Words and Their Stories: State Nicknames, Part 4
December 07, 2012
Vermont is the Green Mountain State
Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
Today, we finish telling about the interesting nicknames that have been given to the fifty American states.
Buckeyes
The state of Ohio is in the midwest. It is named the
Buckeye State
after a tree that produces nuts similar to chestnuts.
The Great Plains state of Oklahoma is called the
Sooner State.
That is because of a sale of land in eighteen eighty-nine.
Some people arrived in the territory to claim their land earlier than they were supposed to. They cheated and got there "sooner."
Pennsylvania's nickname is the
Keystone State.
Just as a keystone holds together a stone arch, Pennsylvania was seen as holding together the young American republic.
Pennsylvania is also sometimes called the
Quaker State.
Its founder, William Penn, and most of his followers, were members of the Protestant Quaker religion.
Rhode Island's nickname is
Little Rhody
because of its size. The state is smaller than the area around Los Angeles, California.
Tennessee got its nickname -- the
Volunteer State
-- because of the bravery of its citizens. They volunteered to join Tennessean Andrew Jackson to defend the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, against the British army in the War of Eighteen Twelve.
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