If you lie about your hometown, why?

[Anonymous]

This is for people who, when asked where they're from, will say the current city they live in, rather than where they grew up.

Aka someone who grew up in Utah, but is living in NYC, and when they meet someone new and asked, the say "New York".

Why do you do it? Is it shame about your hometown? Wishing you could have grown up in someplace more sophisticated?

[Anonymous]

? It’s not a lie, it’s a different way of answering the question.

[Anonymous]

If someone asks “where are you from?” I would assume they mean “where do you live?” rather than “where did you grow up?”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:? It’s not a lie, it’s a different way of answering the question.

It is a lie, ESPECIALLY if it's asked in that same city they're currently living. The obvious implication is "where did you grow up/ where are your roots". People trying to find out the town that truly raised and shaped you.

it's disingenuous at best, and I'm curious why anyone would engage in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If someone asks “where are you from?” I would assume they mean “where do you live?” rather than “where did you grow up?”

Even if they asked that at, say, a neighborhood block party?

[Anonymous]

Do people really do this?

When people ask me where I'm from, usually in a casual setting, I tell them where I grew up. I don't go into an elaborate story about how I was born overseas and immigrated here as a preteen but then grew up in my hometown because I assume people are just making small talk and don't actually care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do people really do this?

When people ask me where I'm from, usually in a casual setting, I tell them where I grew up. I don't go into an elaborate story about how I was born overseas and immigrated here as a preteen but then grew up in my hometown because I assume people are just making small talk and don't actually care.

A very small subset of people do it, and I find it fascinating. Sometimes I have had to ask a few times to figure out where someone actually grew up. It's strange

[Anonymous]

My hometown (entire home state, really) is a national embarrassment full of backwards rednecks, and I got tired of the stereotypes. Much easier to say I've lived in DC longer than anywhere else than to grit-smile through ignorant comments about not having an accent or seeming well-educated.

[Anonymous]

I was born in New Hampshire, grew up in New Jersey, then lived in Georgia for four years before moving here.

When people say where were you born i say New England.
When ppl ask where I grew up I say Jersey.
When they ask where I moved here from I say Georgia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:? It’s not a lie, it’s a different way of answering the question.

It is a lie, ESPECIALLY if it's asked in that same city they're currently living. The obvious implication is "where did you grow up/ where are your roots". People trying to find out the town that truly raised and shaped you.

it's disingenuous at best, and I'm curious why anyone would engage in it.

Why are you so bothered by this? When we are traveling, people make small talk and ask where you're from. The answer is "we come from DC, nice weather you have here," not "Well, my wife is a DC native but I was born and raised in small town Ohio, but I spent several years living overseas before moving to DC where we have lived for 13 years."

If you care so much, you can ask people specifically where they were born. I can't imagine being so strident about this.

[Anonymous]

I lived in one place for the first 10 years of my life and another place for the second 10 years before moving to DC. My husband is from a third place, both and raised. We just say “the northeast” which includes all three places because I actually don’t know the answer and not sure people want a 5-min rundown of where we’ve lived. Do you consider that disingenuous?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My hometown (entire home state, really) is a national embarrassment full of backwards rednecks, and I got tired of the stereotypes. Much easier to say I've lived in DC longer than anywhere else than to grit-smile through ignorant comments about not having an accent or seeming well-educated.

Gotcha. So it's embarrassment about where you're from and feeling like it doesn't accurately represent you?

[Anonymous]

If I'm not in DC, and someone asks where I'm from, I say "DC," because that's where I live. If I'm in DC and the person I'm talking to already knows I live in DC, and asks where I'm from, I say the name of my town. If the person asking me is a tourist in DC or something else where they don't know I live in DC, I would say DC, because they probably want to know if I can give them directions or recommend a restaurant.

[Anonymous]

My husband lies about odd things like this. I've tried to break him of this habit because it's embarrassing when he is caught in the lie.
In his case, he does it because his parents were alcoholics and he just grew up lying about everything that went on in his home, so now lying about something relatively trivial seems as natural as telling the truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:? It’s not a lie, it’s a different way of answering the question.

It is a lie, ESPECIALLY if it's asked in that same city they're currently living. The obvious implication is "where did you grow up/ where are your roots". People trying to find out the town that truly raised and shaped you.

it's disingenuous at best, and I'm curious why anyone would engage in it.

Why are you so bothered by this? When we are traveling, people make small talk and ask where you're from. The answer is "we come from DC, nice weather you have here," not "Well, my wife is a DC native but I was born and raised in small town Ohio, but I spent several years living overseas before moving to DC where we have lived for 13 years."

If you care so much, you can ask people specifically where they were born. I can't imagine being so strident about this.

Who not just say "I'm from Ohio and she's from DC"? Pretty simple, actually. But more importantly, I'm asking about people who answer that to someone WHILE they're in DC.

If you met someone in DC and they asked where you're from, what would you say?