# Let's find silent letters **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 16, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628 "2009-08-16T15:59:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/21 "2009-08-17T04:20:42Z")
> [@ragerdude](#): > > Do you pronounce “whole” and “whore” differently than “hole” and “hoar”? No. > [@](#): > > Do you pronounce “where” and “which” differently than “wear” and “witch”? Slightly. ETA: I assumed you were responding to me saying that I did not pronounce them differently - I did not notice it was a response to Chronos. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2009, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/22 "2009-08-17T04:50:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Do you pronounce “whole” and “whore” differently than “hole” and “hoar”? Do you pronounce “where” and “which” differently than “wear” and “witch”? Yes, those are all different, though the difference is very slight for “whole/hole” and “whore/hoar” (in both cases, the aspiration is slightly stronger with the W). And I also pronounce “sword” with a slightly different vowel (or vowel blend, or whatever it’s called) than “soared”. > [@](#): > > I am not sure it is unambiguous. Would you really pronounce “lacuer” the same as “lacquer”? I suppose in languages/dialects with umlauts, “lacuer” might be pronounced differently, but then again, “lacquer” might get the same treatment in those languages. Would you say them any differently? ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/23 "2009-08-17T11:42:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I suppose in languages/dialects with umlauts, “lacuer” might be pronounced differently, but then again, “lacquer” might get the same treatment in those languages. Would you say them any differently? It’s tough to say really, given that the combination of letters does not appear in any English words. It is pronounced differently from lacquer in evacuer and acuerdo but, as you say, lacquer would also be pronounced differently in French and Spanish. So on reflection, I will take “lacquer” as having a silent Q. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/24 "2009-08-17T11:43:17Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > To and too are pronounced differently. “Too” has a much longer vowel sound, as one would expect from the double “o”. That’s nice. Both Merriam Webster and American Heritage indicate they can be pronounced the same. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/25 "2009-08-17T11:47:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Yes, those are all different, though the difference is very slight for “whole/hole” and “whore/hoar” (in both cases, the aspiration is slightly stronger with the W). And I also pronounce “sword” with a slightly different vowel (or vowel blend, or whatever it’s called) than “soared”. I pronounce them differently too. Specifically (for me) I have a rising intonation on the o in the w words while the “o” sound on the other two is flat (for lack of a better term). ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/26 "2009-08-17T11:57:09Z")
> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > Both Merriam Webster and American Heritage indicate they can be pronounced the same. So they do. I don’t use the longer pronunciation of “to” myself, but I guess that gets us once more into differences of dialect. We already have an O, so it is somewhat academic, but “too” qualifies for some people. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/27 "2009-08-17T12:20:55Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > So they do. I don’t use the longer pronunciation of “to” myself, but I guess that gets us once more into differences of dialect. We already have an O, so it is somewhat academic, but “too” qualifies for some people. The way I looked at it, I took the second o off too and said, do I pronounce “to” as “toe”? ---
**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:** [August 17, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/28 "2009-08-17T15:45:40Z")
But if we’re going to count double letters, which one is the silent one? ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/29 "2009-08-17T15:54:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But if we’re going to count double letters, which one is the silent one? The one you don’t pronounce :dubious: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/30 "2009-08-17T16:50:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But if we’re going to count double letters, which one is the silent one? So far we have not needed to count double letters. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/31 "2009-08-17T16:56:01Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by **Jamicat** > > still need O > > Oesophagus (got to make use of my English background). Or, if that’s too exotic for you, “people.” ---
**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:** [August 17, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/32 "2009-08-17T17:21:43Z")
> [@](#): > > So far we have not needed to count double letters. We haven’t in this thread, but so far the only non-dialectical examples offered for R here or in any of the links have been doubles. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/33 "2009-08-17T17:32:43Z")
> [@Jamicat](#): > > Silent l: walk, talk, salmon, almond, calm, yolk > Silent m: mnemonic I don’t say wak or tak; I’m not from Boston, you know. Does anyone omit the ‘l’ sound from almond? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/34 "2009-08-17T17:37:04Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Does anyone omit the ‘l’ sound from almond? Lots of people. I put a light “l” in there, but, then again, I put a light “l” in “folk,” where most people (at least to my ears and the dictionary) say “foke.” ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/35 "2009-08-17T17:44:30Z")
Interesting. The only one of those words that I’d say has a truly silent ‘l’ is salmon, but in any case, I suppose the list got the task done. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/36 "2009-08-17T18:51:52Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Interesting. The only one of those words that I’d say has a truly silent ‘l’ is salmon, but in any case, I suppose the list got the task done. Though I put a light “l” in “folk” and “yolk,” the “l” is definitely silent in “talk” and “walk.” (In my dialect, it’s “tawk” and “wawk.”) I don’t think I’ve ever noticed anyone putting an “l” in those. edit: The dictionaries I’ve consulted don’t even give that as an alternate pronunciation, but we do have at least two people in this thread who insert an “l” in there. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/37 "2009-08-17T21:29:33Z")
How common is it not to pronounce the ‘d’ in ‘sandwich’? My D is pretty strong in that word. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/38 "2009-08-17T22:18:08Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Interesting. The only one of those words that I’d say has a truly silent ‘l’ is salmon, but in any case, I suppose the list got the task done. Yep. While I do not prounounce the ‘l’ in almond, it is not really “silent” in the way I am using it in this thread: “almond” is different from “amond”. Arguably, samon could be pronounced saymon, but I am happy to regard samon as being the same as salmon. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/39 "2009-08-17T22:19:24Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > How common is it not to pronounce the ‘d’ in ‘sandwich’? My D is pretty strong in that word. I pronounce it, too. The best one of the Ds to my ears is ‘handkerchief’. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628/40 "2009-08-17T22:37:45Z")
Would February pass muster? For the R, that is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-find-silent-letters/506628.md?page=3)