>I get a giggle out of it. I'm from Wisconsin and pronounce words as they do up there of course. In Wisconsin (as well as other areas) we considered people who pronounced words as they do in the South to appear 'wrong' and 'uneducated.' Not an appearance desired in the business world. Imagine my surprise to move to NC and find out that the entire business community in NC mispronounces their words! :o) Now my daughter laughs at how I pronounce words and tells me that "I" am embarassing. :o)

This really is a different country. In any other language, there's one official pronunciation, the high language, or the literary language, which is the way things are pronounced on the state radio and tv - and the rest are the local dialects. So you have a landmark and can know how far away from it are you.

In the States, however, there's no official way of speaking. You may think that NPR would be it, but you can't be sure.

I've had a friend from Ohio misunderstanding my mention of "eksit" as "axe it" - I should have said "egzit" for him to understand properly. Then in Pennsylvania I heard them say "eksit"... go figure.

I should of stayed with the British pronunciation (which is what is taught in Europe).