When I was in the eighth grade (13 yrs old) I was a finalist in the school's spelling bee. I lost on "aeronautics." The English teacher reading the words to us pronounced it "ar-E-o-nau-tics." I knew the ae combination form, but went with his pronunciation. I have never recovered from that :-)

PS Jo - is it bad luck in your parts to utter the word "Hamlet" when you are in rehearsal for said play?