How to answer Where are you from?

[BraidedPony]

I just moved into an apartment in the same town I’ve lived in for about 25 years. When I meet other residents they always ask, “Where are you from?”. I haven’t yet figured out how to answer. Do they mean where was I born? That doesn’t really make since because it was millions of years ago! Do they mean where did I just move from before this apartment complex?
If they want to know where I was born I think they would just ask that. But, when I answer that I come from this town, they laugh, so that must be the wrong answer.
I’m tempted to just make something up because nobody really cares where I'm from anyway. If I tell them where I was born they might think I just moved here from far away and that gives the impression that I’m new in town.
I’ve lived in so many places I don’t really feel like I’m from anywhere!
What are they asking me, I need a translation.
Thank you.

 

[sarepta]

If I ask where someone's from, I usually mean their origin. So, I guess the place they grew up.
When someone ask me I usually tell them where I grew up, but I also say that I feel more home in the capital, where I lived for several years. I might talk more about why I moved from here to there, but probably not with people I just met, like a new neighbour or something.

 

[Dangun]

Could it be your ethnicity? Sometimes people will ask you if your ethnic background is very different from the majority of people in a community. I don't like it when they ask "Where are you from?" and mean ethnicity because citizens of all ethnic backgrounds live in the U.S.

In my experience, people with strong Eastern European or Asian lineage will often be asked this.

Also, your accent could be the reason why they ask, if you have a accent that's not from the area (e.g. people with Midwestern accents will often get asked "Where are you from" down here in the South).

So it really does come down to all kinds of factors as to why they're asking. Typically, if none of the above apply, then they mean the place you grew up in, a very few will mean place of birth.

 

[Gritches]

All I can think about right now is Lil Jon. If you are unacquainted with his works he frequently inquires from whence you came. In fact, I believe he has several songs dedicated to that very question, in which he loudly and repeatedly asks "WHERE YOU FROM?"

Now that that's out of the way, I believe the question is meant as an icebreaker. You weren't there before, but you moved in, so you must be from somewhere else. Asking where you're from shows interest and can potentially get the conversational ball rolling.

The translation would be: "I have no information about you other than that you're from somewhere else, so that's what I'm left to ask."

A good boxed statement in your case might be something like "oh, I'm from the area, just a new apartment is all. I used to live on [Jefferson Street, or whatever]."

 

[BraidedPony]

Oh, ok so they aren’t really looking for accurate information, they are just wanting to chat. Well, duh, now that you guys have explained it, its really simple.
That’s a relief because one time last week I went through all the states I have lived in in chronological order. Good grief, I'm such a dufus, lol.
I like the example Gritches of oh I’m from the area....blah blah blah...
It’s one of those questions you can’t get out of answering by saying you don’t know...lol

 

[Dangun]

Oh, ok so they aren’t really looking for accurate information, they are just wanting to chat. Well, duh, now that you guys have explained it, its really simple.
That’s a relief because one time last week I went through all the states I have lived in in chronological order. Good grief, I'm such a dufus, lol.
I like the example Gritches of oh I’m from the area....blah blah blah...
It’s one of those questions you can’t get out of answering by saying you don’t know...lol

I actually did that a few times myself, with the same question, going through all places chronologically.

 

[SusanLR]

I always take it to mean where I grew up or lived most of my life before moving to the new area.
Sometimes random people in random places also ask.
Don't know if it's an accent or the usual chit- chat.
Since I've lived from west to east coasts and midwest, my reply is usually: " I was born in Arizona.
But, my parents moved back to their home state of Missouri when I was a child so I lived there until
I finished University, then I came to Florida to get away from the cold winters. I've been around."
Sometimes they will then ask where I like best or what area seems like home.
Arizona has always felt like "home" base and I liked it best.
So I'm guilty of going chronologically also, but, I figure it adds interest.

 

[Bolletje]

I’ve always lived in the same city I grew up in, so it’s an easy question for me. It’s usually just meant as a conversation starter anyway.

 

[Major Tom]

I usually say I'm from K-Pax. But yea, it's just chit chat usually. People don't remember anyways, someone asked me the same question today.

 

[Autistamatic]

As noted previously, it's one of those meaningless small-talk openers. I hate small talk and frequently get flummoxed by it but there are some I've come up with stock answers for including this one which I've been asked many a time, because I've moved round the country quite a bit and I don't have a distinct regional accent.

"Where are you from?"
"Oh I've moved around a lot, but I grew up in XXXXXXXX"

 

[Suzanne]

I get confused too.

I live in France now and when I get: where do you come from? I say where I used to live in France and they laugh and say: no, where do you originate from and then I can answer.

 

[Progster]

• I have a situation similar to that of @Suzanne . When I do to Athens, people sometimes ask me where I'm from and I tell them the small provincial town where I live, because in my mind, that is where I live and came from, but they actually mean, which country am I originally from. I find this question awkward, because it lead to more questions, and no, I don't want to tell my life story of how I came to leave the UK and live in Greece.

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

I vary my answer to this question depending on the situation. When I'm travelling I say where I am living at the time (city - in England); when I'm in the place I live right now, I'll normally say where I lived before I moved here, sometimes adding where I grew up. Sometimes I'll say something along the lines of "I've moved around a lot but I grew up in -".

Truth is the people asking probably couldn't care less, so it really doesn't matter how you answer. It's just one of those meaningless small talk questions you ask when you meet someone, something to say without having to think of a topic of conversation. So answer how you want to answer, don't worry about what answer they might be expecting.

