We know someone who tells people he meets that he’s from “Orlando, Florida.” I always wonder to myself why he doesn’t just say “Orlando.” I mean, are people going to think he’s from Orlando, Oklahoma? It turns out that they might. Or Orlando, Kentucky, or Orlando, West Virginia.
I snicker when I hear people—usually ones who don’t travel very much—refer to “Paris, France,” or “London, England,” or places where the country is implied. Everyone knows Paris is in France; you really don’t need to say it. Or do you? There are at least 10 cities in the United States called Paris.
I do travel a lot, and I consult Weather.com before I go anywhere. The Weather Channel’s website has an auto-search feature that, when the name of a city is typed in, offers a choice of the top cities bearing that name.
Going to Philadelphia? Don’t mis-click, or you’ll get the weather for Philadelphia, Missouri, or Mississippi or New York or Tennessee.
Just a little trivia for geography buffs from some of my recent searches (or perhaps geography buffs already know this):
Charlotte: In addition to North Carolina, Charlotte is in Arkansas, Vermont, Iowa, Michigan, New York, Tennessee and Texas.
Dallas: Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Wisconsin and West Virginia
Atlanta: Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska and New York
Sacramento: Kentucky, New Mexico and Pennsylvania
Detroit: Alabama, Maine, Oregon and Texas
Phoenix: Maryland, New York and Oregon
Denver: Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, New York and Pennsylvania
Raleigh: Illinois, Mississippi, North Dakota and West Virginia
Miami: Arizona, Indiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia
Richmond: California, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan and Minnesota
Minneapolis: Kansas and North Carolina
Syracuse: North Dakota, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Utah
Well, I’d better go check the weather in San Antonio. Oops, not New Mexico.
Word Nymph 
I’ve also found it interesting that there are so many cities with the same names, and have used weather.com just for that purpose.
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I read a comment in our local paper yesterday by a small business owner who is threatened by another business coming into town that will be a rival:
“It pulled the rug out in front me.”
That’s great; keep ’em coming!
Quick correction: “There are at least 10 states…” instead of “cities.”
(You can delete this comment.)
Thanks! Just fixed that. I guess I need a Geography lesson of my own.
We drove through Charlotte, Michigan last weekend on the way to Grand Rapids (Michigan, not Minnesota or Ohio). In my home state, it’s pronounced “shar-LOT,” not “SHAR-lit.”
As they might say in Buffalo, “When in Rome you are half way to New York”. They probably don’t but they could. I have always liked this topic. Thanks for the directional weather tip.