print as 2 words. *wanders off, wringing hands and gnashing teeth over the unbearable angst of it all* Doug on March 11, 2011 1:35 pm Drat. Trying to correct "23 words" above to "2 words," and am reminded (again, so I guess it would be "rereminded") that edits are not allowed here on a forum that is all about correct speaking and writing... How ironic is THAT? Doug on March 11, 2011 1:55 pm xamaica2004 wrote: "regarding being taught standard pronunciation in schools. I can tell you that certainly in English state schools (including my child's) many teachers say "haitch"." Madame "X" (if I may so presume), you are spot-on. My 7th Grade English Teacher (in California) pronounced "wash" as "warsh," to the great amusement of us students, who had yet to discover regional accents because we had yet to experience any region other than the San Francisco peninsula. We just knew that she obviously wasn't from "around here." Naturally, never having heard that particular aberration before but keenly aware of how WRONG it was, I asked her innocently one day (I was feeling particularly froggy, I guess) if she would please spell "warsh" so that we could be sure to get it right if it showed up later on a test- was it w-o-r-s-h like it sounded? My 13-year-old butt spent that afternoon in the Principal's office, where I tried the innocent act (which failed utterly,) but then did manage to avoid suspension or detention by repeatedly pointing out