One of my college roommates was from Oregon. And she’d always comment when people in movies said it wrong(i.e. in “Scent of a Woman” Chris O’Donnell’s character is supposed to be from Oregon and he pronounced it “Or-eh-gone” and my roommate was like “he’s not from Oregon! No one west of the Mississippi pronounces Oregon that way!”
As a Washingtonian, this resonates with me. During my years in the military I heard so many people mispronounce Oregon that it grew tiring trying to educate them. As for Warshington, that really grates. Especially when I had to hear it for a half century from my father, who migrated here due to marriage, but grew up in Nebraska and Idaho.
There are many other regional oddities, of course. I recall moving to Boise and being told… “you’re obviously not from here.” Problem was that we pronounced it Boy-zee, and residents say Boy-cee. One last example… Des Moines, Washington residents pronounce the final s in Moines. It’s a tad jarring.
In college, I had a roommate from Versailles, Indiana. He pronounced it “Ver-sales”. I said, “It’s pronounced ‘Ver-sigh.’” He said, “No, ‘Ver-sigh’ is in France — ‘Ver-sales’ is in Indiana.”
With a Kentucky accent, it’s Warshington, just as you’d warsh your clothes. A bordering state is Illinois (pronounce the S, like noise). (This isn’t uniform throughout Kentucky). And it’s Ver-SAILS there as well.
DangerBunny over 9 years ago
There’s No R in Washington, dammit. Not anywhere along Puget Sound anyway.
emmasweeny over 9 years ago
My mother, who grew up in that part of the US, would always warsh our clothes.
Sodaburger over 9 years ago
One of my college roommates was from Oregon. And she’d always comment when people in movies said it wrong(i.e. in “Scent of a Woman” Chris O’Donnell’s character is supposed to be from Oregon and he pronounced it “Or-eh-gone” and my roommate was like “he’s not from Oregon! No one west of the Mississippi pronounces Oregon that way!”
ChessPirate over 9 years ago
Eh, I’m tarred of this conversation…
Coyoty Premium Member over 9 years ago
And Iran is mispronounced, too. People keep pronouncing it “eh-ran”. The first syllable would be the schwa of Iran.
dbartley53 over 9 years ago
Ha! Love the Coos Bay bar reference! Scott you are a true Oregonian.
SkyFisher over 9 years ago
Canaan Valley in WV is not pronounced like the Bible place. The locals say “KA-nane”.Here in PA we have a town “DuBois” that we call “DO-boys”.(The French would say “do-BWAH”.).BTW: I don’t care how much anyone goes on about how great phonetics are. It’s just as arbitrary as spelling..“Buy tha whey, eye doughent kair hough match n-knee won gows ahn abote khow grate fownettix r. Ettz jeust ahz arebetrairy ais spelleng.”.© 2015
Dr Sheriff MB esq PhD DML over 9 years ago
“Oar-gun”jus aks Charls Barkly…. (turbul turbul turbul)
Robert Stroud over 9 years ago
As a Washingtonian, this resonates with me. During my years in the military I heard so many people mispronounce Oregon that it grew tiring trying to educate them. As for Warshington, that really grates. Especially when I had to hear it for a half century from my father, who migrated here due to marriage, but grew up in Nebraska and Idaho.
There are many other regional oddities, of course. I recall moving to Boise and being told… “you’re obviously not from here.” Problem was that we pronounced it Boy-zee, and residents say Boy-cee. One last example… Des Moines, Washington residents pronounce the final s in Moines. It’s a tad jarring.
luckylouie over 9 years ago
In college, I had a roommate from Versailles, Indiana. He pronounced it “Ver-sales”. I said, “It’s pronounced ‘Ver-sigh.’” He said, “No, ‘Ver-sigh’ is in France — ‘Ver-sales’ is in Indiana.”
ZBicyclist Premium Member over 9 years ago
With a Kentucky accent, it’s Warshington, just as you’d warsh your clothes. A bordering state is Illinois (pronounce the S, like noise). (This isn’t uniform throughout Kentucky). And it’s Ver-SAILS there as well.
BRI-NO-MITE!! Premium Member over 9 years ago
Then there’s a town in Utah called Mantua. We pronounce it “man away”.
Ryan Plut over 9 years ago
There is NO “R” in Washington!!! However, I do agree it’s “Dee-MoineZ”. (Yes, I live here!)