This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2592.
What can state mottos teach you about American culture?
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In a recent episode of the podcast, I quoted my state motto to support an example that I shared and to show my viewpoint.
Today, let's see what other state models are and how you can start a conversation about freedom, liberty and more in English.
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Hey, Lindsay, how are you?
Awesome, Aubrey.
How are you doing?
Excellent.
What's your day like today?
Busy?
Oh, my day's pretty busy today.
Well, we're recording on the show today, so yeah.
Always busy if you're recording, right?
We record for quite a chunk, guys.
We'll record several episodes at once, so that always makes for a busy day.
Makes for a busy day.
Absolutely.
I mean, what are we talking about today?
Today's a very unique cultural episode, which I'm super excited about.
Yeah.
So you're going to get a lot of insight into American culture here.
On a recent episode, Lindsay quoted her state motto, which we're going to talk more about today.
I didn't even know my state motto, Lindsay.
I had to look it up.
The state where I'm from.
You had to look it up.
I think it's probably more common, your scenario than mine.
But I remember what we were talking about.
We were talking, it was the episode about running red lights.
And I had said that I had a speedometer detector, radar detector, when I was in high school in my car.
And I think I said something like, yeah, live free or die.
And it just felt appropriate to quote my state motto, because in that moment it felt like hey, if we want to try to protect ourselves from getting pulled over for speeding, we have that right too right.
So it just felt very... Yes, yours comes up kind of often in conversations, right?
But I am very curious.
It's very possible that A lot of Americans do know their state motto.
A lot of them, as I was looking up some state mottos, a lot of them are very patriotic.
They're very tied to our history.
But then I looked up Idaho isn't really.
It's a Latin phrase, esto perpetua, which means may it endure forever.
And Arizona's is...
It was Dita Deus, a Latin phrase meaning God and riches.
So not every state is like patriotic, but a lot of them are.
Yeah, it's interesting because I think with live free or die, which is the New Hampshire motto, people patriotic.
People put it up against the nickname of the state.
So you have like state mottos and then you have state nicknames, right?
So everyone will say oh Florida, the Sunshine State California, the Golden State, New Hampshire, live free or die.
Oh, that's funny.
It's so heavy.
It is heavy.
Live free or die.
Wow.
Right.
But we're going to learn a lot today.
This is going to be great.
We're going to share the origin of some of these and the phrases for some.
But be sure to hit follow, guys, if you aren't, but you're likely missing some great episodes.
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Yes, I love it.
I love it.
So, all right, where do we start?
Yeah, let's start with New Hampshire.
So it is live free or die.
I looked up the origin.
This was first said by General John Stark, who was the state's most distinguished hero of the Revolutionary War.
And what he said was live free or die.
Death is not the worst of evils.
Which gives it even more context here, right?
When during the revolution, a lot of people were willing to lay down their lives.
They're like, death is not the worst thing that could happen.
To not be free is worse.
Yeah, Ken Burns just published a really great – and he's a fantastic documentarian – about the American Revolution.
And that can be found somewhere online, I'm sure now it aired live in November.
But I would highly recommend that just to get that context.
But New Hampshire is kind of historically sort of a libertarian state or historically a conservative slash libertarian state.
It's become more liberal now.
And so I don't know.
I just think it sort of fits historically with what New Hampshire has been in the past.
Different states have these sort of stereotypes.
And then a lot of people, they'll have these commonalities, almost like its own country, right?
We have the United States, but each state is quite different, right?
And often we'll have these different regional dialects, different cultures.
So it's interesting what a melting pot the United States is.
And then all of the states might be very different.
Yeah, and I think we're learning more and more nowadays in a way, how that protects.
You know that can protect a country from a wannabe king, for example, if that were ever to happen.
That can protect a country, country's elections.
Yeah, there's checks and balances with states' rights and states having a say over the federal government.
Yes, exactly.
Okay, let's see what other states might have to say then.
Okay, so Virginia, we're going to talk about next.
A lot of them are Latin phrases.
This one is sic semper tyrannis, which means thus always to tyrants.
So I looked at the origin.
It was recommended as the state motto by George Mason in the Virginia Convention in 1776, as a revolutionary motto, of course, signifying opposition to tyranny.
So at that time in America, right, this is the height of the American Revolution.
So they're very and then a lot of them just haven't changed.
Right.
So this is about leaving British rule.
But it's interesting, you know, we've sort of always kept this outlook, this mindset.
Yeah.
It's interesting though.
If you watch the American revolution documentary that I mentioned, I feel like I've always had the impression that everyone was, you know, anti.
Everyone was just anti-King.
