# Of TEN or Of EN? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 28, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184 "2005-01-28T21:11:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/1 "2005-01-28T21:11:58Z")
Often. How do you pronounce it? I usually find myself switching back and forth between the two. I didn’t even realize this until a friend of mine pointed it out when I used the word a couple times when talking to him. Looking at [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com), I see both pronunciations given. So which are you partial to? Or don’t you ever notice? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/2 "2005-01-28T21:30:59Z")
Actually, I pronounce it: OFF-en ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/3 "2005-01-28T21:48:31Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Actually, I pronounce it: OFF-en me too. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/4 "2005-01-28T21:49:53Z")
I put the T in in it: Of-ten ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/5 "2005-01-28T21:53:04Z")
OFF-TEN here. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/6 "2005-01-28T21:54:45Z")
Off’tn ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/7 "2005-01-28T21:57:18Z")
My elementary school teachers would correct any child who sounded the t. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/8 "2005-01-28T21:59:13Z")
OFF-n ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/9 "2005-01-28T22:02:46Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > My elementary school teachers would correct any child who sounded the t. :dubious: say it ain’t so. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/10 "2005-01-28T22:05:56Z")
I suspect that **ArrMatey** would pronounce it _orphan._ ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/11 "2005-01-28T22:06:45Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > My elementary school teachers would correct any child who sounded the t. They musta been off’n they rockers. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/12 "2005-01-28T22:24:26Z")
In the well-known scene in G&S’s Pirates of Penzance, Major-General Stanley and the Pirate King clearly pronounce “often” and “orphan” in the same way, and presumably with an educated upper-class 19th-century English accent: > [@](#): > > MAJOR-GENERAL: I ask you, have you ever known what it is to be an orphan? > PIRATE KING: Often! > MAJOR-GENERAL: Yes, orphan. Have you ever known what it is to be one? > PIRATE KING: I say, often. > ALL: (disgusted) Often, often, often. (Turning away) > MAJOR-GENERAL: I don’t think we quite understand one another. I ask you, have you ever known what it is to be an orphan, and you say “orphan”. As I understand you, you are merely repeating the word “orphan” to show that you understand me. > PIRATE KING: I didn’t repeat the word often. > MAJOR-GENERAL: Pardon me, you did indeed. > PIRATE KING: I only repeated it once. > MAJOR-GENERAL: True, but you repeated it. > PIRATE KING: But not often. > MAJOR-GENERAL: Stop! I think I see where we are getting confused. When you said “orphan”, did you mean “orphan”,a person who has lost his parents, or “often”, frequently? > PIRATE KING: Ah! I beg pardon-- I see what you mean – frequently. > MAJOR-GENERAL: Ah! you said “often”, frequently. > PIRATE KING: No, only once. > MAJOR-GENERAL: (irritated) Exactly-- you said “often”, frequently, only once. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/13 "2005-01-28T22:27:51Z")
I pronounce the t. Off-ten ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/14 "2005-01-28T22:50:20Z")
Posh: We don’t orftern have guests, let allone offer them horsepitality. Not Posh. My dog is like a famous composer. He off’n barks. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/15 "2005-01-28T23:40:04Z")
There are really no absolutes in this case, because the ‘t’ sound has been restored with modern spelling conformity and awareness of same. But, the ‘t’ in ‘often’ is silent, just as it is silent in ‘listen’ and ‘soften’. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/16 "2005-01-28T23:59:43Z")
I don’t pronounce the _t_, and I cringe when I hear it pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/17 "2005-01-29T00:13:40Z")
The pronunciation has an interesting history. From the OED: > [@](#): > > Often is less commonly used than oft until the 16th cent. Several orthoepists of the 16th and 17th centuries, including Hart, Bullokar, Robinson, Gil, and Hodges, give a pronunciation with medial -t-. Others, including Coles, Young, Strong, and Brown, record a pronunciation without -t-, which, despite its use in the 16th cent. by Elizabeth I, seems to have been avoided by careful speakers in the 17th cent. (see E. J. Dobson Eng. Pronunc. 1500-1700 (ed. 2, 1968) II. §405). Loss of t after f occurs in other cases; cf. SOFTEN v., and also RAFT n.1, HAFT n.1, etc. The pronunciation with -t- has frequently been considered to be hypercorrection in recent times: see for example H. W. Fowler Mod. Eng. Usage (1926), s.v. Nowadays, the “t” is more commonly silent, but pronouncing it is not “wrong.” I don’t: it’s “offen.” ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/18 "2005-01-29T00:23:53Z")
I pronounce the T, just like in “oft”. “Of’en” sounds lazy to me. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/19 "2005-01-29T00:27:52Z")
OFF-EN, with the t silent. The other sounds ridiculously affected to me. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184/20 "2005-01-29T00:34:23Z")
I use both. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-ten-or-of-en/287184.md?page=2)