pronunciation advice

[EagleJCS]

Here's a map of the USA showing where caught and cot are different (red) and the same (blue), you have to go to question #28

http://spark.rstudio.com/jkatz/SurveyMaps/

Very interesting. Looking through some of the questions, it seems I follow some of the regional norms for this area, and not others. As a child, when I was learning new words I very carefully followed the dictionary (Webster's) pronunciation guide, and listened very carefully to how others pronounced them. Having been in chorus and drama club probably also affected how I pronounce some words/syllables. I was also exposed to several different accents while in school (most notably Boston, Baltimore, New York, Chicago, among others).

On topic, I have most often heard Cull-ODD-en as the pronunciation for the place in Scotland.