As readers continue to flood my email bag with their pet language peeves, more and more folks are beefing about pronunciation.(Has the word “beef” become a legitimate verb?)Bad blendListen to WNIR, WKSU or just about any radio station that broadcasts speech. For some reason, a lot of folks have a lazy mouth when it comes to the word “years.” It comes out as “THISH SHEARS event.”It is not everyone, but a fair amount of them, even on NPR, which one would think would be more careful about pronunciation. Yes, I know that there are more pressing problems in the world, but it just grates on the ears.Elias VujovichSouthingtonElias: You seem to be implying that WNIR would not grate on the ears if its hosts pronounced their words more clearly. Don’t be silly.Standing room onlyIt’s amazing to me that people continue to say “am-PHL-itheater” rather than “am-PHI-theater.”Ted Curtis, VPUniversity of AkronTed: I agree. That’s a funny way to pronounce “Blossom.”In the knowSpeaking of pet peeves, one of mine is “pitcher” for “picture.” Do people not know the difference?Also, no one should be allowed to speak on radio or TV if they cannot complete a sentence without a “you know” or two (or more). Including you, Mr. D. (I watch NewsNite Akron.)Y. Grace PorterAkronGrace: I have appeared on NewsNite Akron exactly once, in September. You’re branding me as a perpetual you-knower based on one appearance?Horrified by your missive, I went online, clicked on the archived show and kept score. And I’m here to tell you that your favorite columnist unleashed only eight “you knows” in a half-hour of conversation. By contrast, fellow guests Phil Trexler and Jody Miller dropped 25 and 15, respectively.So I’m, like, way more polished, and should definitely have my own show.Wrong roadThis word-abuse is usually committed by TV news personalities: berry vs. bury.“John Smith died yesterday and will be ‘berried’ (strawberry or blueberry?) on Saturday.” Makes me so crazy I want to berry my head in a bowl of “razzberries,” but that’s another issue.Alice DeffibaughBathAlice: This will make you even crazier: My Webster’s New World College Dictionary confirms what I thought: Both words are pronounced exactly the same.Now, if you’re talking about the word “burry,” meaning full of burs, then you’re right. Otherwise, you’d better bury that peeve immediately.At least you had the guts to use your name. Not so with a letter writer who was all fired up because he or she thinks broadcasters are erroneously interchanging the pronunciations of “your” and “you’re.”“You are” as a contraction cannot be pronounced “your.” They are two different words.Yes, they are two different words, sir or madam, but in all my years on the planet, I’ve never heard anyone attempt to draw a distinction between their pronunciations.That’s because there isn’t one. As my Webster’s puts it, both are pronounced “yoor.”Bad aftertasteAn irritant is when people order bruschetta from the menu and call it “BRUSH-etta,” when it should be pronounced “BRUSK-eta.”I always want to ask them if they pronounce zucchini as “ZUSH-inni” or Chianti as “SHEE-anti.” This mispronunciation is most often committed by staff at some of our local so-called Italian restaurants.David CulpAkron David: Fair warning: If you ask the wrong person about mispronouncing Chianti, you could end up with red stains on your shirt. And not just from the wine.Plenty of petsIf you’re still on the subject, I’ll add mine:• Sherbet is not “sherbert.”• Height is not “heighth.”• Aerate is not “air-ee-ate.”• The folks in Green need to pronounce Boettler Road correctly. It’s “BET-ler, not BOT-ler.”Nancy SauerAkronNancy: Correct. And I’ll bet members of the Boettler family would like to aerate the folks who want to bottle them.Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com.