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16 hours agoDo you say 'wash' or 'warsh?' Here's where the pronunciation comes from
Kevin Warsh's name reflects a declining American dialect pronunciation of 'wash' as 'warshed', linked to Scotch-Irish migration.
From George Washington's first presidential "administration" to Donald Trump's promises to cut taxes "bigly," U.S. presidents have played a big role in shaping the direction of the country, including the words we use to talk about everything from national politics to everyday objects and actions.
The English language is extraordinarily adaptable and our tongue friendly and receptive to innovation and creativity. Speakers of American English have welcomed words and coined new ones for accuracy and for fun. Colonialism played its role in this capacity, of course. For instance, 700 years of colonial rule in Ireland gave Americans bog, whiskey, hooligan, shenanigans, and smithereens. If you say heaps of in place of a lot, you got it from droll Australians.