Words I simply cannot pronounce

Being a lover of language(s) and a grammar geek does not seem to translate into being able to pronounce out loud certain words. Some of them are because I generally see them written down and so when they come out of my mouth they just don't seem to be right somehow. That's a bit like my mum's story of being the council-estate-kid-who-went-to-grammar-school trying to use words she had come across in her reading and getting made fun of at university. To this day I am therefore careful about how I say 'auspices' so that people would not turn round and say "oss pisses".
 Others I just don't seem to have ever got a handle on... They might sound ok with a different accent but seem hilarious to my friends and pupils when they come out of my mouth. Rather than research the 'correct' pronunciation of these words, I've decided simply to own them instead:
aida (this is the fabric that you sew cross stitch with - it's not said like the old ladies' name Ida, but sounds Eastern and exotic. Whatevs. I'm with the old ladies on this one). 
cherubs (little fat babies from religious art)
buried (my pronunciation is the same as my West Yorkshire family's, and the recent American film of the same name. The rest of the north of England would beg to differ apparently)
I used to say garage as though it were a bit French, but now I say "garridge" although I still don't use it as a verb, that's just weird! 
*edit*: miscellany: just heard Jo Brand say it on TV and that's not how it sounds in my head at all.....
*edit*: quinaoa: some pulse/ grain thing that you probably buy in Waitrose... I have been taught how to say it (as in the Chinese transliteration qi = chi), but I'm not sure it'll stick... 

Seems I'm not alone, however. Pronunciation around the UK is changing....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11642588

                    ..... to be continued (when I find the rest of my notes!)......

Plush team giveaway x x x

Cute plush giveaway: extra entries if you blog about it!!
http://www.plushteam.com/2010/10/plush-team-october-giveaway.html

new blog

Google totally locked me out of the old one, so this is me now. More general and want to follow more people with similar hobbies and interests to mine....