How Much of a WA Accent Do You Have? Take Our Fun Quiz!

Is there a distinct Washington state accent? Some people who move here from other regions in the United States seem to think so. When I moved to Washington from Tennessee in 2002, I noticed right away a few words that people say differently out here.

WASHINGTON STATE ACCENT HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The gutsy folks who moved to Washington state after the Lewis & Clark days, came in search of gold and jobs in the steel industry, fur trades, and lumber mills, hoping to strike it rich. They brought with them some wild accents that became a sound of blended British, Canadian, Southern, and East Coast flavors.

One of the most controversial words that people in Washington state say differently than others is, bizarrely enough, the word WASHINGTON.

How do you say it?

Do you say, “WASH-ington?”

Or do you say, “WARSH-ington?”

I cringe when I hear people put an "R" in Washington. I think that is a leftover from the Brits, who love to put R's in places they don't belong, like at the end of a word that ends with the letter A.

SEE ALSO: 8 Annoying Words That Should Be Completely Banned in WA

WHAT IS THE WASHINGTON STATE ACCENT?

The Washington state accent is unique from any other state because we have an accent that’s kind of flat and crisp.

It’s actually quite similar to accents you might hear in parts of California, Oregon, and Idaho, with traces of a British Columbia dialect! We have the best of all the worlds.

Let’s see how thick your Washington accent really is. The following quiz contains words that I have said that others have poked fun at me for “saying the wrong way.”

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