ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Pacific Northwest English

So let's talk about the way some people in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States talk. When they speak, they might say some things a little differently than people in other parts of the country.

First of all, they might use some special words that you don't hear in other places. For example, when they want to say that something is really cool, they might say "that's hella dope!" instead of just "that's cool." And when they say goodbye, they might say "peace out" instead of "see you later."

But it's not just the words that are different - the way they say things can be different too. For example, instead of pronouncing the "o" sound like "ah," they might pronounce it more like "aw." So instead of saying "dog," they might say "dawg." And sometimes they might make words sound a little longer or draw them out, so instead of saying "yeah," they might say "yeeeaah."

Lastly, people in the Pacific Northwest might have a kind of flat or neutral tone when they speak. They might not have as much "ups and downs" in their voice as people from other places. So when they talk, they might not sound like they're really excited or really sad or really anything - they might sound kind of the same for most of the time.

So that's a little bit about how people from the Pacific Northwest might talk. It's all about using different words and pronouncing things a little differently - and sometimes not showing as much emotion in their voice as people from other parts of the country.