I really did get an education this morning! I had recently seen a word used in a couple of newsgroups that I was unfamiliar with, and presumed it was someone's error, but...clever fellow that I am, I looked it up first!

People were calling other people "whingers", and I awoke today with that on my mind, so I did this search (that is in newsgroups,not the WWW).

WOW!....seems that since at least 1993 folks have been asking "what the heck is 'whinging' and how do you pronounce it?" I had NEVER heard it till about 2 weeks ago.

An hour of reading the search results makes me more aware than ever of the great varieties of language and local colloquialisms.

I also read learned discussions on 'aspirated' words

wear-where
which-witch
Wales-whales
wine-whine
watt-what

and words like pin-pen, and git-get

(one fellow said.." In Memphis, where I grew up, it is quite easy to distinguish between "pin" and "pen." You get stuck with a peeyun, you write with an ink-peeyun.")

ain't this larnin' process innerestin'?