 

[Tom]

I think most mean originally, and after telling them will also add the more recent situation so they don't think I just came from there. So like in your case I would say something like 'originally I'm from _____ but I've been here in _____ 25 years now.'

 

[Mattymatt]

I just moved into an apartment in the same town I’ve lived in for about 25 years. When I meet other residents they always ask, “Where are you from?”. I haven’t yet figured out how to answer. Do they mean where was I born? That doesn’t really make since because it was millions of years ago! Do they mean where did I just move from before this apartment complex?
If they want to know where I was born I think they would just ask that. But, when I answer that I come from this town, they laugh, so that must be the wrong answer.
I’m tempted to just make something up because nobody really cares where I'm from anyway. If I tell them where I was born they might think I just moved here from far away and that gives the impression that I’m new in town.
I’ve lived in so many places I don’t really feel like I’m from anywhere!
What are they asking me, I need a translation.
Thank you.

Yeah, typically the question is about where you were born.

 

[BraidedPony]

I understand now about the question but doesn’t it seem like its a little too personal to ask someone you don’t even know? I would never ask someone that, but then I’m not the best example of how to interact with people!
I don’t even ask if someone is married, or if they have children, that seems too personal too, and none of my business.
Someone asked me if I was married and it took me a long time to think of an answer because technically I’m married, but we are separated. But I didn’t want to say separated just because we aren’t living together because it might not mean we are separated in a legal sense. I also can’t say I’m going to get a divorce because this is something I would tell my husband first, not a neighbor!
Some people here assume I’m married and living here with my husband I don’t correct them.
Are there really people in this world ie NTs, that just have conversations without all the inner dialog and obssession about giving accurate information? I cannot even imagine it. What occupies their thoughts? There must be a huge vacuum that I could fill with the amount of worry and agonizing over the simplest of social interactions.
Thank you everyone for all the insights. I slept better last night!

 

[Pats]

I just moved into an apartment in the same town I’ve lived in for about 25 years. When I meet other residents they always ask, “Where are you from?”. I haven’t yet figured out how to answer. Do they mean where was I born? That doesn’t really make since because it was millions of years ago! Do they mean where did I just move from before this apartment complex?
If they want to know where I was born I think they would just ask that. But, when I answer that I come from this town, they laugh, so that must be the wrong answer.
I’m tempted to just make something up because nobody really cares where I'm from anyway. If I tell them where I was born they might think I just moved here from far away and that gives the impression that I’m new in town.
I’ve lived in so many places I don’t really feel like I’m from anywhere!
What are they asking me, I need a translation.
Thank you.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha I have that same problem. And every single time I'm asked that I feel a heavy weight come over me. I was born in Virginia, but at 3 months old was moved to Ohio and at 15, back to Virginia. My adulthood has been spent moving - Ohio. Texas, upper Michigan, Montana, Utah, Arkansas, Alaska, Wyoming, Georgia. I spent more years in North Carolina than anywhere. I have no idea where I'm FROM.

 

[Pats]

I understand now about the question but doesn’t it seem like its a little too personal to ask someone you don’t even know? I would never ask someone that, but then I’m not the best example of how to interact with people!
I don’t even ask if someone is married, or if they have children, that seems too personal too, and none of my business.
Someone asked me if I was married and it took me a long time to think of an answer because technically I’m married, but we are separated. But I didn’t want to say separated just because we aren’t living together because it might not mean we are separated in a legal sense. I also can’t say I’m going to get a divorce because this is something I would tell my husband first, not a neighbor!
Some people here assume I’m married and living here with my husband I don’t correct them.
Are there really people in this world ie NTs, that just have conversations without all the inner dialog and obssession about giving accurate information? I cannot even imagine it. What occupies their thoughts? There must be a huge vacuum that I could fill with the amount of worry and agonizing over the simplest of social interactions.
Thank you everyone for all the insights. I slept better last night!

I think most mean originally, and after telling them will also add the more recent situation so they don't think I just came from there. So like in your case I would say something like 'originally I'm from _____ but I've been here in _____ 25 years now.'

Tom - What would you answer if you were born in Va. but at 3 months moved to Ohio and that's where you grew up? I struggle with that one and it's too long to have to say that every time.

 

[Mr Allen]

I just say I'm from Sheffield, England.

The City where the popular movie the Full Monty was made back in 1997, and home to the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible Theatre

Also, most people can tell I come from Yorkshire, because I have a strong local accent, so strong that annoyingly Foreign call centres don't understand me. like I was on the mobile to Amazon earlier trying to sort out a problem, and at their end they sounded like they were "under water", and they kept saying they couldn't hear me due to a "bad line", I was on the mobile FFS!

 

[Pats]

Could it be your ethnicity? Sometimes people will ask you if your ethnic background is very different from the majority of people in a community. I don't like it when they ask "Where are you from?" and mean ethnicity because citizens of all ethnic backgrounds live in the U.S.

In my experience, people with strong Eastern European or Asian lineage will often be asked this.

Also, your accent could be the reason why they ask, if you have a accent that's not from the area (e.g. people with Midwestern accents will often get asked "Where are you from" down here in the South).

So it really does come down to all kinds of factors as to why they're asking. Typically, if none of the above apply, then they mean the place you grew up in, a very few will mean place of birth.

In the north people say I have a southern accent. In the south people say I have a northern accent.