Sometimes I "loosen up" my pronunciation for something directed as conversational, relaxed -- it depends on what it is, as you guys have said.
Being from the Northeast, it's a little too easy to sound "elitist" if I really go by Webster's all the time.
Now, I find out that standard American speech is supposed to sound as if you come from Midwest/Ohio -"Midland America" they call it. I find the sound of short "a" is much more nasal/closed, noticeable in words like "camera" in that dialect.
I don't know who made this decision -- I guess I missed the meeting!
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