Pedestrians huddle under umbrellas as they walk past the Pike Place Market and in view of Elliot Bay behind, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017, in Seattle.
Elaine Thompson/APIt's jarring to hear someone in Seattle say they're going to drive to Tacoma by hopping on "the five."
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In the Emerald City, it's the little things that make out-of-towners stick out like sore thumbs. From the person who doesn't own a Gore-Tex jacket, to the person who carries an umbrella on busy downtown streets.
But what do people say that make Seattleites whip their heads around, squint their eyes and say, "Where are you from?"
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It can be as innocent as saying "the five" over I-5, or how you refer to a 24-pack of Rainier — and whether you know to call it Vitamin R. Seattle's idioms, slang words and pronunciations are subtle but unique.
Washington and Seattle also have their own words and phrases, which you can find in this glossary. A personal favorite is telling someone to go eat a bag of Dick's — which is anything shy of an insult here.
The names of towns and animals in the Puget Sound region are also a bit tricky, too. Don't pronounce Spokane as Spo-cane, and maybe practice a few times before you take a stab in public at Puyallup. For a list, and quiz, of funky Washington pronunciations, click here.
To see the words, phrases and pronunciations that make those not from the Emerald City stick out, scroll down.
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Despite being surrounded by mountains — with mountain lions in them — if you call them this, we know you're an outsider. In Washington we call these big cats cougars.
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This one is exclusive to Californians who have settled here. Most of Washington's biggest cities, aside from Spokane, are along Interstate 5, so we refer to it as much as Californians do. However, in Washington we just call it I-5.
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This one is accent-based rather than being a cultural idiom. The maybe mythic Washington accent has people pronounce bag as beg at times.
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Some states — Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Massachusetts — call this a bubbler. But if you're in Seattle, referencing a bubbler will probably end with someone asking if you want to get high. In Washington, we call this a drinking fountain.
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Other states call large roads expressways or whatever a turnpike is. As ours have no tolls — except for a couple that go across bridges — we call them freeways. While a freeway and a highway are technically different, there's not a distinct difference when speaking about them.
Courtesy Of The Seattle Municipal Archives
OK, this one is a bit of a joke. But some Washingtonians with roots deep in the Pacific Northwest have trouble not adding a slight "r" to Washington to make it "Wershington," "Worshington" or "Warshington."
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We have no idea who "Pike" is, but he or she is sure getting a lot of credit for the largest public market in the country. If you want to blend in after recently moving to Seattle, drop the "s" and just say Pike Place Market.
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You know the high school dance where the girls ask out the boys? For some reason, in Washington that's called Tolo.
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Sports announcers, broadcast journalists and radio personalities always say "Washington" when referencing the sports teams of the University of Washington. But to avoid any Washington confusion across the country, we simply say UW.
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Again, those talking sports in Southeast Washington reference the college as if they're referring to Florida State or something else. Nope.
Here, it's always pronounced Wazzu (WSU).
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If it's a case of 24, in Washington it's called a rack. And a case of 12 is, you guessed it, a half-rack.
The term is even more unanimous when referring to Rainier Beer.
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In Washington, these delicious french fry alternatives are called jojos.
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A true Washingtonian has at least five euphemisms and synonyms for rain. In Washington we get light drizzles, misting, slight showers and sometimes sprinkles, but rarely do we get downpours in the city.
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