Thanks to an Arkansas legislator, there has been a lot of discussion lately about what the state’s nickname should be.
Rep. David Sanders has introduced a bill calling for Arkansas to change the state’s nickname from “The Natural State” to “The Land of Opportunity,” citing the need to position Arkansas as something other than a vacation destination.
Arkansas has been known as The Natural State since 1995. Before that, it was called The Land Of Opportunity for 42 years. Past names include The Bear State, The Wonder State, and The Toothpick State.
Sanders’ bill was pulled temporarily so that the financial impact of the name change could be examined, and Governor Mike Beebe has already said he thinks the legislature has more important things to worry about, but that didn’t prevent the Twitterverse from going crazy with some pretty creative #rejectedarkansasmottos.
Arkansas Times‘ John Tarpley has compiled a great list of some of his favorite suggestions from Twitter, including:
- Arkansas: Now with 50% less birds! (@JenniferKHicks)
- Arkansas – Where we can’t even agree on which hashtag to use. #RejectedArkansasNickNames #RejectedArkansasMottos (@michaelp)
- Arkansas – Surprisingly difficult to draw. (@angryczech)
- Arkansas- Come visit. Or don’t. Probably don’t. Do you have 5 bucks? (@monkeyflungpoo)
- Come see where Bill Clinton came—-which is pretty much everywhere (@joshuasparker06 )
- Two million great people and the mayor of Marshall. (@arkstatefan)
- Arkansas – Where Progress Comes To Nap (@SmackOfHamBlog)
Rock City Tees out of Little Rock even pledged to make their favorite #rejectedarkansasmotto into a t-shirt.
Let’s hear yours.
