The Lone Bay State

(My mother works in Massachusetts, processing tuition paperwork for soldiers attending college, so she receives a lot of calls not only from soldiers but also from their families. Her supervisor is originally from Texas, and she relates this story to me one day.)

Supervisor: “You’ve reached the education department. How may I help you?”

Out-Of-State Caller: *excited* “Ooh! So that’s what a Massachusetts accent sounds like!”

(They would also frequently get callers mispronouncing Worcester as “War-chester.” It’s “wuss-stir,” or “wuss-da” with a Boston accent.)