A girl used to tell me that I pronounce the words pecan, syrup, and almond “wrong” because I say them in a manner different than she. (She wasn’t just being cute — she really believed she was right and I was wrong, while I maintained that we were both correct.) Other terms we disagreed on were “standing on line” vs. “standing in line” and a supermarket “cart” vs. “wagon,” of which the latter I actually discussed with others at Wegmans the other night. Apparently, there are people in the world who don’t think I speak some crazy language as I was led to believe.
In support of my realization, someone at Harvard (or Havahd) has put a survey online to determine where certain pronunciations and definitions of certain words are common. The results are online as well, but due to the site’s popularity, it seems to be a little slow.
I confess, I’ve never heard of a “shopping wagon.” But that certainly doesn’t mean it’s wrong. 🙂
“Cart,” Wagon,” “Shopping cart,” and “Shopping wagon” were all separate choices on the survey… along with some others, I think.