Do you say 'wash' or 'warsh?' Here's where the pronunciation comes from

[riversedge]

I grew up in mid WI and my large family used warsh---and none of my 4 grandparents were Scot-Irish,
Instead they were born in low Germany, Holland and Switzerland.
I never really thought about it before. I still hear warsh a lot even now --.



Once this pronunciation started, it "just sort of caught on," Reed said. Language is passed down from parents to children to grandchildren, he said, and when children go to school they may even start by spelling wash as "warsh."

www.npr.org/2026/05/06/n...

Once this pronunciation started, it "just sort of caught on," Reed said. Language is passed down from parents to children to grandchildren, he said, and when children go to school they may even start by spelling wash as "warsh."

www.npr.org/2026/05/06/n...

— (@oceancalm.bsky.social) 2026-05-07T04:55:59.574Z

Do you say 'wash' or 'warsh?' Here's where the pronunciation comes from

May 6, 20265:00 AM ET By Ava Berger

Kevin Warsh is President Trump's nominee to lead the Federal Reserve. And for some, the sound of his name holds a particular meaning — specifically, his last name.

"My grandmother was the real tyrant about cleanliness," said Patricia T. O'Conner, an author and language commentator. "She would say, 'show me your hands … I don't think you warshed those hands.'"

That's right: "warshed," not "washed." O'Conner, who grew up in Iowa, writes a grammar blog with her husband, Stewart Kellerman.

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Where did "warsh" originate?

There's a leading theory among linguists about the origins of that "r": the migration of Scotch-Irish people to the South Midland U.S. starting at the end of the 18th century. They were a group who moved from Scotland to Northern Ireland, specifically the Ulster province — and they're known for their use of "strong r's," or being "rhotic," Reed said.

"Those folks were super 'r-full,'" he said........................