[ti: WORDS AND THEIR STORIES] [ar:Barbara Klein] [al:WORDS AND THEIR STORIES] [by:51VOA.COM] [00:00.00](MUSIC). [00:11.14]Now,the VOA Special English program [00:14.35]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. [00:16.50]Today,we finish telling about [00:19.43]the interesting nicknames [00:21.13]that have been given [00:22.32]to the fifty American states. [00:25.00]The state of Ohio is in the midwest. [00:29.37]It is named the Buckeye State [00:32.30]after a tree that produces nuts [00:35.31]similar to chestnuts. [00:37.28]The Great Plains state of Oklahoma [00:40.86]is called the Sooner State. [00:43.64]That is because of a sale of land [00:47.05]in eighteen eighty-nine. [00:49.26]Some people arrived in the territory [00:52.68]to claim their land earlier [00:55.12]than they were supposed to. [00:56.80]They cheated and got there "sooner." [01:00.22]Pennsylvania's nickname [01:02.95]is the Keystone State. [01:05.38]Just as a keystone [01:07.66]holds together a stone arch, [01:10.10]Pennsylvania was seen [01:12.25]as holding together [01:13.72]the young American republic. [01:16.14]Pennsylvania is also sometimes [01:19.47]called the Quaker State. [01:21.64]Its founder,William Penn, [01:24.39]and most of his followers,were members [01:27.81]of the Protestant Quaker religion. [01:30.62]Rhode Island's nickname is Little Rhody [01:35.43]because of its size. [01:37.12]The state is smaller than the area [01:40.01]around Los Angeles,California. [01:42.79]Tennessee got its nickname [01:45.63]the Volunteer State [01:47.59]because of the bravery of its citizens. [01:50.87]They volunteered to join [01:53.39]Tennessean Andrew Jackson [01:55.57]to defend the city [01:57.18]of New Orleans,Louisiana, [01:59.40]against the British army [02:01.06]in the War of Eighteen Twelve. [02:03.68]Texas is called the Lone Star State. [02:08.60]It gets its nickname [02:10.65]from the single star on its flag. [02:13.58]This represents the short time [02:16.59]Texas was an independent nation [02:19.33]battling Mexico for self-rule. [02:22.43]The Beehive State of Utah [02:25.77]has no more beehives than any other state. [02:29.91]The nickname is from [02:31.72]the Mormon Church's symbol for hard work. [02:35.13]The eastern state of Vermont [02:39.05]is proud of its beautiful Green Mountains [02:42.71]so it calls itself the Green Mountain State. [02:46.51]The southern state of Virginia [02:49.18]is called the Old Dominion. [02:51.69]Long ago,King Charles the Second of England [02:55.96]added the colony's coat of arms [02:58.90]to his shield. [03:00.08]It joined his other dominions of England, [03:04.05]Ireland,and Scotland. [03:06.10]West Virginia broke away [03:09.85]from Virginia in the eighteen sixties. [03:12.82]It is called simply the Mountain State [03:16.56]for the ancient Appalachian mountains. [03:19.65]And we have saved perhaps [03:22.64]the most American nickname for last. [03:26.11]The western state of Wyoming [03:28.92]was once an area [03:30.40]where cattle were transported east. [03:33.45]And where there are cattle, [03:35.84]there are men -- and now women [03:38.50]to move them. [03:39.52]So Wyoming is the Cowboy State. [03:43.85](MUSIC) [03:55.45]This VOA Special English program [03:58.36]was written by Ted Landphair. [04:00.79]I'm Barbara Klein. [04:02.51]We hope you enjoyed these programs [04:05.47]about states and their nicknames. [04:08.00]You can find more WORDS AND THEIR STORIES [04:11.61]at www.51voa.com.