But there were a lot of people that were still very pro-England very late in the game, of course, right.
Definitely, right?
That's highlighted in the Broadway play, Hamilton.
That there were a lot of people that did not want to be fighting against British rule.
And of course, it was dangerous.
You're willing to put your life on the line if you're going to fight sometimes.
And a lot of people wouldn't want to do that.
And people were, I'm sure, benefiting from the connection to England.
So it's not as simple as I think.
Maybe the narrative has been laid out for us in school, but super interesting.
So this is interesting.
What else?
Okay, let's go with number three is Alabama.
So this is interesting because a lot of the states on the East Coast I would expect to have these more.
You know patriotic mottos.
But Alabama's is we dare defend our rights, also in Latin, but that's the translation.
And this was interesting, the origin as well.
This was proposed as the motto by Marie Bankhead Owen while she was developing the Alabama coat of arms in 1923.
So a lot of mottos aren't as old that a state would adopt a motto or maybe change it at some point.
But it was inspired by a poem, an 18th century poem by Sir William Jones.
And in the poem one of the stanzas is Men who their duties know, but know their rights, and knowing dare maintain.
So I love this.
I'm like, I want to go and read that poem.
And what a great motto.
Yeah.
And a lot of these do a lot of these do touch on independence and freedom.
Right.
So Delaware says.
Liberty and independence.
I like that.
It's very standard, simple, right?
But we're like, this is what we value.
Yeah.
What does Pennsylvania say?
Pennsylvania's is virtue, liberty, and independence.
Yeah.
Vermont says freedom and unity.
And what about Iowa?
Iowa is our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain.
So this is interesting.
You know, like I mentioned, a lot of them are not as related to patriotism freedom liberty, but quite a few of them are.
And this is really an important value for a lot of Americans.
Right.
It touches on our history, on the Revolutionary War, but it's interesting to think about because some of them will mention, you know liberty, independence.
What, Lindsay, is the difference between liberty and freedom?
They seem like they would be synonyms, right?
It's a great question, Aubrey.
I've never thought about this before.
But liberty refers to specific legally protected rights And the absence of arbitrary government control within a society.
So government can't just come in and take you, right?
Exactly.
This word arbitrary is a good bonus word.
That means based on random choice or personal whim rather than on a reason or system.
Right.
So that arbitrary decisions can't be made that aren't clear and go through the proper systems.
Yeah.
Whereas freedom is a bit broader.
It's more fundamental and it's representing the power to act, speak or think without constraints.
Then we also use freedom to say, you know.
You want to have more freedom in your daily life.
So you want to work for yourself, for example.
Right.
It can extend beyond government and politics into just ways you live your life.
Such a good point, right?
We use that term very generally.
Yes, about the freedoms we have as a citizen in the country that we live in, but also randomly like your freedom to choose the flexible schedule, something like that, right.
So freedom doesn't always have that bigger blanket meaning.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Okay, Aubrey.
So we want to make sure it's super clear what this episode means for our listeners, like how they can go and use this.
This is fun to know these things, but how?
What does it mean for connection and conversation for them?
Exactly.
Right.
Yes.
Americans are, you know, we do value liberty, but a lot of people around the world do as well.
This is an interesting conversation starter.
So we're going to give you some phrases that you could use to spark a really interesting conversation with the people that you know and are able to chat with.
Yeah.
So you could, I mean, you could ask is very existential question, right?
Maybe not a first question at a party, but unless you do want to get into more interesting conversations, which I always want to at a party um, how important is Liberty to you or how you know, how do you define Liberty?
Right.
Um, people might have their own definitions based on their own countries, I guess.
Yeah, definitely.
I love that.
Right.
And I agree.
It's probably not that you're not going to walk up to someone and ask this out of the blue.
But if you've kind of gone over that small talk a little bit and caught up with someone about what they're doing in life and their job, this might be a really interesting conversation to be like, especially depending on what's happening politically where you are.
This might be on people's minds.
They might want to talk about this.
Well, that's what i was going to say, aubrey.
That's a great point.
Most of the time, these conversations, these more existential conversations, are going to follow from a conversation about politics.
There was a current event, everyone saw it, people have comments, but then, Many times, we want to go deeper with that conversation, beyond just the who what when where why,
That's just the information.
Let's go into what it means for us as human beings.
Exactly.
Right.
So if it starts with talking about the news, talking about politics, then you could use that conversation to get deeper.
And if it hasn't, you could ask.
You could say something like can you share with me an event in your country's history where people fought for liberty?
So that would be interesting.
If it's not currently in current events, then this is where you could ask.
