>>>>>>>>>>>>>>'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.
>>
>>Further ....
>>
>>I had an email conversation last week with a reporter from the Chicago Tribune who wrote an article about a guy who said he was a recovered alcoholic. I wrote back, truthfully, that it was a very nice article but I have one quibble. I said we never say in AA meetings that we are recovered, only recovering. A guy in his 30s is way too young to declare victory, It's a lifelong disease. There are people in my group who have been sober for 20 or 30 years and still don't feel safe. I know people personally who have fallen down after decades of sobriety. Not to be too dramatic but it's a hellhound on your trail.
>>
>>Sober people truly do not get this.
>
>Yes I've heard that Mike. They say its a job every day.
>
>BTW a home cure for not wanting a drink is a bike accident. I got knocked off a couple off weeks ago. I was knocked out for about 30 minutes. Still not fancying a drink yet. I still have a slight headache.

Good luck with the headache. And with a new remedy ;-)