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LurkingProvidence t1_jdeg8q4 wrote

Maybe Judge Frank Caprio is from the clips that go viral every now and then.

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sara24santos t1_jdek6m2 wrote

100%! My parents live in Portugal and they know about Frank Caprio, and I did too before moving to RI.

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skippyspk t1_jdfh137 wrote

I’m know right! It’s SO Rhode Island how him and his family fleeced the City and profited using City of Providence resources. CRAZY right?

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BlueEyedRage t1_jdr11fz wrote

That actually is about as Rhode Island as you can get, unfortunately.

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radioflea t1_jdg9vup wrote

He officiated my cousins wedding 20 years ago and you would have thought Elvis entered the building.

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dockstaderj t1_jdez3ps wrote

I'm in Colorado and this is my go-to peek into RI!

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Hoagiecat16 t1_jdfe7ns wrote

I saw “Caught in Providence” on a local channel in Maryland a few years back.

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AffectionateRisk8418 t1_jdgs7rv wrote

This Italian guy in my university in Spain came up to me when I first met him and after I told him i am from Rhode Island he goes “judge Frank caprio!” And it blew my mind

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starlitstarlet t1_jdfyhf4 wrote

I was on a train in rural England once and struck up a conversation with a woman sitting near me. When I said where I was from she immediately got excited and started asking about “the nice judge”.

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ShadySaitama t1_jdhn0vl wrote

my boyfriend from north dakota knew about frank caprio before i did

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hcwhitewolf t1_jdeawyz wrote

There’s a couple I can think of, and some of them are somewhat niche.

In no particular order:

  • Gina

  • Family Guy stuff including Adam West

  • H.P. Lovecraft

  • Our congressional reps have been pretty involved in important committees over the years and are pretty visible.

  • Newport/Tennis Hall of Fame.

  • WaterFire

  • Brown University, RISD, PC (mostly for basketball)

I’m definitely missing some, but those are at least a few.

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PlayTriviaLA t1_jdejuod wrote

Having grown up and lived 20+ years in RI and then moving to Los Angeles for work for the last 10… most of the things that are “Rhode Island Famous” are things than no one outside of New England have ever heard of.

I have had to explain to people many times…

  • what coffee milk is
  • what chouriço and linguiça are
  • what a little neck is
  • that Narragansett is a real beer named for a real place in RI
  • the Big Blue Bug
  • what the difference is between New England and Rhode Island clam chowder is and that Manhattan / red chowder is not really a thing in RI
  • the Station Night Club Fire
  • Waterfire
  • Dell’s
  • Dunkin Donuts, even though it is originally from MA, is everywhere in RI
  • that TF green is actually not in Providence
  • that Stop and Shop is a grocery store
  • that Papa Gino’s is a pizza chain
  • the Mr. Potato Heads
  • that the state is small by area, but in reality, it’s a fairly long drive from Warren to Connecticut, never mind driving all the way to Boston or worse, New York 🫠
  • that RI is, in fact, the smallest state by land area and not Delaware like they usually insist even though I’m a trivia writer and host from RI
  • that Rhode Island is an island within the State of Rhode Island, it’s just that everyone calls it Aquidneck Island
  • that the name was “The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations”, the longest state name, for the above reason, and that while “plantations” obviously has connotations of slavery, that when the name was used, it was commonly used to refer to any newly established settlement, not a large farm that used slaves from Africa…
  • that RI was the first to declare independence and the first to attack GB openly (Gaspee Affair) long before the rest of the colonies and the last to ratify the constitution—RI was basically coerced into joining the US by the other 12 colonies
  • “wicked” and that’s it’s not just a Boston thing and that you don’t say just “wicked”, it has to come before other value words like “good,” or “bad,” or “fucking annoying”.
  • buying milk and bread before it snows
  • “no school fostah-glostah” —I only include this one because I actually MET someone from Glocester recently at a trivia game and said this and he looked at me like I had spoken Klingon.

RI things most people actually have heard of—at least out here in LA—include:

  • Buddy Cianci—at least if they listen to a lot of crime podcasts.
  • Brown
  • RISD
  • URI for some sports
  • PC (basketball mostly)
  • Newport
  • RI International Film Festival (it’s a qualifying festival to receive Oscar nominations)
  • Family Guy / Quahog (thinking it’s a real town)
  • The Breakers
  • Holiday House / Harkness House because of Taylor Swift
  • H. P. Lovecraft

Things people think they have heard of from RI that are not from RI:

  • ESPN —because they assume when I say I’m from “Bristol” that it’s the same place as Bristol, Connecticut
  • “Oh, I love Long Island!” 🙄
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monkey-seat t1_jdfakot wrote

No school Fostah-Glostah is my very favorite Rhode Island thing. Alongside “it’s a drink”

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PlayTriviaLA t1_jdgx3ju wrote

What what’s “it’s a drink”? When you say coffee milk and someone asks “what’s that?”

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monkey-seat t1_jdh1nh9 wrote

"Awful Awful. It's a Drink."

The best, worst advertising slogan of all time!!!

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PlayTriviaLA t1_jdip80n wrote

haha wow that was locked away so far down in my memory. I can’t remember the last time I thought of an Awful Awful.

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overthehillhat t1_jdeplgl wrote

WOW - -

Are you Mark Patinkin?

