# Has "wasp" always been pronounced the way it is?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-wasp-always-been-pronounced-the-way-it-is/577905
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 10, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-wasp-always-been-pronounced-the-way-it-is/577905 "2011-04-10T22:25:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-wasp-always-been-pronounced-the-way-it-is/577905/1 "2011-04-10T22:25:19Z")
The dialect of my home town has “wasp” pronounced with a short “a” sound, similar to the “a” you’d get in cat. Mentioning this to my girlfriend, she also said that in the dialect of the Cotswolds near Gloucester, where she is from, this is also true.
Has “wasp” always been pronounced the way it currently is in Standard English, or are these two dialectical differences holdovers from an earlier, more common, pronunciation?
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-wasp-always-been-pronounced-the-way-it-is/577905/2 "2011-04-11T05:42:13Z")
The [Online Etymology Dictionary](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Wasp) says it came from the old English _wæps_ or _wæsp_. The latter would have been pronounced the way you mention in your first paragraph.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2011, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-wasp-always-been-pronounced-the-way-it-is/577905/3 "2011-04-11T06:31:14Z")
So you rhyme “wasp” with “asp”? I’ve never heard that. Where are you from?
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### Author:  [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2011, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-wasp-always-been-pronounced-the-way-it-is/577905/4 "2011-04-11T08:08:14Z")
The North of England. Actually, thinking about it, a lot of words beginning “wa” are pronounced the same way (water, for instance — listen to about 40 seconds [into this recording](http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0900X08056X-1800V1.xml)). The OED link **BigT** gave also seems to suggest [“water”](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=water&searchmode=none) was pronounced with the short “a” sound at one point.