I'm still not sure how "slough" is pronounced (from Little House books.)

I always read it as "sloff," so you can be pretty sure it's not that.

So far, in reading this thread, I've found three words I've been pronouncing wrong.

When I was a kid, the school and my parents thought I seemed to be learning sort of weirdly (reading WAY above grade level, but having lots of trouble with writing and spelling) and had me tested. The tests found that my oral vocabulary and written vocabulary were almost totally seperate. Beyond the vocabulary that a kid my age was supposed to have, there were a whole bunch of more difficult words that I'd use in conversation, and a whole bunch that I'd understand when I was reading, but almost no intersection between those two sets. My six-year-old brain just hadn't figured out how to read a word, understand it, and then translate it into a spoken word to be used in conversation, or how to look at a written word and realize it corresponded to a spoken word I already knew. After reading this thread today, I think that I've resolved that problem less well than I'd thought.

Really? Huh. Learn something new every day. (I always wondered about that...)

One of the names they considered for him was White Swan Slew, but for reasons related to brand recognition (for want of a better term), they went with the larger, better known Washington city.

Sloughs are a good place to birdwatch, and sometimes kayak, if there's enough water at high tide. Marshlands and bird layover spots are sloughs - slews.

But the snake is "sluff."

I always say twen-tee, too. I've wondered if it's a regional thing, the of-ten vs. of'en. I learned it from my parents, but they were not from PA. PA folk said of-ten often.

What's "humint?" It's the first I've seen that word.

What's "humint?"

Human intelligence. Information from the people on the ground, or what we didn't have in Iraq.

I had a friend from near Pittsburgh in college who amused us by pronouncing the t's in often and Wharton, and not having the slightest hint of a glottal stop in the likes of button and kitten. But all the other Pennsylvanians I knew were from the eastern half of the state and had sloppy T's like the general run of Americans.

(Actually, we all included something of a 't' in Wharton, but she said war-ton while we said wart'n.)

(Actually, we all included something of a 't' in Wharton, but she said war-ton while we said wart'n.)

I'd have thought "whar-ton" with a distinct whoosh sound at the front.

Did she ever use "poke" for a paper bag?

I was warned by the parents that locals might use this word when we moved there (not that far from P'burgh) but I never heard anyone use it.

I'm 1,400 posts behind in Minearville, which appears to have become the new Natter. I'm printing it out and will attempt to skip and skim tonight. I mention this here only because it's the only place I'm even remotely caught up. eta: besides F2F. Does anyone care about Balti? It's okay if not, but it'd be supernice to get feedback.

::waving at Susan:: How's the bed rest going? Did DH get you a laptop?

Well, I left out whether or not people pronounced "wh" differently than "w" because I honestly can't remember whether we hashed that out in the collegiate version of the pronunciation discussion. With me, "wh" is breathier than plain "w", but I've never paid close attention to how anyone else says it.

Pronunciation discussions were very popular freshman year, since on my hall we had everything from Brooklyn to Boston to Bama. I can't remember if Paulette called paper bags "pokes," though--I don't think it ever came up, since we weren't doing much grocery shopping that year.

I'm surviving bedrest, and using a loaner laptop from a friend in my writers group. There are certain vague signs that I'm likely to go into labor on my own before they need to induce, though I hope and believe I'm still at least a week away.

I thought memes were mems, not meems. Yet another reason for me to hate that word.

Um . . . I'm reading a Greg Bear novel!

I say DAM-isk. With conviction.

Word. Despite how you pronounce Damascus. It's a syllable-shift thing. Like vowel/vocalic.

Susan, the w/wh thing is notable in New England, and I don't know where else in the US/world. A lot of people around here make a "hw" instead of "w" noise for things spelled "wh".

Also, I spent some time in central Connecticut. With provocation, I can disappear into the kitten/Wharton/New Britain glottal stop. It sounds extremely provincial even to my ears.

Does anybody know what you call it when one syllable is even less than non-stressed, it's practically swallowed? Like how most people say Lancaster (the county, not the actor) -- LAAAAAANG-cstr. Like how boatswain became bo's'n and waistcoat weskit.