Wor-chester or Wor-caster is how most out-of-towners pronounce it.

Philistines! :)

Likewise -- if from Worcester, MA, pronouce it Wuss-tah. You know you want to.

Of course. Like Leicester Square in London is pronounced "Les-ter."

And Staunton, VA is pronounced "STAN-t'n."

Isn't it amazing how much you can tell about a person by little things like that? Simple pronunciation like Les-ter vs. Lei-caster in London, or how to eat a piece of pizza in NYC (folded over), or what a "grinder" is in CT (a sub, hoagie, or hero in other parts of the country).

I love dialects and regional customs. They're so much fun.

As a Wisconsin native, I've been mocked for my pronunciation of my home state. I apparently pronounce it wis-GON-sin, instead of wis-KON-sin. I don't think I'm alone in this, but I don't often pay attention.

Oh, and when I moved out to Seattle, I was corrected on my pronunciation of Oregon. It's OR-e-gun, not OR-e-GON.

Here, we have the Great E/UH Divide.

Do you say "Mis-UR-ee" or "Mis-UR-uh"?

It pretty much tells you what part of the state people are from, and if they are "country" or "city."

Years in the UK left me with the tooth-grindy reaction to mispronounciations of Leicester and Worcester.

More common than those, even, is the mangling of "-shire" at the end of a place name. That, and the mangling of "Edinborough" and "Glasgow". Brrr.

Do you say "Mis-UR-ee" or "Mis-UR-uh"?

I get violent when people say "Mis-UR-uh" and, particularly, "Cin-cin-AT-uh."

There's an "I" on the end, people! Not an "A"!

I think Anne's book organization stuff is golden. Mine is much like hers, except for the idea about turning pretty covers face-out, which I have to do now. I have a couch placed in front of the Wall of Books, so the ones I don't access often are on the bottom 2 tiers, because I have to move the couch to get at them. Obviously I could probably get rid of all those books, but you never know what you might need someday. The Human Anatomy book is useful sometimes, but the Introduction to Physics book: no.

Do you say "Mis-UR-ee" or "Mis-UR-uh"?

The former, as I spent my formative years in St. Louis.

More common than those, even, is the mangling of "-shire" at the end of a place name.

Is it supposed to be pronounced "-shr," almost as if there's no vowel? That's how I've always pronouced it.

What's really fun is listening to the way natives pronounce "Baltimore, Maryland."

I say MissourE, unless I'm at a family reunion or likewise, and then I revert back to childhood MissourAH.

Someone a while back asked it there was a term for when the Amry slapped two word together, like "humint" and there is. It's called "blending."

Hey, I learned something this semester! Whoda thunk it?