# Walla walla walla!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [July 2, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365 "2010-07-02T23:41:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/21 "2010-07-03T16:21:36Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#):
>
> [Walla Walla Walla Wallas](http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Walla_Walla_Walla_Wallas)
So if someone from a certain Washington town was an employment agent for people who provide specific goods and services, would he be a **Walla Walla wallah wallah**?
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### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/22 "2010-07-03T16:55:27Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> So if someone from a certain Washington town was an employment agent for people who provide specific goods and services, would he be a **Walla Walla wallah wallah**?
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
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### Author:  [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/23 "2010-07-03T17:42:35Z")
> [@Absolute](#):
>
> Now, I understand things like to vs. too, loose vs. lose, your vs. you’re, and similar minor errors that can trip people up.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen “definitely” spelled:
- definately
and (I am not making this up)
- defiantly
“Aargh”, sez I.
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### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/24 "2010-07-03T18:41:37Z")
Major Major Major Major
I swear to Og if I ever meet someone who actually SAYS “For all intensive purposes”, I will slap them.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/25 "2010-07-03T18:51:41Z")
Ortopsy.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/26 "2010-07-03T19:06:03Z")
Around here I always spell it Viola! on purpose. Like the instrument. I don’t want to mess with accented characters that may or may not appear correctly on other people’s screens.
So by butchering it all the way to Viola, it’s pretty clear it’s a joke, not illiteracy. At least I \*hope \*that’s the impression it gives.
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### Author:  [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/27 "2010-07-03T23:34:32Z")
> [@Absolute](#):
>
> Now, I understand things like to vs. too, loose vs. lose,…
I don’t. This one bothers me more. “Lose” and “loose” are pretty basic words. How can you be older than 10 and not know how to spell them? It’s atrocious (looked up spelling to be sure).
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### Author:  [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)
#### Post date: [July 4, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/28 "2010-07-04T02:35:15Z")
> [@Absolute](#):
>
> But “walla” - using that spelling implies that, in your entire life, you haven’t read enough written material (or enough written material of sufficient quality) to learn how the word is actually spelled. A “w” instead of a “v”? That’s not a fucking typo. Well, maybe if someone typed “woila”, I could understand that they just forgot how to spell it. But “walla”? What the fuck is that? What happened, did you not make it all the way through the first hooked-on-phonics DVD?
>
> The most annoying thing about seeing things like this is the implication that there must actually be people who go around _pronouncing_ the words like that. Saying “walla” instead of “vwah-la”, or actually saying “lew-da-crist”.
Or maybe the person doesn’t realize that the word (which I have only ever heard as “walla”, no V) doesn’t realize that v-o-i-l-a is pronounced the same as the word they hear when a friend does magic tricks. I have that sort of problem all the time- I hear words, and I read words, and I have no idea that the spoken word is the same as the written word, because it’s spelled funny. Expecially if it’s French. I frigging HATE French.
And, yes, I used to think that the word that starts with V was said “vee oh la” (I’m slightly dyslexic as well), and that “wa-LAH” was something entirely different.
> [@TreacherousCretin](#):
>
> I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen “definitely” spelled:
>
> - definately
Guilty. That is one of the words that I can never get right without spell-check, along with sacrifice, and many others. But _sacrafice_ and _definately_ are the bane of my English skills. Though at least I’ve got _experience_ down now.
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### Author:  [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2010, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/29 "2010-07-05T08:40:23Z")
“Newport News”
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### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/30 "2010-07-05T16:45:06Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#):
>
> and (I am not making this up)
>
> - defiantly
I’m pretty sure that’s the fault of spellcheckers. People spell it “definatly” and the spellchecker “corrects” it to the wrong word.
Weird how people want to insert an “a” in “definitely”, but not in “infinitely”. If you have trouble spelling “definite”, just think of infinity, perhaps?
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/31 "2010-07-05T16:46:55Z")
‘Cemetary’ always irks me for some reason.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/32 "2010-07-05T16:54:49Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#):
>
> Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
“OklahomaOklahomaOklahoma!!”
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### Author:  [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/33 "2010-07-05T16:55:57Z")
> [@Colophon](#):
>
> I’m pretty sure that’s the fault of spellcheckers. People spell it “definatly” and the spellchecker “corrects” it to the wrong word.
Hm. I hadn’t thought of that. Would a SP also correct “definately” to “defiantly”?
.
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### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/34 "2010-07-05T17:26:49Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> “OklahomaOklahomaOklahoma!!”
Don’t worry, **Chefguy** , we won’t go anywhere without you!
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### Author:  [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/35 "2010-07-05T18:35:16Z")
I have to admit that one of my pet peeves on message boards is when someone spells the word “voilà” in such a way that indicates he or she has no idea what the word is.
I think it’s a little different than misspelling “definitely”, etc., because at least you can see the writer knows what the word is.
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### Author:  [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/36 "2010-07-05T18:50:51Z")
I suppose the problem is that it’s one of those words you simply hear spoken far more often than you see it in print.
A few years ago our local police department did a public service announcement about broken taillight lenses. The officer doing the voiceover said, “Buy some red cellophane, tape it over the broken lens, and wahlah! You’re legal.”
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### Author:  [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/37 "2010-07-05T19:02:16Z")
Meh. The possibility exists that they do know how to spell the word but find it funny to spell it ‘wrong’. Frankly, as long as the spelling doesn’t show up in formal settings such as school papers or business reports I find it hard to care. And anyway, there are lots of words that english has borrowed from another language and then anglicized to fit traditional english spelling patterns. Big whoop.
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### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/38 "2010-07-05T19:16:47Z")
I know just how to fix everything!
Walla peanut butter sandwiches!
Oh no…
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### Author:  [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/39 "2010-07-05T19:56:04Z")
> [@Absolute](#):
>
> you haven’t read enough written material (or enough written material of sufficient quality) to learn how the word is actually spelled.
I think that’s the reason.
Reminds me of one time I was talking with my son’s then-wife. We were talking about a friend of my son’s. I asked her what the guy’s name was. She said “Dotson. Like the dog”.
I thought "what dog?? " :dubious:
It took me a minute to realize she meant _dachshund_.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walla-walla-walla/545365/40 "2010-07-05T21:35:35Z")
Do dotsons suffer from hip displeasure?
😛
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