Variations of "Ough"

Question

I generally repost this every so often for the benefit of any new members who haven't seen it before. This is an interesting fact for all those English speakers out there, but also for all those Spanish speakers who are learning English. It also goes to show the complexity of our language. the letters "OUGH" in English can be pronounced in eight different ways. here is a short phrase that contains them all.

a tOUGH, dOUGH- faced plOUGHman, thOUGHtfully strode thrOUGH the streets of scarborOUGH, cOUGHing and hiccOUGHing.

Note: hiccoughing can be pronounced hiccupping.

Omg...Eddy, I will commit hara-kiri me now... - Carlos-F, Jan 12, 2010

Terrible isn't it, hehe - Eddy, Jan 12, 2010

Thank you for reminding me why teaching Spanish is so much easier than my previous job: ESL teacher :-) - lachelvi, Jan 12, 2010

That was almost as good as your "Up" post - Yeser007, Jan 13, 2010

Answer 1

Has anyone else seen the I Love Lucy episode where Ricky demonstrates the difficulty of this very thing? It's not only true, it's hilarous. Check out the first two and a half minutes of this: Ricky reading a children's book

I loved this show every week it was on, never missed it. - Eddy, Jan 14, 2010

Answer 2

Este no es pregunto.