Have someone give someone the chance to share something interesting about their country's history.
Right.
And then coming back to the current.
Right.
Do you know of any restrictions on current on freedom that you feel are especially unjust?
Because sometimes there are things happening even now that you thought that we were past.
Right.
I think this has come up lately here.
Things that we thought we had conquered a long time ago that are coming up again.
And people are going to want to talk about it, right?
Especially if it's surprising, if they're feeling like they're seeing injustice, then yeah, they're going to want to talk about it, and it's always interesting with it to phrase it a little bit like a would you rather, almost like?
For example, you could say is liberty or security more important to you, or which do you think is more important?
That's just an interesting.
I love this or that questions um, because they're they do force you to make a quick choice and justify it right, But you can always see both sides.
Yeah.
Yes.
And this is really interesting.
If someone asks you a would you rather or this or that?
Don't say both, because obviously we always all want to say both.
Right.
That's the reason it is.
The reason it makes an interesting conversation is if you have to choose which is more important.
And your answer to this, there's not a right answer.
Our answer to this is going to depend on our country's history.
Therefore, what stories we've inherited from our parents?
Maybe there's pain across generations, right?
That's a real thing.
The country's history, the world history, your personal history.
There's a lot here that could lead to more stories and more connections.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So we're going to do a role play here where Lindsay and I are friends and I'm going to, you know, ask one of these, use one of these conversation starters to get a little deeper with my friend.
Ready?
Okay.
All right.
Let's go deep.
I'll start us out.
Can I ask you about something I've been thinking about lately?
Sure.
What's up?
Do you think there are times when liberty should be limited for the greater good?
That is a tough one.
I guess in emergencies, like during the pandemic, some restrictions did make sense.
People's safety comes first.
Oh, good point.
I agree.
But where do you draw the line?
I feel like some rules can go too far and start feeling like control instead of protection.
I guess it depends on who decides what's the greater good.
There's always a risk of abuse if too much power is given.
Right.
I think it's about balance, having freedom, but also being responsible.
You shouldn't be able to choose to endanger others.
Right.
And maybe part of liberty, is also being willing to accept some limits to protect everything else, everyone else.
Yeah.
I liked this conversation.
I would love to have this conversation with someone at a party.
No, I think I've had variations of this conversation before, because you think about just masks, right?
So masks were... they were asked, the government was asking people to use masks during the pandemic.
That was considered a socially responsible thing to do.
But now masks are being used by security forces in the US in different ways.
Right,
To hide identity.
To hide identity.
So it's, These are complex issues, right?
Definitely.
Definitely.
But when you're willing to get into complex issues with another person and we've talked on the podcast about how to handle controversial topics when someone doesn't agree with you but be willing to go there for a more interesting conversation.
But one important note here is this is very different culturally.
You will want to be sensitive to cultural differences with these conversations.
Some cultures definitely value individual freedom more.
Others prioritize the community.
So this would be about asking.
We're not telling someone what is right or wrong.
We're just having a conversation.
Right.
Yeah, for sure.
And that's kind of what I was getting at when I quoted live free or die, because generally I think it's kind of I don't know.
But well, we all have our own opinions about our state's mottos.
Right.
But we can kind of poke fun at things while also citing them.
And we can just sort of give a window into our thoughts and our opinions on things. right?
Exactly.
Yeah.
So interesting.
I'm excited for you out there to use these conversation starters to have a conversation and come back to YouTube and let us know how it went, or let us know your opinions about this, what this is like in your culture.
Oh my gosh.
I almost feel like we need to build an entire course Aubrey, on how to talk, I guess politics, or how to talk freedom, how to talk about these broader existential topics.
Patriotism in English.
How do you do that?
Right.
And like where and when and with whom, because there's a lot to it.
Like I want to have these conversations but I'm not able to very often because I first have to sort of test the waters, see if someone's interested.
And then often I'm pivoting to something else.
And we've done other episodes on that, on how to pivot.
Right.
So.
If you guys want more of this, let us know and we'll think about creating a bigger piece of content, right?
Guys, go over to 2590, three tips to keep your accent and be understood with Valerie Friedland.
Really interesting.
You've had a couple of conversations with Valerie lately, Aubrey.
Yes, she has written some amazing books and she's come and shared her wisdom.
And I loved this about accents.
So I hope everyone heard it.
Your accent is beautiful, but there are things you can do while keeping your accent, to make sure that your speech is clearly understood.
All right.
Really good stuff.
Looking forward to that one.
And we'll see you back here very soon on the show.
All right.
Awesome.
See you next time.
Bye-bye.
Bye.
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