# Do you pronounce "cot" and "caught" with different vowels, and if so... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 13, 2006, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259 "2006-02-13T10:10:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/41 "2006-02-14T00:49:58Z")
i’m with glee, on cot and caught. with jsc1953 on los angeles. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/42 "2006-02-14T04:18:39Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Strewth! Blimey! Crikey! > > Over this side of the pond, it’s: > > ‘caught’ = ‘taught’ or ‘taut’ or ‘port’ > > ‘cot’ = ‘hot’ or ‘knot’ > > ‘Los (Angeles)’ = ‘loss’ or ‘boss’ To me, the vowels in all of those are the same… except for ‘port’, which has the O in boat just before the R sound. Thanks for clarifying ‘Angelino’, **StGermain**. Is that pronounced ‘ann-jell-ee-no’? **middleman** , what words do you rhyme ‘pie’ with? For me, it sounds like ‘paa-ee’, but shorter, and rhymes with ‘my’, ‘buy’, ‘sly’, ‘lie’, etc. Speaking of Southern, I remember going to a course in Cincinnati for my company. There were people there for further south, and I was quite confused when speaking with one of them, until I realised that his pronunciation of ‘pin’ was the same as mine for ‘pen’ (or the other way around–I can’t remember now). ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/43 "2006-02-14T05:37:42Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Thanks for clarifying ‘Angelino’, **StGermain**. Is that pronounced ‘ann-jell-ee-no’? Actually, as per **Kyla** ’s post, it’s spelled [_Angeleno_](http://www.answers.com/angeleno&r=67). The pronunciation given on the linked page is essentially how I say the word (not that I have that much occasion to utter it). Of course, the fact that the original Spanish word is _angeleño_\* means that I’d say “ahn-hel-AIN-yo” if attempting to carry on a conversation _en español_. To answer the OP’s question, I say _cot_ as “kaht” and _caught_ as “kawt”, with the _o_ in “Los Angeles” basically identical to the vowel sound in _caught_. However, I say _Los Alamos_ “Loce Alamoce”, and _Los Lobos_ just as I would if dusting off the Spanish I last studied in 1977. - Although the word is rendered as _Angeleño_ on the linked page, my teachers of Spanish often repeated the following exhortation to the students: “ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS capitalize countries. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER capitalize nationalities.” By extension, the rule applies to provinces, cities, and the like, as opposed to residents of such political jurisdictions. Thus, I’ve opted for _angeleño_, just as the word for “Spanish” is _español_ and not _Español_. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/44 "2006-02-14T05:49:36Z")
> [@Dusty](#): > > They’re all three different. “[Caught](http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?catch002.wav=caught)” rhymes with “taught”, “[cot](http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?cot00001.wav=cot)” rhymes with “spot”. Since Caught and Cot, and Taught and Tot are (each pair) the same, they all four rhyme with Spot and Got. On the other hand, Mary, Merry and Marry are all different. Go figure. (the dialect survey makes note of these two trends - people usually think one set is the same and the others not) Los and Loss are the same as each other, but not the same as caught/cot or taught/tot - like Moss, actually. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/45 "2006-02-14T19:34:40Z")
I say “cot” & “caught” the same. I took Spanish classes from the 5th or 6th grade on through my first year of college. I can’t _stand_ it when someone says “Los” in Los Angeles or Los Lobos as if it was “Las”. The Portland deejays are always saying “Las Lobos” or “Las Angeles (An-juh-lis)” and it grates on my nerves. To me, it will always be “Los” the way it’s pronounced in Spanish (the “o” rhymes with “toast”, only not as drawn out). ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/46 "2006-02-14T21:07:33Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Since Caught and Cot, and Taught and Tot are (each pair) the same, they all four rhyme with Spot and Got. On the other hand, Mary, Merry and Marry are all different. Go figure. (the dialect survey makes note of these two trends - people usually think one set is the same and the others not) Los and Loss are the same as each other, but not the same as caught/cot or taught/tot - like Moss, actually. Mary, Merry, and Marry are the same for me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/47 "2006-02-15T02:28:08Z")
Not only do I pronounce “cot”, “caught”, and “Los” the same, but I have trouble hearing the differences when people try to pronounce them differently. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/48 "2006-02-15T02:44:12Z")
