I am an engineer who was born and raised in California and Oregon (on the West Coast of the United States). My grandfather and father were doctors and my two brothers became doctors. My grandfather on my mother's side was a civil lawyer who tried cases before the supreme court. For a very long time he had a reputation as having "never lost a case." My mother was an English major and a teacher, so I grew up having my spelling and grammar constantly corrected. My father had an interest in etymology, and was always telling me about the roots and origins of words. In Jr. High and High School, occasionally I had minor disagreements with my teachers; I almost always turned out to be correct.

That said, I can see that there are contributors to this site who are far smarter and better educated than I. Particularly when it comes to the English language and linguistics in general.