It Drives Me Crazy

I have had more than one conversation in my lifetime where I either argued about or amused myself with people discussing the proper pronunciations of English words. One of my most vivid memories about one of my best friends was when she first moved in to the house next door to my parent's home (I was living at home at the time... many moons ago).

She was from Illinois and she was going on about some of the local colloquialisms. Such as how Wisconsinites refer to water fountains as "bubblers" or soft drinks as "cokes" or "colas" as opposed to "pop". (Don't ever ask me for a pop, by the way, cuz I'll certainly give you one.) In that same conversation I said something about a bag. She told me I pronounced the word wrong. We actually argued about the pronunciation of the word "bag" so long and so vehemently that she brought out the dictionary to show me that her pronunciation was grammatically correct. I stuck to my story. I'm a stubborn little bastard.

Now, aside from "bag", I am a stickler for correct pronunciations and grammatical speaking. I tend to choose my own words quite distinctly and generally speaking, although I AM a woman, I mean precisely what I say. Unfortunately, this sometimes does involve me explaining the definition of words to people.

However, it does amuse the hell out of my husband. This is because I still use words such as "gumption". My opinion is that sometimes that is the only word that accurately describes what I am trying to say. My husband on the other hand, just shakes his head and says, "Who the hell says "gumption" anymore?" Well, the simple and obvious answer is, um, me.

So, my ponderous purveyors of prolific prose, have you had any similar experiences? What words, mispronunciations, or general misuse of terminologies have you experienced that really drive you batty?