>>So TitanIUM is TitanUM, cadmIUM is Cadmum, etc.? I don't think so. So why single out Aluminium? (also from the French too, I think, as they invented the process of extraction)
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>That is a bit odd, but it may be the need to use the word aluminum more in everyday life than those others (alumnium foil, aluminum siding, etc.)

Yeah, that extra syllable is EXHAUSTING to pronounce isn't it! :-)
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>
>>Hell, we have dialects that vary across parish boundaries. I used to live on the boundary of Merseyside (Scouse, like the Beatles) and Lancashire (where they have a lazy, slow accent - pronounced lirzeh & sloor.
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>>"You have to go to the top of the road and climb the hill" would be
>>"Tha's ter gor tut top o't' rord and climb th'ill) and, in the North East they have their own language practically. e.g. a "bary yag" is a "bright fire", "raj dyoogle" is a "mad dog". But I think these come from Romany and up there there was a lot of Viking influence to the language.
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>Wow, I don't think we have anything quite so extreme here, though some of the local terms used may not be familiar to all. For the most part, it's still pretty easy to get around and understand and be understood when talking with others. TV has probably made that easier as there's a pretty wide variety of areas represented on the tube. Even if you've never traveled there, most people recognize a Boston, a NY, or a Southern accent from just a few words.

I have quite a keen ear for languages and accents and, as we get so much US TV over here, I think I'm quite up on most US accents, even the new universal schoolgirl brat nasal sing-song croak :-)

Baaston accent easy to spat. (Paark Street)
Joisey - not so much in the accent, as in the rising inflection of questions (hell we're all used to Cagney & Lacey)

I could go on but I must go now.

Cheers

Terry