Er, what's that you say?

So I was listening to NPR this morning and had to shake my head at a statement by the general consul for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce:

"I think the inclination ... is going to be to err on the side of not taking any even slightly adverse action ..." -- but he pronounced "err" like "her" instead of as with "error."

Looking "err" up on the Merriam-Webster site, which has audio pronunciation clips for dictionary entries, I was surprised to find that "er" is actually listed as a pronunciation for "err."

I have never heard the word pronounced that way before. Then again, I'm from the Midwest.

I pronounce "soften" and "often" without the "T." Coke is a brand of pop, not a soda (although in California, I quickly realized that I needed to ask for a "soda" from store clerks to avoid having them look at me like I just spoke gibberish to them).

I think I speak without a strong Midwestern accent (as in "Fargo"), but people in San Francisco have told me I say "Minnesota" with a long "O" as in Min-ne-SOH-ta.

The other week I lugged a bunch of groceries up three flights of stairs, and as I dumped them on the kitchen table, I found myself saying, "Uff da!" I had to laugh. If my mother had heard that, she probably would have just nodded her head and said, "That's my girl. She takes after me."

A friend posted this the other day, and I had to take this quiz myself. I'm 110% Minnesotan.

How Minnesotan Are You??

[X] You've been made fun of for your Northern accent
[X] You been to an ice hockey game before
[X] You've been snowmobiling before
[X] You know how the wind chill factor works
[X] You constantly make fun of Iowa (OK, not so much anymore)
Total: 5

[ ] You own skis or a snowboard, or snow shoes (Used to)
[X] You keep an ice scraper in your back seat (I think trunk counts since I'm now in Cali)
[X] You call the childhood game "Duck, duck, grey duck"?
[X] You know what the "Iron Range" is
[X] You've built a snowman before
Total: 4

[X] You consider 50 degrees in March a warm day
[X] You make fun of Wisconsin
[X] You know where yellow snow comes from
[X] At least one person in your immediate family hates the "Packers"
[ ] You go to "the cabin" on the weekends during the summer (Used to)
Total: 4

[X] You've taken a family vacation to either North or South Dakota before
[X] You're still mad at the LA Lakers for not changing their name (Stoopid Lakers)
[X] You know what the "North Shore" refers to
[X] You or your family owns a snowblower
[ ] You, your dad, or a close friends has a snowplow on the front of their pickup truck
Total: 4

[X] You expect school cancellations and delays to happen at least twice a winter (When I was still in school, yes)
[X] You still hear/tell stories about the "Halloween Snow Storm" of 91
[X] You know whether Minnesota really is the "Land of A Thousand Lakes"
[X] You know the names of the Twin Cities
[X] You've been to the city of Duluth
Total: 5

Grand Total: 22

Take your score and multiply it by 5. Repost this as "I'm 110% Minnesotan."