That might make you sound stupid to some but it does not mean you are stupid.

I agree with Airhoss that vocal colloquialisms exist throughout the world in every language. Regional applies to items far beyond just pilots and airlines.

 

This regional inflection apparently confused everybody...in the whole world:


(CNN) -- When astronaut Neil Armstrong uttered what became one of the best-known -- and most debated -- quotes in all of history, he actually might have said it exactly the way he meant to, not the way people heard it.

After Armstrong lowered his left foot from the landing craft to the surface of the moon, people watching around the world heard him call it "one small step for man."

Both he and NASA initially insisted that he said "one small step for a man," and now a new and novel study on the much-analyzed quote backs him up.

Researchers from Michigan State University and Ohio State University have "bolstered Neil Armstrong's side of the story," said Laura Dilley, an MSU assistant professor of communicative sciences and disorders.

After becoming the first person to step on the moon in 1969, Armstrong said what was heard as: "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind."

Later, as NASA explains, Armstrong said he had intended to say "a man," and thought he had. But he agreed that "a" did not seem audible in the recording.

Numerous intense studies have been carried out over the years, using high-tech equipment, all in the effort to discover whether he had indeed uttered that one little sound.

In 2006, Peter Shann Ford said he had found the "a" in a study of the audio waveform, NASA explains. Then, "more rigorous analyses of the transmission were undertaken by people with professional experience with audio waveforms and, most importantly, audio spectrograms. None of these analyses support Ford's conclusion."

Until now, perhaps.

The MSU and OSU researchers took what they call a novel approach: studying how people from Armstrong's native central Ohio pronounce "for" and "for a."

The team studied recordings of 40 people in Columbus, near Armstrong's native town of Wapakoneta. They found numerous examples of "for" and "for a" sounding similar.

Their results suggest that it is entirely possible that Armstrong said what he claimed, though evidence indicates that people are statistically more likely to hear 'for man' instead of 'for a man' on the recording," Michigan State University said in a news release.

"We feel we've partially vindicated him," Dilley said. "But we'll most likely never know for sure exactly what he said."

 

Saying "for man" makes the word "mankind" redundant, right? Because in this particular example, the word "man", without being preceded by an article, implies man as a species, rather than merely defining movement relative to human anatomy, which would have been so, had the "a" been clearly heard over the radio (i.e. the step is small for a man, any man, any human, to take).

Does this make any sense?? 'Prolly not!

Ah, it's all wicked cool, I'm going to have a tonic and relax

 

I agree it makes sense either way. But the script was "for a man" so the controversy ensued because it sounded like Neil flubbed his line. But a guy like that probably didn't...in the excitement of the moment he probably just reverted to his childhood brogue.

 

You're right. I should have worded it differently. I have that problem. As someone who has lived all over, but mostly Philadelphia, I will also admit there are a lot of colloquial sayings that are outrageous.

Calling soda "coke" sounds silly to me. I imagine it'd be funny to order a coca cola in a restaurant then having them ask what kind. Surprisingly never heard this when I lived in ATL or SAV.

 

I'm surprised you have never heard it before, that's all I hear down in Texas.

 

And Atlanta. They certainly don't call it pop or soda.

 

The geographic/demographic map on the first page of the website posted below shows the distribution of people using the different terms: soda, pop, coke.
I tried to find the Freakonomics episode which featured this but my Google-foo talents were not up the match. I did find the sequence of whether your name could keep you from getting a job though! It was during the same show.

The Pop vs. Soda Page

In any case - the 'Coke' crowd was more widespread than I remembered.