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The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (commonly known as Rhode Island) is the smallest state by land area in the United States of America, and the state with the longest official name. Rhode (pronounced "Road") Island is part of the New England region, and was the first of the thirteen original American colonies to declare independence from British rule, signaling the start of the American Revolution.
The state's common name, Rhode Island, actually refers to the largest island in Narragansett Bay, also known as Aquidneck Island, on which the city of Newport is located. Aquidneck Island is also locally referred to as Newport - though it in fact has three distinct townships on it. The origin of the name is unclear. Some historians think that Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, upon discovering Block Island, just southwest in the Atlantic Ocean, named it Rhode Island because of its similarity in shape to the Greek island of Rhodes. Later settlers, mistaking which island Verrazzano was referring to, gave the name to Aquidneck Island instead. Other historians believe that the name is derived from Roodt Eylandt, old Dutch for "red island," given to the island by Dutch explorer Adriaen Block due to the red clay on the island's shore.
Despite most of the state being part of the mainland, the name Rhode Island leads some out-of-staters to mistakenly believe that the entire state is an island, or some obscure region of New York State. Rhode Island is nicknamed "The Ocean State".
Culture
Rhode Island has a unique and fascinating culture that distinguishes its people not only from other regions, but also from neighboring New England states.
Rhode Islanders speak with a distinct accent that many compare to a "Brooklyn" or a cross between a New York and Boston accent. The residents of this state also speak with a unique vernacular that many have dubbed "Rhode Islandese" or "Rhode Islander". The letter 'r' is often dropped at the end of a word, ("water" becomes "wata"). The letter 'r' is also added in to the ending of words ("soda" becomes "soder"). Utilization of the word "wicked" is also very common among Rhode Island youth to provide greater emphasis on something (e.g., "That's wicked funny" is a relatively common phrase).
Perhaps due to its large percentage of Italian and Portuguese residents, cooking and food are very important to Rhode Islanders. In fact, there are several foods and dishes unique to Rhode Island including "weiners," which are hot dogs covered in a meat sauce and chopped onions, "saugy", which is a cased sausage often substituted for hot dogs, "stuffies", sometimes called "quahogs", which are large cherrystone clams mixed with stuffing and spicy minced sausage and then baked in the shell, and and "dynamites," which is a sandwich made with ground hamburger and spices found in the French-Canadian areas of the state. "Calamari," or fried squid rings, is also a favorite and found on the menu of most restaurants, as are "grinders," which are a hero or hoagie sandwich made with Italian specialty cold cuts. Chourico (a spicy Portuguese sausage) and peppers, eaten with hearty bread, is also popular among the state's large Portuguese community. Rhode Island has its own version of clam chowder, "Rhode Island clam chowder", which is clear.
Rhode Island is known for being one of the the largest coffee-drinking states. According to a Providence Journal article, Providence features the highest number of coffee/donut shops per capita in the country. It is common belief that more coffee ice cream is sold here per-capita than any other state. The Official State Drink of Rhode Island is coffee milk, a beverage created by mixing milk with coffee syrup. This unique syrup was invented in the state and is bottled and sold in most Rhode Island supermarkets. Frozen Lemonade, a mixture of ice-slush, lemons and sugar is also immensely popular in the summer, especially Del's Frozen Lemonade, a company based in Cranston.
It is said by some that Rhode Islanders are very superstitious, although this cannot be proved by definite means. However, the belief in vampires, especially in the rural parts of the state, was widespread up until the late 19th century. There are several well-documented cases in which families disenterred deceased relatives, then removed and burned their hearts in the belief that the deceased was a vampire who was responsible for illness and misfortune that the family had been suffering. The most famous of these cases is that of 19-year-old Mercy Brown who died in Exeter, Rhode Island in 1892. It is believed that this widely-reported event inspired much of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.
The Fox show Family Guy takes place in a fictional town in Rhode Island named Quahog.
The state was notorious for organized crime activity from the 1950s into the 1990s when the Patriarca crime family held sway over most of New England from their Providence headquarters. Although the power of organized crime has greatly diminished in Rhode Island over the last 20 years, its residents are still stigmatized by popular perceptions of rampant graft and corruption that have haunted the state for decades.
