>>>>>>After 37 years since I've learned enough English to prevent being sold (*), I'm still not sure which of these are considered correct, and which are wrong:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>

expression	pronounced as
>>>>>>et cetera	eksetra
>>>>>>february	febewary
>>>>>>library		lie-berry
>>>>>>product		produk
>>>>>>status quo	staytus cow

>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>As far as I'm concerned, all of those are wrong, though some may be regionally correct.
>>>>
>>>>Thanks for the sanity check, Tamar. The reason I'm concerned with all this is probably the number of times my teachers corrected me, threatening that I may be badly embarrassed once I happened to be in an anglophone company and mispronounced. Knowing how we Serbs use to mock others who learn our language and mispronounce it (a bad habit, and doesn't really help anyone - I figure it originates in the shock that anyone would dare learn such a hard and convoluted language), I thought they were right.
>>>>
>>>>Now I know better. When I'm in doubt about spelling, consult the dictionaries, that's easy. When I'm in doubt about pronunciation, ask anyone. Chances are high that it's wrong, but I don't really care anymore. It's right for at least some people.
>>>>
>>>>For instance, I once pronounced "exit" as "eksit", and a guy from Ohio understood "axe it". So I made sure I pronounced it as "egzit" henceforth - and then in Pennsylvania I heard "eksit". So it seems most of the rules are local.
>>>
>>>You would be surprised how they pronounce "hot tea" in Biloxi, Mississippi. :)
>>
>>Many things about Biloxi are surprising. I saw and enjoyed many experiences the forty weeks I spent in Biloxi during 1963-64. The natives can tell if you are from there by the way you pronounce Biloxi. This is where Elvis first performed.
>>
>>I am thoroughly convinced this is one of the world’s places I do not wish to see again.
>>
>>We trained Greek and Turkish pilots and you should have been there the day Turkey and Greece went to war! Not a good day.
>
>So, tell us what happened...

All Turkish and Greek students were grounded and there were fist fights. Within a matter of hours all Greek and Turkish Airmen were on their way home. The tension was great and we did not know what to expect.