"pellow" and "melk"

[Jonathan Lighter]

I say "milk." My fellow-New-Yorker wife says "melk." I (used to) say "tomahto." She's always said "tomayto."

  JL

K Reynolds <kreynolds3 at HOUSTON.RR.COM> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: K Reynolds
Subject: "pellow" and "melk"
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I was born in NW Ohio and lived there for 28 years before moving to =
Texas in 1984. My wife, from Houston, takes great joy in correcting my =
pronunciation of the words "pillow" and "milk," which I pronounce with =
an "e" like that in "mellow." My sister says "melk" also. I'm curious if =
anyone has any insight on whether this is common to the midwest or just =
a family thing.

------------------------------------
Kerry Reynolds
Manager -- Communication Services
Houston ISD

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