Thanks for the information, folks! FYI, Canadian English pronounces “cot” and “caught” the same, as well as “Mary,” “merry,” and “marry”. Various American lects pronounce some combinations of these distinctly. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/49 "2006-02-15T11:47:56Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > … “Mary,” “merry,” and “marry”. Various American lects pronounce some combinations of these distinctly. Ditto Commonwealth English (except, it seems, the Canadian variety. 😃 ). Mary rhymes with hairy, merry rhymes with very, and marry rhymes with Harry. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/50 "2006-02-15T14:47:39Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > Mary rhymes with hairy, merry rhymes with very, and marry rhymes with Harry. All of those rhyme for me! ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/51 "2006-02-15T19:22:03Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > All of those rhyme for me! That puts a whole new slant on “When Hairy met Sally”… Southern England here, and not only are caught and cot different, but so are Mary, merry and marry. “Los” is close to “cot”, but with a slightly less emphatic sound, presumably just because it is an unstressed syllable before “AN-geles”. Is there a shortage of vowel sounds over the other side of the Atlantic, or something? 😉 What I find strange is how, when phonetically spelling out these pronunciations, Americans tend to use the “A” vowel in “O” words, e.g. “cot” being pronounced “cAHt”. Where’s that A coming from? It’s an O! The AH sound, for me, comes from the back of the throat with the mouth wide open, whereas the short O in “cot” is more of a frontal sound, with the lips rounded. If you’ve ever seen the BBC series Blackadder, think how Edmund says “Bob”. That’s a nicely exaggerated British “short O”. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/52 "2006-02-15T20:01:35Z")
> [@YaWanna](#): > > I say “cot” & “caught” the same. > > I took Spanish classes from the 5th or 6th grade on through my first year of college. I can’t _stand_ it when someone says “Los” in Los Angeles … as if it was “Las”. HAH! Now tell me, how are you going to ask directions to Los Feliz Blvd., next time you’re lost in LA? Are you going to cling to your fancy Spanish classes, or get where you want to go? (So there!) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/53 "2006-02-15T20:06:04Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Is there a shortage of vowel sounds over the other side of the Atlantic, or something? 😉 It’s part of our nefarious plan to turn English into a pure-positional language with simplified grammar and spelling. Since we were unsuccessful in persuading people to adopt our new phonetic alphabet with enough letters to match the available sounds, we are now working on reducing the number of sounds to match the available letters. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/54 "2006-02-15T20:52:05Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > It’s part of our nefarious plan to turn English into a pure-positional language with simplified grammar and spelling. Since we were unsuccessful in persuading people to adopt our new phonetic alphabet with enough letters to match the available sounds, we are now working on reducing the number of sounds to match the available letters. 🙂 Ahs Brahts wahl nahvahr fahll fahr yahr nahfahrahahs Yahnkah plahns. Sah thahr. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/55 "2006-02-15T21:02:29Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Ahs Brahts wahl nahvahr fahll fahr yahr nahfahrahahs Yahnkah plahns. > > Sah thahr. That’s okay. I’m Canadian. I have right of abode over there in the UK. I like steak-and-kidney pie too. I’m already halfway in. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/56 "2006-02-15T21:27:49Z")
Yeah, I noticed you’re from Canada, but after waiting five minutes for a reply box to appear, I gave up. By the way, nobody in England eats steak and kidney pie. It’s just a sneaky way of offloading unpleasant urine-based offal into the bellies of tourists. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/57 "2006-02-15T22:24:40Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > \ > Is there a shortage of vowel sounds over the other side of the Atlantic, or something? 😉 > \ We’re having a vowel collection to donate some to the Welsh. That “y” is getting a little worn out! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/58 "2006-02-16T00:21:09Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > What I find strange is how, when phonetically spelling out these pronunciations, Americans tend to use the “A” vowel in “O” words, e.g. “cot” being pronounced “cAHt”. Where’s that A coming from? It’s an O!. That seems to be almost the basis of the American accent, at least to my ears. I know that whenever I hear people trying to impersonate an American, that’s how they do it. “O” isn’t the only vowel that Americans like to replace with an “A”. It never fails to raise a chuckle amongst an Australian audience when we listen to an American TV reporter covering wildfires in California or Colorado, and they always mention “teams of _far farters_ battling the blaze”. Must be a new method of back burning or something. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/59 "2006-02-16T10:54:06Z")
All three different. Sorry **matt**! cot- sounds like not, hot, lot, rot, tot caught- sounds like taught, bought,wraught, haughty, ought, nought Los- like boss, toss, moss The vowel in “cot” is more closed than the softer vowel sound in “Los”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259.md?page=2)