Wash vs. Warsh: How and Why Is That Unusual Extraneous “R” a Part of a Dialect?

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Diane, and I’m calling from Frankfort, Kentucky.

I grew up with a mom who always was having to wash the laundry or wash the dishes, wash the floors. She did a lot of washing, and she did so much of it that when I was in second grade and had to take a spelling test, I spelled it incorrectly. I spelled it W-A-R-S-H. I took the test again the next week and I failed again, and I was blown away when my teacher told me there was no R in the word wash. So that’s my word for you.

I also was listening to the radio recently and heard a song by Luke Bryan. And he’s talking about washing as well. Although in the lyrics, there’s no R in the lyrics. So I’m not sure. He says it though as well. So I’m not the only one who’s heard that word.

No, you’re not. No, not at all.

So your mother says Warsh with an R.

Right. And, you know, I recall her saying Warsh, not Warsh. I have heard it both ways. Warsh was the way I remember it. Now, it’s been a while, but yeah.

And you all are from Kentucky?

No, actually, I grew up in northern Minnesota. She grew up in California.

California? And I think her family was very Irish.

That helps. Like Irish by birth or Irish by heritage?

Heritage.

Heritage, okay. That’s a little bit confusing.

Warsh. We know quite a bit about that. It’s something that’s well studied by linguists. And it tends to happen where there has been Scots-Irish settlement in the country. So it’s interesting that you should mention Irish heritage. And there are a lot of people in the United States who do the washing or mention that the creek washed out. And you do hear warsh or worst. And sometimes you’ll hear they go to Washington or they grew squarsh in the garden. And you might also hear them say gorsh instead of gosh. But it’s limited mostly to those words.

This is known to linguists as the intrusive R or the excrescent R. And it’s overall, this kind of thing is known to linguists as apenthesis. Apenthesis, E-P-E-N-T-H-E-S-I-S, apenthesis. That’s the insertion of a sound that isn’t normally there. This particular feature is a dialect feature, and it’s not an indicator of intelligence or education. You will hear plenty of well-educated, well-spoken, well-respected people of all types who have this intrusive R and say Warsh or Warsh. So it’s not a measure of education or intelligence. So let’s just be clear on that.

And we’ve found evidence of it. It’s been noted as far back as the 1890s. So it’s been around for a while. The language map for Warsh, or this R insertion, covers a region known as the Midlands, mostly. And it goes westward from Washington, D.C., and includes parts of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland, most of Virginia and Maryland. And then there’s this long, bulging bubble out through the states that touch the Ohio River Valley and Appalachia and the Ozarks. And then it goes through Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska.

If this were a weather storm, we would be in a lot of trouble. A big wash storm.

I had the strangest experience, Martha, of going home once a few years ago and realizing that my mother says warsh, which I had never noticed before. But she’s from Missouri. So it makes perfect sense that she should say warsh.

And I bet she spells it W-A-S-H.

Yeah, she does. That’s the other thing. They spell it the regular way. And they may not even realize that they add that R if you ask them about it.

Right. Did you ever ask your mother about it, Diane?

You know, I’m sure I did in second grade when I was upset. But she does have a lot of family that comes from Iowa. So that would make sense. That would make sense because that’s how we learn it. We learn it from the people around us. So it’s not something you learn accidentally. You learn it from your neighbors, your family, the people that you live with and near.

Well, I’m just thrilled to be a part of the show. I’ve been listening a long time. And my family members are excited to hear that I might be talking about Warsh on the show as well. So thank you so much for having me.

It’s our pleasure. Take care.

All right. Bye-bye now.

Bye-bye.

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