A few days ago, I wrote about the pronunciation of ough. Since then, I’ve heard from a few experts on this issue. Sarah Ough from England said her family “pronounces Ough as just the letter O,” adding that “[o]ther families pronounce it other ways.”

Sarah is correct, as I found out from Tami Ough from Oregon, who said, “We pronounce our name ‘Ow….. like Ow that hurts!’” Tami said she hears “every mispronunciation of my name possible…….:).” (See my September 18 post on the use of sideways facial expressions.) This may be an Oregon thing, however, as Jeremy Ough–who I believe is from Oregon–said they also pronounce it “like an expression of pain.”

I also was reminded that, although we have turned plough into plow, you still can get a ploughman’s lunch in many fine restaurants. Further, it is fairly common during The Holidays to deck one’s halls with boughs of holly.

Finally–and we’ll leave it here–I came across this poem by Bennett Cerf, publisher and co-founder of Random House.

The wind was rough
And cold and blough;
She kept her hands inside her mough.

It chilled her through,
Her nose turned blough,
And still the squall the faster flough.

And yet although
There was no snough,
The weather was a cruel fough.

It made her cough,
(Please do not scough);
She coughed until her hat blew ough.