# How do you spell the word that sounds like "ore derves"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2000, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172 "2000-11-14T17:15:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172/1 "2000-11-14T17:15:34Z")
I can’t find the correct spelling for this word which means finger food or appetizers. I think it is, “hour’derve”, but that just doesn’t look right. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172/2 "2000-11-14T17:18:10Z")
_hors d’oeuvres_. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172/3 "2000-11-14T17:19:51Z")
hors d’oeuvres (or you could just say “canapés”) ---
**Author:** ![stargazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@stargazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stargazer)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172/4 "2000-11-14T17:19:55Z")
It’s hors d’oeuvres. I had to look it up to get it exact – zoze wacky French! ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172/5 "2000-11-14T17:21:03Z")
‘outside of work’. _hors_ – outside _d’_ – of _œuvre_ – work. The idea being that these little morsels were extrinsic to the main work of preparing the dinner. ---
**Author:** ![malden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@malden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malden)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172/6 "2000-11-14T17:22:21Z")
Shoot, someone beat me to the punch. That word is a good example of why you can’t always use a dictionary to figure out the spelling of a word. If you can’t spell it, how do you look it up? In this case, “h” is probably not the first letter you’d think to check in the dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172/7 "2000-11-14T17:45:01Z")
“Petit” larceny was a surprise to me, but at least it’s near “petty” in the dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![DavisMcDavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@DavisMcDavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavisMcDavis)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172/8 "2000-11-14T18:20:15Z")
I always teased my brother, who now actually lives in France, that the French simply drop random letters from their words and don’t pronounce them, while filtering the remainder of the word through their nasal passage. The English language is phar, phar moor sensable and eesier to spel, eye thinck. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172/9 "2000-11-14T19:40:21Z")
Or check the archives: [What’s the origin of “hors d’oeuvres”?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mhorsd.html) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172/10 "2000-11-14T19:42:38Z")
Thanks for the spelling tips. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172/11 "2000-11-14T19:45:49Z")
But where on a horse are its doovers? ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172/12 "2000-11-14T20:00:32Z")
I always thought it was doves that slept around: Whore Doves 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Pinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dr.Pinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Pinky)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172/13 "2000-11-14T21:39:11Z")
“Appetizers” * * * Dr. Pinky, slayer of threads, padder of counts ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172/14 "2000-11-14T21:45:58Z")
Of course, this is where I must mention that until I started to learn French in high school I was under the impression that the phrase was pronounced “whores devores”. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-word-that-sounds-like-ore-derves/41172/15 "2000-11-14T22:06:41Z")
My oh-so-wacky family alternately pronounced it thusly: “Hours devours” or “Whores de ovaries.” Hee hee.