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PlayTriviaLA t1_jdeqrop wrote

lol no I am not and he’s another one that no one outside of RI (unless they’re journalists) have heard of 😅

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bzarins t1_jdfd8rg wrote

You only need to explain the buying milk & bread before a snowstorm thing because you’re in LA, that happens anywhere it snows.

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PlayTriviaLA t1_jdgx641 wrote

Maybe so! I’m not sure everyone buys milk and bread specifically though. My family outside Quebec didn’t anyway.

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bzarins t1_jdhf177 wrote

Well, not me, but I lived in Kentucky and most people did when like 2” were forecast. Eggs too, so maybe they were worried they couldn’t make French toast? Idk. Was the same when I lived in Chicagoland too.

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SqueakieDeekie t1_jdgiwc9 wrote

Wait…. Is buying milk and bread before it snows a Rhode Island thing? I thought that was just good planning. Am I so Rhode Islandy that I don’t even know I’m being Rhode Islandy ?

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PlayTriviaLA t1_jdgx8a8 wrote

Possibly! Maybe it’s common anywhere or snows, but I have family in Canada and they did prepare before storms but didn’t specifically buy extra bread and milk.

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Styx_Renegade t1_jdl3v9f wrote

Regarding the plantations thing, tell that to our previous governor. Lol. Now we’re just “Rhode Island”

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duburose t1_jderwb3 wrote

Viola Davis ❤️

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owsleythehunter t1_jdej4ay wrote

Where Dylan went electric, but also Folk Festival in general.

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schmoelschmachoo t1_jdemujc wrote

The conjuring house, fuck yeah for Burrillville

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simplekindaman13 t1_jdf4sbl wrote

Unless you live near it. Funny how they are the only “business” with a 24 hour operator license yet it’s zoned strictly residential

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Riff_Raff66 t1_jde6dio wrote

Dels lemonade

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Geri-psychiatrist-RI t1_jdes73h wrote

Ummmmmmmmm, no. I never even heard of Dels until I moved to RI

Seriously, as someone who was born and raised in St. Louis the only two things/brands that people would recognize are Family Guy and Hasbro toys

Edit note: I didn’t mention CVS. Everyone will recognize that brand

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Riff_Raff66 t1_jdew144 wrote

Fine

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Pdmnt t1_jdf00hm wrote

To your credit, it's in a ton of states so it is recognizable, just not as much as stuff like family guy, etc

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Riff_Raff66 t1_jdf1vto wrote

I recently read here some people got it in Florida and somewhere out west

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Riff_Raff66 t1_jdf25c2 wrote

Del's is a brand of frozen lemonade typically found in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts during the summer months. Del's lemonade is available in 20 states. Frozen lemonade is a kind of slush. It is made from water, concentrate, and real lemons in an ice cream machine.

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Pdmnt t1_jdfagy4 wrote

Their website (at one point, at least) had a listing of every state. I remember Las Vegas was one place, and I've seen it in Cary, NC, which is a major New England transplant city

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Riff_Raff66 t1_jdf2ebw wrote

Ummmmmmm, 20 other states. I just guess not Missouri

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mando_is_dindjarin t1_jdedjxl wrote

Coffee Milk, and non-natives thinking Rhode Island is Long Island.

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Rickshmitt t1_jde923y wrote

Driving without headlights on

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Till_Mysterious t1_jdf7j0o wrote

Charlie day from it's always sunny in Philadelphia

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RandomChurn t1_jdetqma wrote

There were two combatant narrators in Ken Burns' Civil War series, one from the South. One from the North. Every episode in the series had numerous readings from their diaries.

The one from the North was a Rhode Islander, buried in Swan Point, Elisha Hunt Rhodes.

Oh, and Cthulhu ... every day Etsy shoppers even in France search Etsy for Cthulhu stuff. I'm sure Lovecraft would be stunned.

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vegemouse t1_jdehe4m wrote

RISD and noise rock.

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LongRhode t1_jdeoba2 wrote

The band “Throwing Muses”, Actress Debra Messing, Actress Mena Suvari

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Rhody222 t1_jdfj2tx wrote

Something about Mary

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liqquidlunch t1_jdfvv54 wrote

Buddy Cianci is a Rhode Island legand

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PlayTriviaLA t1_jdee88o wrote

Harkness House / Holiday House because of the association with Taylor Swift.

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Asylum147 t1_jdesdb1 wrote

Crew from TAPS/Ghost Hunters

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jma7400 t1_jdflqy3 wrote

Charlie Day. Always Sunny.

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TheCarzilla t1_jdfuk9h wrote

That giant grasshopper was in an episode of the Simpsons.

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WPRV t1_jdfw0w8 wrote

Mr. Potato Head

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Quick_Tear_3600 t1_jdhje6f wrote

The Station nightclub. It’s the only consistent thing people mention when I mention RI.

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shortys7777 t1_jdfn117 wrote

Fraida feltcher. From Cranston.

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gradontripp t1_jdgbhvs wrote

That it’s not an island. Oh, wait…

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Styx_Renegade t1_jdl3qq2 wrote

The Big Blue Bug maybe. It was shown in Dumb and Dumber for a few seconds.

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BlueEyedRage t1_jdqznqn wrote

Our world famous Rhode Island Dressing, of course!

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Rustygaff t1_jdf80co wrote

Coffee milk and soupy.

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