Fifty States in Ten Minutes


Can you name all 50 states without consulting a map? I admit I consulted the map in my head as I did this quiz from Ironic Sans. You have ten minutes from page load to type in all 50 states. Yes, spelling counts. I did it in just over four minutes. It would have been much faster except I skipped Nevada and had to search my mental map for it. Link -via Metafilter

42. Not bad for a Canadian! I wonder if they made one of these with the 13 Canadian provinces and territories, in say, 5 minutes, how would Americans do?
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Spelling and keyboarding were the biggest parts of the challenge. 'Massachusettes' just doesn't flow off the fingertips for me! Otherwise, got 'em with 4:07 left on the clock. I'll probably try for better times now!

Thanks for sharing it!
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
We had to learn a song in fourth grade called "Fifty Nifty United States." Part of the lyrics included singing the names of the states in alphabetical order. We'd have contests to see who could do it the fastest. 17 seconds was good. 15 was great and some intrepid souls got it down to 13. Even with the remnant of that childhood ability, it still took me two and a half minutes to type all the names in.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Oy, I have a third and a fourth grader, and I've listened to that song more than I care to admit. My kids were shocked that I never had to learn the states in alphabetical order. I told him, no I learned them in GEOGRAPHICAL order! They were impressed.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Btw, there's a song that American kids have to learn to name the states? I think that's a sign that you have too many of them.

As for Canada, we could always use the end of the "Toronto Sucks" song to name provinces:

Oh...I hate Newfoundland because they talk so weird and Prince Edward Island is too small. Nova Scotia's dumb because it's the name of a bank, New Brunswick doesn't have a good mall. Quebec is revolting and it makes me mad, Ontario sucks, Ontario sucks. Manitoba's population density is 1.9 people per square kilometre! Isn't that stupid?! Saskatchewan is boring and the people are old, and as for the territories, they're too cold! And the only good thing about the province of British Columbia is that it's right next to us! 'Cuz Alberta doesn't suck, but Edmonton does!
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Miss C: I, too, go through my mental map to name the states. That map was burned into my mind thanks to that Milton Bradley jigsaw puzzle map of the states I had as a kid. I was fascinated to see how my recollection of that order was disrupted, not by the countdown clock, rather by watching my correct responses flow into the alphabetical list.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
I'm 38 years old and can remember "Fifty Nifty United States" up to Ohiiiiiiiio! I typed those alphabetically in 2.5 minutes, but then struggled with the remaing states for another 6 min.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
I did okay, but I missed 8 of them, and then kicked myself because they're things I should have remembered... "Vermont? People ski there!". Still figure I did okay for a Canadian
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Here is my one-up the childhood ego trip. At my school for our geography final we were given a blank piece of paper and had to draw the US with all state borders & names, state capitals, mountain ranges, major rivers, and the names of the Great Lakes. I think I got a C on it.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Funny to see myself forget (for a minute) Pennsylvania, given that I live in New York State, about 70 miles from PA. Michigan was the last state I recalled, which is odder still since I was born and raised about 20 miles from its border. Nebraska was very late in the game but didn't stump me because of Internet "fill out your state" forms: for New York I need to hit the N key 6 times to get to this state, so I knew I was missing an N state when there were only 4 in front of New York on my "done" list. Lucked out and finished with 2:20 to go. Fun! Now to test my kids...
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Heh! I got all those states in the SEC, followed by an easy Big Ten mnemonic, even included a little ACC and Big East, switched to remembering the Bible Belt....but there's just a big hole of nothingness where the Pac-10 used to be...
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Login to comment.
Click here to access all of this post's 29 comments




Email This Post to a Friend
"Fifty States in Ten Minutes"

Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5.

 

Success! Your email has been sent!

close window
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
 
Learn More