Latch-uh vs. Lay-shuh: The people have spoken

We ran a survey of the region and can now report back with the results

Appa-latch-uh or Appa-lay-shuh?

A longstanding dispute that has divided this region worse than the great Chili vs. Sauce debate is how one pronounces “Appalachia.”

Our take on this issue

Full-disclosure: the author of this post (Chuck) and my co-host (Big John) both say latch.

Controversial opinion: Although we say “latch”, we have evolved on our opinion of what is the “right” versus “wrong” way to say Appalachia. We used to be latch ride-or-die, but since starting this podcast have come to understand that many people say it differently — and grew up doing so. Who are we to tell them that they’re wrong, that the way they’ve been saying something their entire lives is invalid?

We’ve learned a lot in the five years we’ve been doing this show (thanks, in part, to you the reader/listener). One thing we don’t want to be are gatekeepers.

Yes, there are aspects of the Appalachian region that are up for debate¹, and we want to encourage spirited debate. But we also try our best not to act as gatekeepers. We do not speak for the region, only ourselves. We want Appalachia to be an open and welcoming place, and try our best to role model that. ²

A nugget of history…real quick

We aren’t going to say that one pronunciation is valid and the others invalid, but it is worth pointing out that latch-uh has historical precedence and the origin of the term.

Appalachian State published an article that discusses this more, and we plan on doing a lot deeper dive into this history soon, but The Apalachee were an indigenous people who lived in the Florida Panhandle until the early 18th century. It is generally agreed upon that “Appalachia” is derived from the Apalachee, and therefore the “latch” pronunciation is the origin story. Like I said, we will go further in depth on this in the future.

The results of our survey

Many of you reading this are here because of this survey, so thank you! 2,557 people responded from 347 of the 423 counties in the Appalachian Regional Commission’s defined region. Below are some important takeaways that we have summarized.

Two things we’d love answers to but don’t have them, at the outset, are:

1. What is the reason behind saying “latch” but pronouncing the mountain range differently?

2. What is the reason for the shift to “lay-shuh” in Pennsylvania?

I’m sure answers to both of these exist, so when we find them out will let y’all know.

The full map

Below, you will see the full map that includes results for just the ARC counties. We had lots of responses for people outside the region, and we will include those in a future post.

West Virginia

Our home state of West Virginia showed up for this survey, giving us the most responses out of any state and reaching all 55 counties.

One thing I found surprising was how many responses we got from Mercer County (Princeton, Bluefield, etc.).

The panhandle variations make sense because there are a lot of D.C./Nova transplants in Jefferson and Berkeley County in the EP, and the northern panhandle abuts Pennsylvania. I also think the light green counties could be explained by their proximity to WVU, which will attract people from outside the state and region. However, the yellow counties in the middle (Randolph, Webster) and the purple one (Barbour) were a bit surprising.

Kentucky

We know Kentuckians are going to have some strong-ass opinions on this, so we’re leaving it here with mostly no comment. Please don’t shoot the messenger, we are only reporting the information given to us. That being said, absolutely fascinating distribution here.

Pennsylvania

The Keystone State³ is by far the most fascinating. We knew going into this that Pennsylvania would likely be the place where we saw the most variation, and it certainly did. Only 4 counties had a dominant “latch” response, whereas 20 were dominant “lay” counties. Additionally, we had more “lash” responses in the central eastern part of the state.

Also, even though Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) is shaded light green for a majority of “latch” it was close. We got 40 responses and 22 were “latch” while 18 were “lay.” Pittsburgh/Allegheny County appear to be a dividing point within the state.

Virginia and North Carolina

For both VA and NC, we got a lot of survey responses. Nearly 1 in every 4 responses was for one of these two states, and the uniformity is striking.

North Carolina is particularly interesting when you consider that Buncombe County is solid green latch, yet is home to Asheville — famously a transplant city. I guess the people who move there assimilated to the local dialect!

Ohio

Ohio — a place many people have strong opinions of. Many WVU Mountaineer fans may refer to people in Columbus as the “Suckeyes”⁴ for example. My dad always claimed that Ohio drivers were worse than West Virginia drivers, but I haven’t seen a lot of data to back this up.⁵

Ohio proved interesting when it comes to pronunciation breakdown. The northeastern tip of the state is pretty heavily “lay.” This is your stereotypical “rust belt” former manufacturing area, so perhaps an inference can be drawn there? I have no idea. Fascinating nonetheless. It largely tracks geographically — the “lay” parts border Pennsylvania generally, while the “latch” ones border West Virginia and Kentucky.

Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama

We will call these the “SEC block” of Appalachia.⁶ Tennessee is where “latch” is still very prominent in the southern Appalachian states. Alabama is one I wish I had more data on, because the variation begins to mirror Pennsylvania somewhat, so I’d love to understand more as to why we see an uptick in “lay” here.

New York, Maryland, Mississippi, and South Carolina

These are the oddball states in Appalachia — the ones that many don’t necessarily associate with the region, but we do because they matter! We didn’t have much data to go by for these, but I wanted to share them regardless.

What are your thoughts? What other information would you like to see? What other topics should we cover/survey people on ? Let us know in the comments. :)

1. Including the pronunciation!

2. Chuck absolutely falls short of this a lot, but dammit he tries!

3. Why call yourself the Keystone STATE yet insist you are a COMMONWEALTH ????

4. I, of course, have never done this and have a lot of love for Ohio State fans because we share a common enemy: the godforsaken Michigan Wolverines.

5. Ironically, my dad worked across the river in Ohio and arguably spent more time driving there than in West Virginia on any given weekday.

6. Sorry, Kentucky.