Good news! Massachusetts isn’t the most impolite state. But we did make the Top 10 when it comes to lacking politeness.
I wanted to shout some polite, old-timey word like “poppycock” when I first heard this news. For some reason, I had it in my mind that either Emily Post or Ms. Manners were residents of the Commonwealth at one time at least. Turns out, much like my home state when it comes to politeness, I’m a loser. Emily Post, who literally wrote the book on manners, was born in Baltimore. And Judith Martin, better known as Ms. Manners, is a D.C. native. So I’m guessing Maryland ranks high on the politeness scale.
Moving on, the Bay State’s latest dubious distinction comes courtesy of a WordFinder piece called How Polite Is Your State? The WordFinder folks looked at Google Trends search data spanning all fifty states. What they were looking for was the frequency web searches using “polite” words and phrases.” They also filtered for compliments and terms of endearment. Because it’s polite to compliment people and call them nice things. The idea is, the more “polite” the searches, the more polite the state. I’m no data scientist, but that makes sense to me.
What’s the Most Impolite State? Massachusetts Makes the Top 10
I suppose it comes as no surprise that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts didn’t do so hot when it comes to high marks for politeness. We are, after all, a hot bed for road rage. And it’s not like the term “Masshole” was coined on a whim. We’ve earned that entry in the Urban Dictionary, dammit. In fact, it PREDATES the Urban Dictionary! We’ve been that rude for that long. But…we’re not the rudest. Take a look and see who’s more impolite (less polite?) than we are. Please. And thank you.
