 Many Rhode Islanders distinguish a strong "aw" sound (i.e., do not exhibit the cot–caught merger) as one might hear in New Jersey or New York City; for example, the word "coffee" is pronounced .This type of accent may have been brought to the region by early settlers from eastern England in the Puritan migration to New England in the mid-17th century.Rhode Islanders refer to a drinking fountain as a "bubbler" (sometimes pronounced "bubahluh") and sometimes call milkshakes "cabinets".