# Pronunciation Question - Warshington **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734 "2016-08-23T13:50:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/21 "2016-08-23T20:08:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Ok, then help, please. Is it a pun of some sort? > [@pulykamell](#): > > Anyhow, the name of the phenomenon is “\*\*intrustive \*\*r” or “linking r,” depending on how it’s being used. (emphasis added) ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/22 "2016-08-23T20:09:14Z")
…but I like the way you think. > [@Colophon](#): > > I believe it is a disparaging slur on Chicago along the lines of Washington -\> Warshington : Chicago -\> \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/23 "2016-08-23T20:11:00Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > (emphasis added) Hey, I totally missed that. But it still made sense 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/24 "2016-08-23T20:20:44Z")
> [@svd678](#): > > I have to concentrate not to put the R in. As a kid I wondered why it sounding when it wasn’t there, as everyone I know said it that way. Catskill Mountains. Likewise, growing up in Northeast Ohio, I always wondered why everybody said sherbet /(ˈʃɜrbət/) with that intrusive r in the second syllable: /ˈʃɜrbərt/, since it wasn’t spelled that way. Or for that matter the intrusive -r at the end of lozenge: /ˈlɑzəndʒər/, which sounds even weirder as it adds an extra syllable. They do that in Beijing dialect of Mandarin, I’ve read: they change the coda in each syllable to -r. So that in “You owe me _san_ (3) _yuan_” it would come out “sar yuar.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/25 "2016-08-23T22:36:46Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > (emphasis added) Oh good fucking god, just spoiler the goddamned explanation, I’m an idiot. I got “Shitcago” (I think) from the last one, but I have no idea still. ETA: :smack: OK, OK. I got it. I wrote “instrustive.” Well played. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/26 "2016-08-24T00:51:19Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Likewise, growing up in Northeast Ohio, I always wondered why everybody said sherbet /(ˈʃɜrbət/) with that intrusive r in the second syllable: /ˈʃɜrbərt/, since it wasn’t spelled that way. For the same reason we add an _r_ to colonel – because to pronounce such words like they are spelled would just sound weird. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/27 "2016-08-24T00:59:26Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Oh good fucking god, just spoiler the goddamned explanation, I’m an idiot. I got “Shitcago” (I think) from the last one, but I have no idea still. > > ETA: :smack: OK, OK. I got it. I wrote “instrustive.” Well played. Apologies! Wasn’t trying to be coy. You should have totally stuck an extra ‘T’ in there sometwhere while you were editing. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/28 "2016-08-24T20:46:53Z")
My boss is native NH and says “aunt” the same way as “aren’t” and garage as gararge. And sometimes “idear”. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/29 "2016-08-24T23:22:45Z")
In East TN it’s Worshington and worsh. ---
**Author:** ![Glenlivet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5daacb/32.png) [@Glenlivet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glenlivet)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/30 "2016-08-25T00:00:36Z")
Australia and New Zealand are great for putting an R at the end of any word that ought to end in ‘A’ They’d say I’m in Canader. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![whc.03grady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@whc.03grady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whc.03grady)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/31 "2016-08-25T01:13:31Z")
Common in Eastern Nebraska, where I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/32 "2016-08-25T13:47:43Z")
I have known two people who are full-on the extremes in “r” adding/removal. One from Boston who definitely says “Warshington”. (The one that kills me is saying “idear” when presenting a paper.) The other from near NYC who is an actual Baba Wawa type. Getting asked if she could borrow a quarter required major laugh stifling. A variant that may occur is “Whashington”. Not sure if the origin is Southern Plains or Intermountain West (or in between). ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/33 "2016-08-25T16:24:41Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The other from near NYC who is an actual Baba Wawa type. Getting asked if she could borrow a quarter required major laugh stifling. Hee. Maybe she also starred in **Rural Juror**. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/34 "2016-08-27T16:13:42Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > My boss is native NH and says “aunt” the same way as “aren’t” and garage as gararge. And sometimes “idear”. You might not hear it, but there is a slight difference between the typical New England pronunciation of aunt and aren’t. Not sure how to describe it, but the first word is more of an AW sound for the “au” and the second is more of an AH sound for the “are”. But this is a different speech pattern than the one mentioned in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/35 "2016-08-27T21:20:58Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Likewise, growing up in Northeast Ohio, I always wondered why everybody said sherbet /(ˈʃɜrbət/) with that intrusive r in the second syllable: /ˈʃɜrbərt/, since it wasn’t spelled that way. I think that nearly everybody, everywhere does that. For unknown reasons. They do it here in Washington state. How about “intrusive S”? There is a town nearby called Leavenworth, and I have encountered a number of people who say “Leaven **s** worth”. I’ll note that most of the people I’ve heard do this have had vague “southern” accents - a lot of my area was settled by “Arkies” many decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/36 "2016-08-27T23:08:34Z")
Funny, I always thought it was pronounced: sor-BAY. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/37 "2016-08-27T23:19:15Z")
The best idea for why it happens is that it goes from a non-rhotic dialect, which essentially drops the R sound, but then went back to rhotic, and started inserting Rs in places where theyu weren’t originally. So it’s hypercorrective. Linking R is just because, since the final R sound has no meaning, it just becomes a natural way to separate vowels. Those in rhotic dialects tend to use the glottal stop, since it has no meaning in English (except in a few words like uh-oh). But there are other languages where the glottal does have meaning. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734/38 "2016-08-27T23:23:22Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You might not hear it, but there is a slight difference between the typical New England pronunciation of aunt and aren’t. Not sure how to describe it, but the first word is more of an AW sound for the “au” and the second is more of an AH sound for the “are”. > But this is a different speech pattern than the one mentioned in the OP. How is it not “What’s the deal with the “r” added in certain words?” I will have to listen more closely to learn the difference, thanks! I say “aunt” like “ant”, nothing like “aren’t”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-warshington/763734.md?page=1)