46. The State Of It

The Allusionist

Helen Zaltzman

Words, Entertainment, Education, History, Etymology, Helen Zaltzman, Linguistics, Arts

4.7 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 4 November 2016

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Each of the 50 states in the USA has its own motto. The motto might be found on the state seal, or the state flag; more often than not, it might be in Latin, or Spanish, or Chinook; it might be a phrase or a single word. And if you think you know what yours is, check that it is not in fact an advertising slogan.

PRX staff reveal their state mottos – or what they thought were their state mottos, until this episode ruined it for them – and how those words have shaped their perception of their state and their selves.

For more information about this episode, visit http://theallusionist.org/state-mottos.

Find me at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is the allusionist in which I, Helen Zoltzman, am interested in language, but not
0:09.0	enough to endure listening to language describing the dream it had last night.
0:15.2	On with the show.
0:18.2	Do any of you happen to know what state motto is a for?
0:27.7	To put on commemorative items that you buy and at the truck stop along the side of the
0:34.6	road.
0:36.2	Each of the 50 states in the USA has its own motto.
0:40.0	The motto might be found on the state seal or the state flag.
0:43.4	More often than not, it might be in Latin, it might be a phrase or a single word.
0:48.4	If you reside in the USA and you're thinking, yeah, I know my state motto.
0:52.3	So on all the license plates, Montana, Big Sky Country, Florida, the Sunshine State,
0:57.4	or famous potatoes.
0:59.4	Yeah, you do it Idaho, but sorry friends, these are not the state motos.
1:04.7	And if my admittedly small sample group of PRX staff is anything to go by, not knowing
1:10.2	what your state motto really is, is the state of state motos.
1:13.7	My name is Josh Swartz.
1:15.1	I'm the curator of PRX Remix and an in house producer at PRX.
1:19.7	I am from the wonderful state of Massachusetts.
1:22.8	I honestly didn't know it had a state motto.
1:25.2	I think I would have assumed it was something like Pachthikhan, Havid Yad, or something like
1:30.8	that.
1:31.8	So they don't teach you your state motto in school or anything?
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Helen Zaltzman, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Helen Zaltzman and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.