<p>LINY - that doesn’t help, because out here they say Larry closer to Mary. </p>
<p>I have a first name that is said differently in the NE vs the rest of the country. (akin to the Mary/marry/merry debate) I’ve sort of modulated it over the years, but my husband and kids say it differently from me. </p>
<p>My best friend’s daughter is Carrie and I just can’t bring myself to say it to rhyme with Mary. I say it more cah-ree. The vowel is unaffected by the r.</p>
<p>Isn’t there a plural of y’all like all y’alls?</p>
<p>Romanigypsy- to me, you wouldn’t rhyme Aaron and Erin, any more than you’d rhyme mat and met. A short a and a short e are two different things.</p>
<p>^^ agree! That’s how I say it - with Erin the vowels are short and clean</p>
<p>^^ It’s all y’all, according to some, but according to others, y’all is already plural. There seem to be strong opinions on both sides, down here in the Deep South.</p>
<p>At a local diner with traditional southern menu, the server did once approach our table and ask “Did all y’ll decide on all y’alls’ orders yet?” This was after we’d previously said we needed a little more time.</p>
<p>I loved y’all when I lived in Cinti/KY. It’s the best way to address more than one person when you’re not sure of the situation/social standing/casualness of the relationship. You can say, “y’all” instead of “you guys” or a vague “you”. It was great. I still use it some in NH, WI and OR but immediately get some weird looks, appropriately.</p>
<p>Also love y’all and use it. Sometimes sort of a yu’all, all slurred together.</p>
<p>Was on a flight to Germany once and asked for a soda. (I didn’t care which type. Didn’t even know which sorts they had.) The young stewardess was confused and the older one nastily said, she means Coca Cola. In America, soda means Coca Cola. Hmphh.</p>
<p>On ‘rig’: There is a definite gender base. Any vehicle not a car or minivan can be a ‘rig’ when 2 guys are talking to one another independent of context. If my DH and BIL are heading out to pick up a pizza the conversation will go something like, “Do you want to take your rig?” They don’t have to be actively towing or heading towards the outdoors. My SUV would not be called a rig unless DH was involved in the conversation or I were towing or hauling (has no hitch, though).</p>
<p>Someone upthread mentioned rain boots having a comeback. They’re popular here in my little corner of NW Oregon and I do wear them to soccer & lacrosse games when necessary. Boots in general are popular here. </p>
<p>I have:</p>
<p>rain boots w/removable insulated liner
barn boots
muck boots
snow boots
UGGs (keep my feet warm boots)
dress boots</p>
<p>And my favorite boot accessory are Yak Traks – for icy days.</p>
<p>Aaron and Erin are pronounced exactly the same here. I guess I wouldn’t even know where to begin to pronounce them differently :D.</p>
<p>weather: an old (ESL/linguistics)prof of mine had the same anecdote–in the opposite direction. She was pushing her baby boy, Ian, in a stroller (I think she was in NY at the time.) A older lady came up and said something like, “Oh, how cute. . .What’s your baby’s name?” The mom replied, “Ian.” Then the lady repeated what sounded like “Ian! What a nice name for your precious little girl!” When the lady said “girl,” the mom realized that she (the stranger) thought the baby’s name was “Ann.”</p>
<p>Carrie, Larry, Mary, Merry, Marry, Perry, Jerry, Harry etc. all rhyme to me. Erin and Aaron sound almost the same. Sometimes my kids will be talking about a classmate named Erin or Aaron, and we’ll ask “Boy Aaron or girl Erin?” </p>
<p>I once taught ESL(in Africa) from British textbooks–I remember a pronunciation tip telling students that the words “aunt” and “aren’t” sound alike. (Sounded ridiculous for me to read this saying “ant” and “AR-ent”)</p>
<p>weather- I thought your name was Erin by your description lol.</p>
<p>It is currently pouring torrential rain. I looked on accuweather to check our forecast and here are what is says for the next several days:</p>
<p>Today:Mostly cloudy, brief showers (is that what this is?)
Tonight: Partly cloudy, showers around
Tomorrow:Periods of sun with a shower</p>
<p>On our local tv news web site the forecast for today said that you’re not going to want to read what follows, so here are some kitten pictures (actual kitten pictures inserted into forecast) to look at before you scroll down.</p>
<p>Ian would be pronounced EE-n here. There was a boy named Ian on one of our kids’ teams several years ago and the coach kept calling him ION , eye-on :D.</p>
<p>Yup Aaron and Erin the same “air-en” and Ian is ee-en. Mary, merry, marry…all the same.</p>
<p>Steve, you’d say mat differently from met. Say mat-rin and now say met-rin. Now take out the t. You’re letting the r “win” over the vowel. Don’t let the r affect the vowel. That’s the difference.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I get the “air-en” for Aaron…but Erin has a definite short e sound, like the short e sound in met(D’s middle name)</p>
<p>When my parents moved from Baltimore to rural New Hampshire, they knew nobody in the town. The company that hooked up their home to utilities requested a check. My keen-eared Dad didn’t understand the company name, so the workman repeated it with a heavier “R” this time. My Dad cut a check for “Aaron Goss.” The man handed it back, stifling laughter, and wrote down for my Dad: Ayer and Goss.</p>
<p>Nevada is always mispronounced. it is Nev-a-da. A short a as in cat. So many mid west and east coasters like to call it nev-ah-da. Drives me crazy. It would be like saying
M-ah-ssachusetts!</p>
<p>I did know an Ian pronounded eye-an.
Oops just looked it up and see ee-an, yohn and eye-an.
I dunno. I often get called Carol- and it’s not my name.</p>