Sorry, no tips were foundThe state's common name, Rhode Island, actually refers to the largest island in Narragansett Bay, also known as Aquidneck Island, on which the city of Newport is located. Aquidneck Island is also locally referred to as Newport - though it in fact has three distinct townships on it. The origin of the name is unclear. Some historians think that Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, upon discovering Block Island, just southwest in the Atlantic Ocean, named it Rhode Island because of its similarity in shape to the Greek island of Rhodes. Later settlers, mistaking which island Verrazzano was referring to, gave the name to Aquidneck Island instead. Other historians believe that the name is derived from Roodt Eylandt, old Dutch for "red island," given to the island by Dutch explorer Adriaen Block due to the red clay on the island's shore.
Despite most of the state being part of the mainland, the name Rhode Island leads some out-of-staters to mistakenly believe that the entire state is an island, or some obscure region of New York State. Rhode Island is nicknamed "The Ocean State".
Culture
Rhode Island has a unique and fascinating culture that distinguishes its people not only from other regions, but also from neighboring New England states.
Rhode Islanders speak with a distinct accent that many compare to a "Brooklyn" or a cross between a New York and Boston accent. The residents of this state also speak with a unique vernacular that many have dubbed "Rhode Islandese" or "Rhode Islander". The letter 'r' is often dropped at the end of a word, ("water" becomes "wata"). The letter 'r' is also added in to the ending of words ("soda" becomes "soder"). Utilization of the word "wicked" is also very common among Rhode Island youth to provide greater emphasis on something (e.g., "That's wicked funny" is a relatively common phrase).
Perhaps due to its large percentage of Italian and Portuguese residents, cooking and food are very important to Rhode Islanders. In fact, there are several foods and dishes unique to Rhode Island including "weiners," which are hot dogs covered in a meat sauce and chopped onions, "saugy", which is a cased sausage often substituted for hot dogs, "stuffies", sometimes called "quahogs", which are large cherrystone clams mixed with stuffing and spicy minced sausage and then baked in the shell, and and "dynamites," which is a sandwich made with ground hamburger and spices found in the French-Canadian areas of the state. "Calamari," or fried squid rings, is also a favorite and found on the menu of most restaurants, as are "grinders," which are a hero or hoagie sandwich made with Italian specialty cold cuts. Chourico (a spicy Portuguese sausage) and peppers, eaten with hearty bread, is also popular among the state's large Portuguese community. Rhode Island has its own version of clam chowder, "Rhode Island clam chowder", which is clear.
Rhode Island is known for being one of the the largest coffee-drinking states. According to a Providence Journal article, Providence features the highest number of coffee/donut shops per capita in the country. It is common belief that more coffee ice cream is sold here per-capita than any other state. The Official State Drink of Rhode Island is coffee milk, a beverage created by mixing milk with coffee syrup. This unique syrup was invented in the state and is bottled and sold in most Rhode Island supermarkets. Frozen Lemonade, a mixture of ice-slush, lemons and sugar is also immensely popular in the summer, especially Del's Frozen Lemonade, a company based in Cranston.
It is said by some that Rhode Islanders are very superstitious, although this cannot be proved by definite means. However, the belief in vampires, especially in the rural parts of the state, was widespread up until the late 19th century. There are several well-documented cases in which families disenterred deceased relatives, then removed and burned their hearts in the belief that the deceased was a vampire who was responsible for illness and misfortune that the family had been suffering. The most famous of these cases is that of 19-year-old Mercy Brown who died in Exeter, Rhode Island in 1892. It is believed that this widely-reported event inspired much of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.
The Fox show Family Guy takes place in a fictional town in Rhode Island named Quahog.
The state was notorious for organized crime activity from the 1950s into the 1990s when the Patriarca crime family held sway over most of New England from their Providence headquarters. Although the power of organized crime has greatly diminished in Rhode Island over the last 20 years, its residents are still stigmatized by popular perceptions of rampant graft and corruption that have haunted the state for decades.
Last edited by Anna (2:38, 17 August 2006)
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