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Why do some people say "Warshington"?

After moving the Washington State, I noticed some people say "Warshington."

"Warsh" instead of "wash."

Where does this come from?

Western vernacular amuses and puzzles me:

Calling a creek a "crick."

Antlers on the ground are called "a shed."

"Afeared" instead of "afraid."

"I got the allovers" instead of "I feel scared."

Is this Southern lingo?

LiterateHiker 9 May 14
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18 comments

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1

Dropping Rs in the middle of a word is another common verbal quirk. As in pronouncing "quarter" like "quatter." I pointed out to one friend that it's a "quart" of milk, not a "quat."

2

Too bad there aint no Geordies in here, from northern England. They could really confuse y'all!

2

Ah say askeert insted of afeared! But I do call a crick a crick!

1

Mah next door neighbor is a hangin out her warshin awn the close line!

1

all areas of the world,,do have various takes on the same word,,lot depends on there principal language and area dialect,,few of those in Canada and we spell a few of our words differently but found out on a tv show this week called Mysterys at the museum ,one of your early presidents at the start of the 1900,s had a reading or writing problem and went to great lengths to get words shortened and even passed legislation on it but it got over turned in later years but some of his modified words are now entrenched in your language just a different spelling like Colour is how we spell it ,and the way english do also but you guys it was shortened to Color leaving the you out,,i always wondered why this was

1

I encountered 'Warshintonians" when I lived in Colorado. Near as I kin figger, it comes from the waves of Dust Bowl refugees, who migrated to Californy, and then up the Pacific coast, following the agricultural jobs (esp. fruit-picking), until they ended up in "Warshinton". And yep. Southern English is one of the four main dialects of American English. The others are, General American, New England (" Bahston" ), and Northeastern (" I gotta walk my doag" ). Believe it or not, there are eleven sub-dialects of Southern English.

during my grade school and high school years in central Oregon we had migrartions of Arkansas residents Arkies moving to the area. also some Okies too

also Oregonians call the state Ora-gun wkile outsiders say Ora-gone

@TheDoubter Okies are OK. So are Arkies. I've always said Ora-gun too; and I've never even been there! (Warshinton was a new one for me though!).

@davknight residents of Precott AZ say Press-cut while outsiders say Press-cot

2

Seems Southern to me and I still get a lot of this in Missouri too. When I lived in Texas one of my daughter's teachers always laughed and shook his head if he heard her say "you guys." He would repeat it outloud thinking she was saying "youse guys."

Wait up you guys turns into "wait up youse guys."

2

I like how New Englanders have a nuanced vowel and pronounce marry, Mary and merry differently. All the same for Westerners, after living there for a while I learned to tell the difference. Famously some Asians can't distinguish R from L and English speakers can't separate some of their phonemes.

2

I've always chalked that up to being a colloquialism. But there can be difficulty deciphering between colloquialism and sheer stupidity. I used to work with a guy who pronounced concrete as "concreek" and worked with a woman who added a T instead of a K as in DEST, as in sitting and working at a DESK.

My number one irritant are people who sell homes and they STILL call themselves REALITORS.... I always steer clear of someone who cannot correctly pronounce what they do.

I think it is fun to bring back old lingo from the past though. My latest favorite... answer anyone who asks me how I am doing by saying, "Everything is Jake!" Meaning, everything is just fine. This is a phrase from the 20s and 30s that for some reason fell out of favor. (As often happens)

0

Mate, I can tell the difference between a southern accent and ''the rest of America and Canada" lolol. Sorry but can't tell if a canadian is from USA or not. But I do love different dialects/accents. England gets me......such diverse accents in a tiny little area. There' a 'brash' sounding accent that I don't like (I'll have to try and think of a tv show that does it) but other than that I really love different accents. .....oh except South African. sorry ppl from SA

1

Ignorance?

I don't think it is ignorance. Even when people say 'ain't' they may well write "isn't'. Aint might be their acceptable speech amongst their social group. Don't make the mistake that they are uneducated or dumb.

@MsDemeanour I do not want to start an argument but ain't is an acceptable form of isn't. Warsh is just incorrect.

@Spinliesel

They sound like hillbillies. During the Dust Bowl, poor migrants from Oklahoma moved to Eastern Washington to pick fruit.

Growing up in Michigan, my parents valued higher education, reading, playing music, proper speech and good manners, including table manners. I'm half-Irish and English (not Northern Irish).

When my daughter Claire was little, people were amazed at how articulate she was.

"Claire, how can you stand eating lemon slices?" I asked Claire when she was six. "Mama, if I can eat lemon without making a face, it shows I have good character," she replied.

Never used baby talk. Read to her daily and talked normally.

At 29, Claire is still articulate, intelligent and funny.

@MsDemeanour Aint that the truth!

@Spinliesel Please don't think this is an argument. I welcome your opinion, don't take things said as personal criticism.

I don't think we should make judgements on how people pronounce words. If you're going to take that stance then I could say that Americans mispronounce words all the time. To-mate-o (to-mar-to, ant-eye-vaccine, an-tee-vaccine al-oo-min-um, al-Uh-minium etc. After all, the Engish DID invent the language, I guess they should know.

I don't care how people pronounce words except when meaning is losts. Yrs ago I watched an entire movie with Danny De Vito as an aloooominum salesman. I had no idea what this aloooomin was until years later

@MsDemeanour Thank you for your response. When I say ignorant, I mean knowing the correct spelling, pronounciations or meaning bur willfully ignoring it.
I learned Emglish in 4th grade and would not have gotten away with those "regional" variations. By the way, For forty years now I have struggled with the West Virginian dialetc. I actually need a translator when having conversations with someone from that state.

1

i have some frndz that say warsh. i call what i use to bathe with a 'wash rag'. they call it 'warsh cloth'.
they are from central tx. i'll have to ask where the older ones (g''ma & g'pa) were from

in australia we would call it a 'washer'. In New Zealand... 'a flannel'

@MsDemeanour i been to AU (Sydney) and NZ (north island) but didn't need a wash rag... we say 'flannel' for a flannel shirt (sometimes). a washer for us would be the metal ring on a bolt.
🙂

1

Having been born and raised in Washington, I heard "Warshington" and "warsh" many times in my youth. Only time I hear it now is from my neighbors who are originally from Ohio. One would think they would realize they say these words differently than the average person, but they don't seem to change the way they say it.

I just have to smile at the charming way they speak, being true to their roots, just as I do with all the many accents and pidgen I hear throughout the day, living in a melting pot of many cultures.

2

Speech impediment

5

Most of those don't really bother me but I do get a little concerned when someone wants to "axe" me a question.

1

I can’t speak to your examples, specifically. But, it’s my understanding that some of what is heard in an accent comes from various parts of England, Scotland and other parts of Great Britain, as English was spoken several hundred years ago.

3

My roomate at college had a shirt made that said "Warshington State University".

1

Beats me say it near DC too

bobwjr Level 10 May 14, 2019
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