Car-mel. Or more so "CAR-mull" with the mull as in "mull over something", with the "mull" pronounced very quickly. Some people in my area also say "Cara-mel". Nobody in my area says "care-mel", that I know of. My area is between Philadelphia and New York City. It's not that those two cities determine everything about my accent, though. It's a real melting pot. If anyone represents the accent of from Trenton, NJ along the river north 20 miles it's my family. Both sides have been in that area since as long ago as the early 1700s.

Q: Do you have any kind of secret signal or word/phrase that your SO, friend, or parent knows to utter, if you are acting hypomanic (elevated in mood) in public, in a negative way? My husband and I have worked out a few.