# Last sound long O, how many different last letters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 10, 2020, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623 "2020-10-10T11:49:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/1 "2020-10-10T11:49:55Z")
Trivia question: Given the set of English words that end in long O. How many different terminal letters are in that set? Assume rhotic American accent (that’s one where we know how to pronounce our Rs.) I’ll post the answer in a few days Please put your answer in a spoiler section so that others can answer without influence. Reminder: the spoiler tags need to go on separate lines with nothing else on those lines. Otherwise, they don’t work. I wasn’t sure where to post this, here in MPSIMS or in Thread Games. Mods feel free to move it if appropriate (as if they needed my permission to move it). ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/2 "2020-10-10T14:37:20Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Given the set of English words that end in long O. How many different terminal letters are in that set? Do you mean English words that end in a long o _sound_? Because all words that end in an o that is a long o end in o. Are foreign borrow words allowed? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/3 "2020-10-10T14:52:33Z")
I am getting 6. e (roe) h (oh, pharaoh) o (of course) s (mots, plural of mot, from the French) t (depot, mot) u (bayou, secondary pronunciation) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/4 "2020-10-10T17:30:11Z")
I found 9, or 10 if proper names are allowed a - cocoa, whoa e - foe, woe h - though, dough o - so, memo s - apropos, malapropos t - depot, escargot u - bureau, bateau w - window, fellow x - gateaux, bateaux If proper names are allowed, also d for Pernod, Gounod ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/5 "2020-10-10T20:50:02Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Do you mean English words that end in a long o _sound_ ? Because all words that end in an o that is a long o end in o. > > Are foreign borrow words allowed? Yes and yes. Once words are borrowed, they become English words, no different than native English words. True, there’s often a transition period where they may not be totally assimilated, but I’m willing to accept even those. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/6 "2020-10-10T20:57:39Z")
Damn, that’s good. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/7 "2020-10-12T16:52:37Z")
Bumping this thread, in case anyone else wants to take a stab at it. As far as the correct answer, @bibliophage has all 9 of the letters I knew of, plus another one with capitailzed letters I was unaware of (but suspected there might be). Most excellent, bib. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/8 "2020-10-13T06:04:35Z")
9 letters, damn that’s good. I was thinking possibly J but can’t think of a word ending in oj. There might be some…? ETA: I once knew a man with last name Nawoj, and maybe I was thinking of him, but he pronounced his name “na-VOY”. So, not a long O. ETA-2: here are several words ending in OJ but I don’t recognize any of them: [Words that end in oj | Words ending in oj](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/words-that-end-in-oj) ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/9 "2020-10-13T06:43:43Z")
There are French names ending in silent-p such as _Metrop_. Don’t know if any have carried over to the English-speaking world. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/10 "2020-10-13T10:08:16Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > ETA-2: here are several words ending in OJ but I don’t recognize any of them: [Words that end in oj | Words ending in oj](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/words-that-end-in-oj) Those look like Esperanto. Nouns end in -o in Esperanto, plurals end in -oj. Years ago I wrote an article for Word Ways listing all the English words ending in J. I scoured several unabridged dictionaries, including the OED. Total was about 40 words, including capitalized words.Fairly sure there were none ending in -oj. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/11 "2020-10-14T14:53:32Z")
I’m calling bayou into question. I’ve heard it mostly pronounced BUY-ou. Are we counting words where accents can come into play? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/12 "2020-10-14T15:02:55Z")
I’ve heard it pronounced ‘buy-o’ in a song lyric. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/13 "2020-10-14T16:53:23Z")
By CCR, who weren’t from the area. Or in Ramblin’ Man. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/14 "2020-10-14T17:55:36Z")
I was thinking of Ramblin’ Man and Jambalaya but just listened to Born on the Bayou and it does turn to an ‘o’ sound at the end. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/15 "2020-10-14T20:37:37Z")
Don’t worry about _bayou_. There are other qualified words ending in U, so it’s not needed to count that letter. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/16 "2020-10-14T21:12:11Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > I’m calling bayou into question. I’ve heard it mostly pronounced BUY-ou. Are we counting words where accents can come into play? Dictionaries give buy-oh as a secondary pronunciation. If you don’t agree then let’s go with bureau. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-sound-long-o-how-many-different-last-letters/922623/17 "2020-10-15T15:22:29Z")
Good replacement.