People I know on AIM. Might I guess that it was the pronunciation of "here" and "water"? You know, I've noticed that normal Americans have a tendency to speak further up in the mouth, closer to the lips. Compare my pronunciation of water and Washington standard:

Me:
http://www.freewebs.com/wadr.wav
Washington(courtesy of EffMah):
http://www.freewebs.com/water.wav