Illinoisans, How Do You Correctly Pronounce This Word?

Living in Illinois my entire life has given me the gift of a Midwestern accent I never knew I had. How strong is your accent?

During a recent work trip to Oregon, I experienced quite a surprising "cultural lesson" about pronunciation that I can't stop thinking about. I mentioned a place I had "been" to and someone from Oregon instantly corrected me! I was so taken aback.

The person pointed out that I pronounced "been" as "ben," when (according to them) it should be pronounced "bin." So every time I said it I got really self-conscious.

It's been bothering me ever since! Have I really been saying it wrong my whole life?

Naturally, I took it to TikTok to see how others said "been". It really got people thinking about how they say certain words in their daily life haha.

Some TikTok users supported the "bin" pronunciation and others defended the "ben" pronunciation, saying that regional dialects definitely influence our speech.

Here's what I think: language is fluid. However you choose to say a word is valid and never incorrect. Nobody should correct you on how you speak - that's the beauty of languages!

So, whether you say "bin", "ben", or even "bean"... let’s celebrate our linguistic differences because without it this world would be bland.

Now let's talk about this "bag" situation... that's a whole different pronunciation debate. Just thinking about the way someone says it in Oregon got me fired up! Think about it, how do YOU say "bag"?

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