Pronouncing Ruggles

[MASCARO at humnet.ucla.edu]

As I learned in Grad Skool it's a status thing (and remember if you say STAT-us you 
haven't got STATE-us)--mopes pronounce it PIN-CHIN  (my preferred pronunciation); 
upper-class Mayflower types wouldn't be caught dead squeezing that vowel, so to them 
it's gotta be Pyn-CHOWN.  Now where do you think NPR wants to locate itself on the 
*prestige* dialect continuum?

john m
BTW, since when is NPR *non-commercial*?
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>
>My local noncommercial radio station has been running short promotional ads
>for Mason & Dixon recently, during which I notice that the announcer
>pronounces the name Thomas pin-CHOWN. I have always pronounced the name
>Thomas PINCH-en.
>
>Can I rely on NPR central to be correct? Does anyone know the real lowdown?
>
>
>
>Peter Petto         |       ppetto at apk.net
>Bay Village, Ohio   |   PGP public key available
>