America."

Iowa's nickname -- the "Hawkeye State" -- is in honor of Black Hawk, an Indian chief who spent most of his life in neighboring Illinois!

Kansas also has a "hawkish" nickname: the "Jayhawk State." Jayhawkers were free-state guerrilla fighters opposed to the pro-slavery fighters in the years before the Civil War.

Kentucky is the "Bluegrass State." Bluegrass is really bright green but looks bluish from a distance. Louisiana is the "Bayou State." A bayou is a slow-moving stream. Hundreds of them flow through this southern state -- and many are full of alligators!

Maine, in the nation's northeast, is the "Pine Tree State" because it is covered in evergreen woods. And directly across the country, on the Pacific Coast, is the state of Washington. It also has lots of evergreen trees so, not surprisingly, it is the "Evergreen State."

The eastern state of Massachusetts is the "Bay State." This body of water separates most of the state from famous Cape Cod.

Six state nicknames are taken from native animals. Michigan is the "Wolverine State." A wolverine is a small, fierce mammal. The badger is a similar and equally fierce creature, and Wisconsin is the "Badger State."

Neighboring Minnesota -- the "Gopher State" -- is named for a much nicer animal that builds hills and tunnels. However, the "Land of Ten Thousand Lakes" is written on Minnesota's vehicle license plates.

North Dakota gets its nickname -- the "Flickertail State" -- not from some bird, but from a little squirrel. South Dakota takes its nickname -- the "Coyote State" -- from an animal that thinks flickertails are good to eat!

And Oregon -- the "Beaver State" -- borrows its nickname from the large, flat-tailed rodent that uses trees to build dams.

Next week, we will tell you about more state nicknames, including one that is about people's feet!

Some more nicknames in USA

Nickname – New Orleans                             Nickname – Los Angeles 

Nickname - Cleveland                                   Nickname – New York

State Nicknames                                            Ohio – Nick name

Nickname - Philly n Boston.

Nickname - Philadelphia and Boston

Nickname

Visitors at the Grand Canyon's Yavapai Point, which is, not surprisingly, in the "Grand Canyon State"

Now, the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stores.

A nickname is a shortened form of a person's name. A nickname can also be a descriptive name for a person, place or thing.

America's 50 states have some of the most historically interesting nicknames.

Alabama is known as the "Heart of Dixie" because it is in the very middle of a group of states in the Deep South. Dixie itself is a nickname for the American South. It started when Louisiana printed notes with the French word for "ten" on them. "Deece," or D-I-X, led to "Dixie."

Way up north, Alaska is called the "Last Frontier" for understandable reasons. Near the Arctic Circle, it was the final part of the nation to be explored and settled.

Arizona is the "Grand Canyon State" because of the famous winding canyon carved by the Colorado River. The southern state of Arkansas is the "Land of Opportunity." The state legislature chose this nickname. Arkansas is rich in natural resources and has become a favorite place for older people to retire.

In a popular Spanish book, a fictional island called "California" was filled with gold. Sure enough, plenty of it was discovered in the real California, in 1848. This started a gold rush unlike any other in American history in the "Golden State."

You would think Colorado would be known as the "Rocky Mountain State." But its nickname is the "Centennial State." That is because it became a state in 1876, exactly 100 years after the nation declared its independence.

Connecticut is called the "Nutmeg State" after a spice. Connecticut Yankees, as people in this northeast state are called, are known to be smart in business. So smart that it was said they could sell wooden, meaning false, nutmegs to strangers.

Little Delaware is called the "First State" because it was the first state -- the first to approve the new United States Constitution.

The southern state of Florida likes to tell about its sunny days and fine beaches. So Florida is the "Sunshine State." Florida's neighbor to the north grows some of the sweetest fruit in America. So Georgia is the "Peach State."

Hawaii, far out in the Pacific Ocean, is the "Aloha State." That is the friendly greeting that means both "hello" and "goodbye" in the native Hawaiian language. So, aloha for now.

Next week we will tell you about the nicknames of more American states.