WORDS FROM CHILDHOOD–PRONUNCIATION.

WORDS FROM CHILDHOOD—PRONUNCIATION. When I was first working in New York, I dictated (using a “dictabelt”, an old technology) a memorandum about various legislative measures that had been proposed in Congress. The typed draft I got back replaced “measure” with “major” throughout. Soon after I met my wife Mary Jane, she watched a debate among Democratic Presidential candidates which featured Senator McCarthy from Minnesota, Hubert Humphrey, also from Minnesota, and Senator McGovern from South Dakota. She reported happily that these three candidates all talked the way I did, even referring to legislative “majors” the way I did. I still cling to the Chicago accent. Growing up in Chicago, I pronounced “root” to rhyme with “foot.” After over forty years in the East, I still pronounce “root” and “roof” with that sound despite societal pressures (especially societal pressure from the kids).