<p>Atomom, I went to Ohio University.</p>
<p>No one can pump their own gas in NJ. I hoped out of my car once and got a good tongue lashing from the worker there.</p>
<p>Agree about those NJ diners. They are great!</p>
<p>There’s an interesting series called Do you speak american? It’s very interesting imo. All about regional dialects.</p>
<p>Oh, come on, it’s “Bal-mer,” not “Bal-more.” And also “wutter,” or possibly “wudder,” depending on the speaker.</p>
<p>can someone explain how aunt became “ant”? Are there other au words that are pronounced the same?</p>
<p>also, for those who don’t use the term “jimmies”…are chocolate and the other colored ones all called sprinkles?</p>
<p>Just a guess, but the conversion to “ant” probably was influenced by “Tante” in the regions with a significant fraction of German-speaking people.</p>
<p>geeps, I have no idea how it came to be. I’m an “ant” person. Other “au” words vary. For example, author is almost a halfway point between “author” and “arthor” whereas “gaunt” definitely has that distinct au pronunciation.</p>
<p>I say aunt like “ant.” I’m from a German-Jewish family with many relatives who speak Yiddish or German.</p>
<p>I grew up in southern Virginia and we often said “aunt” like “ain’t” - with a long a. I had “Aint Betty and Uncka Danell” (Daniel)</p>
<p>thump–I’m from your rival school, which explains everything. (OU is in the hills, MU is not.)</p>
<p>cartera45…I’m from northeastern NC…always called my aunts “Aint”…still do.</p>
<p>“I say aunt like “ant.” I’m from a German-Jewish family with many relatives who speak Yiddish or German.”</p>
<p>Hmm…I’m also from a German-Jewish family (just my Nana, my Poppy was a Russian Jew) and we don’t say “ant.”</p>
<p>annoyingdad -</p>
<p>thanks for the link to the linguistic map! I’m planning to use it as part of a class this fall now that I know about it.</p>
<p>Yes, she will be in Burlington, we are here right now. And the talk of cold weather is hard to fathom at this moment in time. (95 degrees at 7:30!!)</p>
<p>And I have to say, Burlington, and the surrounding area, is absolutely breathtaking.</p>
<p>If you haven’t been to the Shelburne Museum, it’s a trip and a half of wonderful and totally weird. The ferry across Champlain is my favorite way to go to and from Montreal, though it takes a bit longer. The area north of Burlington along the islands, though, is also beautiful.</p>
<p>I know many kids at UVM. They love it. As city kids - Boston - they’re comfortable there.</p>
<p>Geeps: when you order ice cream, you need to specify if you want chocolate sprinkles or colored sprinkles. If you just ask for sprinkles, they will ask you: chocolate or colored?</p>
<p>(hi, chocchip!)</p>
<p>In Swahili a roundabout is a keepie leftie. And here’s an amazing roundabout: [The</a> Magic Roundabout - Swindon’s white knuckle ride! SwindonWeb guide](<a href=“http://www.swindonweb.com/index.asp?m=8&s=115&ss=289]The”>http://www.swindonweb.com/index.asp?m=8&s=115&ss=289)</p>
<p>UCDAlum if you are in Vermont right now, the best thing to do is this: <a href=“http://www.swimmingholes.org/vt.html[/url]”>http://www.swimmingholes.org/vt.html</a>
They are at their best when you get a heat wave.</p>
<p>but watch out for leeches. (Says a California girl who found out the hard way tubing on the White River)</p>
<p>Here in Minnesota you definitely put things in a bag, not a sack. Except for deep Minnesotans it’s pronounced “baig” with a long A. Drives my (mostly) NY-raised daughters crazy that in Minnesota a bag is a “baig” but a bagel is a “baggel” (short A). Just the opposite of the way we pronounce those words.</p>
<p>About the current heat wave- it’s early, this year, no? Any chance it’ll run itself out and July-August will be decent? Ha. Doubt it. At least it isn’t as humid as it will get. </p>
<p>Ime, one big diff between CA and NE summer weather is that it can get nice and cool, even S.CA, when the sun drops. (At least, in the coastal areas.) Miss that. And, no mosquitos.</p>
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<p>Well, 35 years ago there wasn’t a (non-Jewish) Minnesotan who knew what a bagel was, much less how to pronounce the word!</p>