I loved the part about the coke. When my former St. Louis husband was sent (by me) to get some beverages for our first guests in our new California home, I told him to get "Cokes" as the people coming did not drink liquor. In California, where I grew up, "Cokes" means all kinds of soda - you said "Coca Cola" when you wanted it; otherwise, it was any kind of soda. (We usually bought that at ball games, fairs, etc. as it was diluted then and not so strong.) Well, you guessed it, he came home with "Coca Cola" and I asked why he bought that. He was really confused and we realized we had to clarify some of our conversations with each other. We spent a year in Louisiana and it has a lot of French names we had to learn to pronounce and my friends there laughed after they came back from a California vacation and had to learn to pronounce "San Jose" etc. They didn't know how to pronounce Spanish names. In Arizona, we had to learn to prounce a lot of Indian words. In Prescott, AZ, there is a way to tell a native as they say "Prescott" like biscuit - Pres-cuit; the new comers say "Pres-cott". Of course there are a few oldtimers who still won't change. Not only is it amazing that we all learn to talk to each other, it is fun and we can help each other out. Happy New Year to all! Jean in Columbia