>>>>>>>>>>>>'Course, Austin is also the place that has Manchacha Street (Man-chack) - but the hamlet of Manchacha is Man-cha-ka, Guadalupe Street (Guadloop), Burnet Road (burn-it) and the town of Manor (Mayner) down the road.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>And, don't forget Pedernales (Perdenalis) river.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>This reminds me of two oddities I remember from Virginia: Stanton (Staunton) and Fredgeburg (Fredericksburg).
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>There is a British surname Featherstonhaugh (Fanshaw). There is also a town in England by that name.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>I stuck my foot in my mouth buying a ticket in the London Underground when I said I wanted a fare to Leicester Square, pronouncing it Lie-chest-er. "Generally we pronounce it Lester," the agent said drily.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>And Cholmondeley is pronounced chumley. Strange folks those British. On the other hand, you guys south of us pronounce "colonel" as kernel. Where's the 'r'? Admittedly we to too, often.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>We had a neighbor from Boston, when I was a kid in San Francisco. He liked to say things like: "I am going to paak my caa near the baa and get a bah el of beea" or, as I would say it, "I am going to park my car near the bar and get a bottle of beer". We are a nation seperated by language.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>English and Spanish speaking countries have similar problems, which I know personally. All the locals seem to like to add things to any language and corrupt the original version! But then how "pure is the original"? :)
>>>>>
>>>>>The 'original' probably consists of a few grunts and some pointing.
>>>>
>>>>And then some.
>>>
>>>A local thing for me was calling these shoes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plimsoll_shoe daps. Thats a west country thing.
>>
>>I have been reading the latest Ian Rankin book and he has hit me with a few mysterious local idioms. Sometimes I can guess what he means, sometimes I can't.
>
>I'v read a couple and I'm not really a fan. Not sure why they just don't seem to press my buttons.

No problem. A woman from my past has reconnected and we had this exact same conversation. She is not a Rankin fan, either. Which is fine. We do not need to share literary tastes.

I guess it is a selfish connection between me and John Rebus. He reminds me more of myself than any fictional character I can think of. He has a drinking problem but he's a good man who has a code of honor.