If Virginia Is for Lovers, Why Is It Called "Virginia"?

(Yes, I do know why it is actually called "Virginia.")

Comments

[john gibson]

I have never seen you this lame. It's worse than "supply side" nonsense. Let me give you a quality example of adolescent humor: "A music lover is to a musicologist as a lover is to a gynecologist."

[Mr. Jwpvysig, Jr.]

You seem sad.

[darkknight9]

"Let me give you a quality example of adolescent humor..."

Don't quit your day job. 😀

[Naaman Brown]

How long have you been following Eugene?

Eugene's word play can be so lame, he can make 4SJ Ackerman and Svengoolie look like ballet stars.

[Dan S.]

I always figured they used the slogan "Virginia is for lovers" precisely to disavow the implication that might otherwise be drawn from the name. Also maybe the implications that could be drawn from misinterpreting the name of the famous case Loving v. Virginia.

[James Pollock]

Virginia is for lovers, not for sex partners.

[Eugene Volokh]

When you hear someone described as someone's "lover," wouldn't that normally be a statement that the two people are having sex? (Not all uses of "love" have that implication, but I think "lover" does.)

[Robert Beckman]

Which is why his juxtaposition is so funny 🙂

[gormadoc]

Yes, in modern American English, but "lover" didn't mean that historically or in several modern dialects. Originally it just meant "somebody in love"; it didn't even require lovers to be paired.

To "make love" just meant to flirt most of the time.

[James Pollock]

"When you hear someone described as someone’s “lover,” wouldn’t that normally be a statement that the two people are having sex?"

No, it's normally a statement that they aren't married. (to each other, anyway.)

[James Pollock]

More on point for this blog...
Virginia may well be for lovers, but it wasn't for the Lovings until 1967.

[Brian Dixon]

The Volokh Dad Joke Conspiracy

[Eddy]

Why isn't Maryland more merry? Especially since its state song is set to the tune of "O Tannenbaum."

[Armchair Lawyer]

"Why isn't Maryland more merry?"

-Gerrymandering.

[cmcc_aus]

In the days when they had Tee shirts Virginia is for lovers, and I bought my girlfriend one, she bought me Maryland is for Crabs!

[Robert Beckman]

She knew you too well.

[RoyMo]

The old anthem of Parador was better

[gormadoc]

Maryland doesn't have the Mary-merry merger to the same extent as everyone not in Jersey or Maryland, I suppose.

[MatthewSlyfield]

Because it's filled with old married couples. Its' marry land, not merry land.

[Jimmy the Dane]

Maybe Virginia is for federal workers who vote Democrat and illegal immigrants who help stuff ballot boxes for Democrats with illegal votes doesn't have the same ring?

[Queen Amalthea]

Sore loser is plenty sore!

[gormadoc]

... Why would they use illegal immigrants for that? A simple economic analysis would tell you that's stupid. It's riskier by far than to just do it themselves.

[James Pollock]

But realizing that more Americans disagree with you than agree with you takes a certain kind of mental energy that some people aren't willing to put forth.

[RestoreWesternHegemony]

No, more Americans don't disagree with me. More third worlders and other disloyal people who hold American citizenship disagree with me. For example, I don't consider the 19 year old anchor baby child born in 2000 to two illegal immigrants to be an American, and certainly not one of my countrymen.

[Jimmy the Dane]

On a legal blog the idea of citizenship has little do with heritage and just all to do with legal status. To most people on here they think of "citizen" through the lens of the 14th Amendment, so yes 19 year old born here because Mom rolled across the border illegally in 2000 is just as much of a "citizen" as someone who has heritage that dates back to the Revolutionary War. What really gets lost on the liberals/libertardians here is that the 19 year old is not somehow the same as said citizen with real heritage because they were born on this "magic dirt" we call the United States.

[RestoreWesternHegemony]

Right, I am not talking about this in a legal sense. I am talking about having allegiance to the historic America, and sharing our culture, our language, our heroes, and our proud history.

[Alpheus W Drinkwater]

You two must be hilarious fun at parties.

[James Pollock]

" I am talking about having allegiance to the historic America, and sharing our culture, our language, our heroes, and our proud history."

The people who were here the longest don't all have the same culture, nor language, nor heroes.

So neither logic nor reality are on your side, either.

[James Pollock]

"No, more Americans don’t disagree with me."

Like I said, considering ideas like this takes a kind of mental energy some people cannot summon.

[Jimmy the Dane]

What is the risk of having such lax voter registration laws that illegal vote for the Dems? It has almost no risk whatsoever. Voter fraud enforcement is almost non-existent, to the extent that the left will even scream "show us the voter fraud you are trying to prevent with these bigoted ID laws!!!!!!" Of course there are no convictions when there is almost no enforcement at all. And when they do charge and convict an illegal of voting it is always an one-off, "wow look at that unicorn over there" happening.

[Faust]

Psst...Virginia has voter ID laws.
https://ballotpedia.org/Voter_identification_laws_by_state

[Alpheus W Drinkwater]

"Forget it, he's rolling."

[Faust]

Yeah, it's not happening. Virginia has some of the strictest voting requirements. This is a talking point among people that don't know the laws.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article220534340.html

[Faust]

Virginia requires a valid photo ID to vote. The state didn't turn blue because of illegal votes, it turned blue because the current GOP doesn't appeal to most people outside of the shrinking uneducated white base. Not a good strategy for winning an area like NOVA.

[jubulent]

Virginia may be for lovers, but a Pennsylvania has intercourse.

[Jimmy the Dane]

Yeah PA also has Blue Ball too (really it does...look it up...used to be a Bank of Blue Ball too...their shwag used to go for a good bit of money on Ebay...)

[jubulent]

That makes sense, you need to travel to Michigan to get to Climax.

It's a long trip, but worth it.

[James Pollock]

If you start in Intercourse, PA, travel to Climax, MI, and keep going, eventually you'll hit Boring, OR.

[bernard11]

Pencils come from Pennsylvania
Vests from Vest Virginia
And Tents from Tent-esee
They know mink where they grow
Mink in Wyo-mink
A camp chair in New Hamp-chair
That's for me
And minnows come from Minnesota
Coats come from Dakota
But why should you be blue?
For you, you come from Rhode Island
Don't let them ride Rhode Island
It's famous for you

Worth a listen.

[Faust]

Right, so you agree with me that Jimmy the Dane's idea that it was illegal voting that caused the shift is wrong. I agree with NYT's assessment, I live in Northern Virginia. It has a large legal immigrant population. They tend to vote Democrat & the GOP's new strategy of becoming a modern Know Nothing Party isn't helping them. Northern Virginia is also highly educated, which isn't a big part of the GOP's voting base over the last few years. An embrace of emotions and rhetoric over expertise isn't helping the GOP win over educated voters.