Vt. Vs. N.h.

In writing “Vermont vs. New Hampshire” in the April issue, Judson D. Hale, Sr., omitted a significant difference: the language. Vermonters speak English. New Hampshirites speak the Down East dialect in which a barn is a “ba’n” and an umbrella is an “umbreller.” When these variants are combined in one word, the result can be confusing. I once listened to an elderly New Hampshire lady who kept referring to a person apparently named Masher. It was some time before I realized that she was talking about her niece, whose name was Marcia. You wouldn’t have that trouble in Vermont.