# is there an english word without a vowel **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 12, 2002, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279 "2002-12-12T18:07:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/21 "2002-12-12T19:36:20Z")
“games” magazine once claimed “sh” is a legal Scrabble word. Sh. ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/22 "2002-12-12T19:41:13Z")
[This site doesn’t have it but my 2 ton dictionary at home has it (we used it to play scrabble). It is an alternate spelling of the word this link references.](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=cur) [On a similar three lettered theme cwm means a specific type of valley.](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=cwm&r=2) ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/23 "2002-12-12T19:42:18Z")
Maybe I should continue reading before posting next time. Exapno Mapcase seems to have covered cwm. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/24 "2002-12-12T20:33:56Z")
From our friends at Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary: > [@](#): > > Main Entry: sh > Pronunciation: sh often prolonged > Function: interjection > Date: 1847 > — used often in prolonged or rapidly repeated form to urge or command silence or less noise What the rest of y’all’re discussing is orthography, not phonetics. The “sometimes y” rule is for spelling (orthography). That’s because the “y” is used for a particular sound in the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). Now, “myrrh” in IPA wouldn’t be “myrrh” but “mir” or “mirh” depending on how one pronounces it. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/25 "2002-12-12T21:12:11Z")
The word “txt” has increasingly gained a separate meaning to the word it abbreviates, when used specifically with reference to SMS phone messages. Not yet in any dictionaries, but it certainly gets used and understood as a separate word. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/26 "2002-12-12T21:20:33Z")
Hmmph. Pfft. Both of these words see common usage. By me, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/27 "2002-12-12T21:36:15Z")
Here’s a bonus question–name a word which has four vowels in a row. Sorry, no foreign words or proper names. I believe there is only one, but I may be wrong. I’ll be back with the answer if no one gets it! ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/28 "2002-12-12T21:45:33Z")
QUEUE! Actually, according to a Lederer book I read once, MIAOUING, a variant of MEOWING, has _five_ vowels in a row, but I never learned to count, so I can’t check him. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/29 "2002-12-12T21:53:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jayrot \* > Here’s a bonus question–name a word which has four vowels in a row. Sorry, no foreign words or proper names. I believe there is only one, but I may be wrong. I’ll be back with the answer if no one gets it! There’s lots and lots of 4-vowels-in-a-row words. Obsequious, aqueous, onomatopoeia, pharmocopoeia are some common examples. Five vowels in a row is much rarer. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/30 "2002-12-12T22:04:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*QUEUE! Actually, according to a Lederer book I read once, MIAOUING, a variant of MEOWING, has _five_ vowels in a row, but I never learned to count, so I can’t check him. \*\* Having observed that “queue” has four, you might observe that “queueing” has five. ---
**Author:** ![typhoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@typhoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typhoon)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/31 "2002-12-12T22:28:31Z")
There’s no reason you shouldn’t consider “y” a vowel when it’s acting like one. Think of it as a vowel that sometimes acts as a consonant. Also think of the letter “i,” which everyone admits is a vowel, but acted as both a vowel and a consonant until fairly recently. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/32 "2002-12-12T23:46:50Z")
Hmmm? Tsk! ---
**Author:** ![raisinbread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8491ac/32.png) [@raisinbread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raisinbread)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/33 "2002-12-12T23:50:33Z")
Don’t forget sequoia which has four vowels in a row and features every vowel in the alphabet, except that hermaphrodite y. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/34 "2002-12-13T00:11:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ethilrist \* > Hmmph. Appears to be a misspelling there, Ethilrist. > [@](#): > > _Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary_ > Main Entry: [2]humph > Pronunciation: a snort articulated as a syllabic m or n with a voiceless onset and ending in a nasal h or a glottal stop; often read as 'h&m§f > Function: interjection > Etymology: imitative of a grunt > Date: 1815 > — used to express doubt or contempt > [@](#): > > Pfft. Both of these words see common usage. By me, anyway. [/QUOTE] I can’t seem to find this one using any of the spelling variations I considered. ---
**Author:** ![X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbe5ce/32.png) [@X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X_Slayer_ALE)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/35 "2002-12-13T00:27:04Z")
gym hymn byte cyst synch my sty sly cry dry spry try why awry fly fry ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/36 "2002-12-13T00:35:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by X~Slayer(ALE) \* > awry Okay you’re really going to have to justify that one before I buy it. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/37 "2002-12-13T01:34:20Z")
Mmm hmm Nhh nhh ---
**Author:** ![Azael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Azael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azael)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/38 "2002-12-13T04:01:42Z")
> [@](#): > > [Okay you’re really going to have to justify that one before I buy it.](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=awry) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/39 "2002-12-13T04:05:35Z")
Is somebody being whooshed or do you really not see that awry begins with an “a”??? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279/40 "2002-12-13T04:11:24Z")
Psst! and (my favorite) “Mrs.” Some would say Mrs. is an abbreviation. If so, someone please tell me what it is an abreviation for. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-english-word-without-a-vowel/142279.md?page=3)