Right you are about spelling/pronounciation thing.

Waistcoat (a sleeveless garment that ends about at the waist) is called a W'skit in UK.

in US, a Waistcoat is a waist coat. and an alternate word a vest is Weskit. the word weskit was created to match how Waistcoat was pronounced.

the first time i saw Jane Eyre, i was startled by the character Syngin.. (where the hell did he come from?) eventually i realized that St. John was pronounced Syngin!

(grindstone in US is Grind Stone--not grin d stin)

and Hempstead (a town and road on LI is Hemp (like the fiber) stead (like instead with out the in.)

and just how is the town called "chumley" really spelt?