Moving to Arkansas and I know nothing about the state or Arkansians(?) ... Help?

If you're one of those strange outdoors types, Arkansas is a gold mine, from corner to corner.

 

Much like Wisconsin, you can bone an animal and probably get away with it.

 

I remember hearing in a movie that Arkansas is the 49th best state in the union ... and continually thank Mississippi for keeping it so.

 

Once you move to Arkansas, people from West Virginia will start making fun of you

 

If you hear banjo music, paddle faster

 

And they're called Arkansans.

 

Don't let Les Miles teach you how to pronounce the name of your new state.

 

When I was a kid and learning about geography, I was surprised to find out Arkansas was not pronounced "R-Kansas." And I never learned why the pronunciations are different. Now I'm curious again.

 

Forget all the talk about Pine Bluff being a suburb of Little Rock. It's only 40 miles, but it's a whole world away. Nothing suburban at all about the Bluff.

The racial politics in PB are interesting. The town is almost exactly 50/50 and while they get along fine socially, one side is always looking for an excuse to claim preferential treatment from the other in the political arena.

As far as sports, Pine Bluff High's glory days are largely in the past, but there are lots of pretty solid high school programs in the coverage area. Monticello won state in football a couple of years ago and Warren, McGehee and Rison have all won multiple state football titles over the last 13 years. Watson Chapel's girls won 5A state in basketball last year and Star City was runner-up in 4A.

It's been almost a dozen years since I covered anything there, so YMMV.

 

Ranks 49th in post-secondary education.

 

I don't know why the state is pronounced that way, but if you are in Kansas and talking about the river that runs through Wichita, it's the R-Kansas, not the R-Can-Saw.

 

Which is why Les Miles pronounces the state that way. The Arkansas River runs right past Stillwater, where he coached for many years.

The state name's pronunciation is French.