I think it may be a bit of an overstatement to say any of us are bent out of shape. We were just talking about expressions that irritate us, and I think almost everyone can name some of those. I imagine there are people in California that dislike hearing "ya'll" when it comes from someone that isn't native to a region where it is common, and I get that that too. But I think a contraction, even if it originated in a certain region, is a little different. It's a natural tendency of people in all regions of the country to abbreviate and condense words. After all, that's the reason all contractions exist, as well as why Bartholomew becomes Bart. But I don't think it's a natural tendency for people to pronounce words dramatically different than the proper pronunciation unless they just don't know better. Sure a regional accent may cause a slightly different pronunciation, but people from other areas can generally understand the word being spoken. On the other hand, until recently who would have picked up on "ratchet" being used in place of "wretched"? Everyone I know would think they were talking about a type of wrench. And as one poster said, even in Louisiana, where he lived most of his life, and where Wikipedia says the regional dialect turned "wretched" into "ratchet", he said he has never heard it before.
