# Key-Cay. Ok what's the hoo-hay? (Is there a difference?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 27, 2026, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969 "2026-07-27T19:30:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969/21 "2026-07-28T05:19:07Z")
Yay! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969/22 "2026-07-28T05:19:26Z")
Like that, @burpo_the_wonder_mutt ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969/23 "2026-07-28T09:53:27Z")
Ha! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969/24 "2026-07-28T12:40:09Z")
Oh. K. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969/25 "2026-07-28T13:07:16Z")
Nope, “quay” rhymes with “bay”. I already posted a song as proof. Maybe it used to rhyme with “bee”, but if so, that stopped being the case before that song was written (sometime between 1873 and 1895). Language is what people actually use, not what the pedants say they should use. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969/26 "2026-07-28T13:30:16Z")
There was a sidebar discussion over in Site Feedback about a week ago on that topic and somebody flipped a switch and very short posts are now allowed. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969/27 "2026-07-28T13:33:03Z")
The one place I dealt with the word “quay” out in the wild was in New Zealand. Where they pronounce it “key”. Plus/minus their idiosyncratic take on vowel sounds in general. Idiosyncratic from my POV of course; they think US vowels are pretty idiosyncratic too. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969/28 "2026-07-28T14:09:08Z")
K ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969/29 "2026-07-28T15:07:11Z")
The pronunciation of “quay” as “key” is very much alive in Britain. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969/30 "2026-07-28T15:15:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Nope, “quay” rhymes with “bay”. I already posted a song as proof. You’re missing the obvious. He was going to Botany Bee. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969/31 "2026-07-28T15:23:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Nope, “quay” rhymes with “bay”. I already posted a song as proof. I can post a song as well: > [@](#): > > And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay > > I looked at the place where me legs used to be From “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda,” by Eric Bogle. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969/32 "2026-07-28T17:14:21Z")
Que sera sera… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969/33 "2026-07-28T17:25:15Z")
Hm, I’d always assumed that the word in that song was a barrier island, not a wharf. A ship could plausibly pull into either. I’ll partially concede the point, but say that the word “quay” has two different legitimate (i.e., actually used by speakers of the language) pronunciations. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969/34 "2026-07-28T20:00:34Z")
I love this change so much. I have a need for brevity occasionally. I know y’all don’t believe it but there are times when words just don’t gush off my keyboard (kee not kay) onto the screen. For you all to read, enjoy, make fun of, spit at your computer screen over. I have lots of stuff floating around in my head, little concerns, funny words I’m trying to figure out, dog and kitty funzies. Grandwrex frivolity. Just junk, I might wanna say. (Don’t you love it?) I apologize for my occasional vocipherous crap..I’m usually accommodating to people’s opinion. You know, like whatever, if that’s what you wanna think. In moments of weakness, hunger and/or sleepiness I do stupid shit. I know y’all understand. 😄 k? ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969/35 "2026-07-29T04:24:02Z")
We do queer (pronounced “care”) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/key-cay-ok-whats-the-hoo-hay-is-there-a-difference/1031969.md?page=1)