In a message dated 1/27/03 10:00:30 PM, kknaughton at ELLTEL.NET writes: << I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, if that is any help. >> That suggests the Northern Ireland connection mentioned earlier. Large concentration of "Scotch-Irish/Scots-Irish" settlers affected the local dialect. See, e.g., http://www.evolpub.com/Americandialects/PennaDialMap.html.