Sentence:  I have just read the article in your issue for May 16 on dialectic English. The word "tempest" recalls the surprise I felt at the beginning of three years' residence on Cape Cod to hear the word used commonly as an exact synonym for thunderstorm. / <WSD>"Persnickety</WSD>" I have been accustomed to use in the sense attached to "perjinkety", that is, over-fastidious. I do not know how the word was acquired or how common its use is. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Obsessive about mundane details, demanding for precision.