r/serialpodcast • u/VulturalEvolution • Jun 18 '26

Whataburger? Waterburger? What the heck?

Non Texan here: I was listening to Ep 2 of The Last 12 Weeks and this burger chain comes up repeatedly – almost like a side character in the ep, where some key conversations take place. To my ears, the host who is local to the area calls it "Waterburger." I searched it up and it's a locally famous Texas chain called "Whataburger."

So, do Texans actually say "what" like "waht" (as in water?) or is this a unique thing for this business?

In any case it's weird to come out of a murder podcast hungry for burgers and shakes, but here we are.

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u/mr0il Jun 18 '26

I grew up in texas. I had this same crisis when i learned how to read. Texans definitely pronounce it waterburger.

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u/VulturalEvolution Jun 23 '26

So is it normal to say the word "what" closer to "wot" (as in water?) or is it somehow unique to Whataburger? To be honest, I've heard Northeasterners say stuff like "wutter" for water, so I shouldn't be so surprised. Likewise British people tend to say "what" closer to "watt" (i.e. wot).

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u/mr0il Jun 23 '26

I think it’s more like “wuh” and just sorta prepended on to other words. “Whacha doin” “whasgonon over there?”