Cleaning your clothes, York County-style
I happened on a good Yorkism the other day.
On Facebook, I mentioned that I had just done a “load of wash” and had another ready to go, which I found depressing.
Well, friend and coworker Jess mentioned that she loved that I said “load of wash” because she thought of that as a York-centric phrase.
It turns out, though, that even some of my Maryland friends agreed. At first, my friend Tracy said, well, what else would you call it? Jess says she calls it a load of laundry – in fact, she says, “Can wash even be used as a noun?” – but Tracy and I both agree that if we’re doing laundry, we’re just “doing the laundry,” minus “load,” and if we say “load of…,” then that’s followed by wash.
(And don’t get me started on when you do laundry at that place that isn’t at your house where you have to pay.)
Anyway, my sister Carol is also a “load of wash” person. She, though, disagrees with something that Tracy and I and some longtime northern York County folks say.
Well, of course, that’s that we pronounce it “warsh!”
What about you? Load of laundry? Load of wash? Just laundry? Just wash? Warsh? Do tell!
