# Pronunciation of "wolf" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 9, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645 "2010-10-09T23:49:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/21 "2010-10-10T07:14:05Z")
> [@LorieSmurf](#): > > I say wolf, my husband says woof. I make fun of him when he says it. Where did he grow up? ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/22 "2010-10-10T07:17:57Z")
We both grew up in Oklahoma, but different parts of the state. He grew up in he northeast region, and I in the southern region. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/23 "2010-10-10T07:25:59Z")
I was mocked once in high school for not pronouncing the\* l.\* Up to that point I had always thought it was supposed to be elided, like _would_ & _could_. Sometimes I feel like I’m from some parallel world with minor differences… ETA: Yes, I’m the only one who picked “woof” in the poll. I’m from southwest Missouri, but so were the kids that mocked me for saying “woof.” :shrug: ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/24 "2010-10-10T11:36:01Z")
I say woof. I’m trying to break the habit for the sake of my SO who didn’t grow up in these parts and is somewhere between horrified and amused. It’s not a word that comes up often in conversation so it isn’t an easy quirk to change 😃 You and me, **foolsguinea**. You and me. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/25 "2010-10-10T11:53:06Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I pronounce it both ways. I say it with the “L” sound when it’s the name of the animal and I was woof, without the “L” sound when it’s like a dog bark Um . . . that’s because you’re talking about two entirely different words. We’re not talking about the actual word “woof,” like a dog bark. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/26 "2010-10-10T13:37:59Z")
I say “wolf”, my dad says “woof”. He’s from Rome, NY. I can’t remember if the plural for him is “woofs” or “wooves” but even as a kid I thought it was funny. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/27 "2010-10-11T17:00:45Z")
> [@Not\_a\_Platypus](#): > > I say “wolf”, my dad says “woof”. He’s from Rome, NY. I can’t remember if the plural for him is “woofs” or “wooves” but even as a kid I thought it was funny. Yes, I meant to ask, for those of you who say “woof,” how do you pronounce the plural? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/28 "2010-10-11T17:14:47Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > > [@Not\_a\_Platypus](#): > > > > I say “wolf”, my dad says “woof”. He’s from Rome, NY. I can’t remember if the plural for him is “woofs” or “wooves” but even as a kid I thought it was funny. > > Yes, I meant to ask, for those of you who say “woof,” how do you pronounce the plural? Some children who are still learning pluralization rules say “woofs,” and adults generally say “wooves.” That is, they say _wolves_, just like everyone else, and elide the “l” to a greater or lesser degree. I suspect that some of the people voting in the majority on the poll actually don’t enunciate the letter as fully as they think. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/29 "2010-10-11T17:20:59Z")
South Carolina, and I say “woof” unless I try very hard. I think my dad is actually incapable of saying it with the “l” - he’s from south Georgia. ETA - you should hear me and my boyfriend when bathrooms come up and he has no idea if I think we need new tiles or new towels. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/30 "2010-10-11T17:32:26Z")
I pronounce it “woolf” as in Leonard and Virginia Woolf. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/31 "2010-10-11T19:05:49Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Hell, in Pennsylvania, they don’t even pronounce the “l” in their state’s name. Everyone I know from Pennsylvania says “Penns A vania.” When we don’t pronounce it “P.A.” Hell, we were using that abbreviation before the Post Office made it official. I tend to pronounce “wolf” as if it were spelled “wulf” or “woolf”. I don’t know if that’s different from what the OP meant by “wolf” in the poll. I read that as “wolf” pronounced with the vowel of “dolt”. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/32 "2010-10-11T19:21:55Z")
“wolf” but with a swallowed “L.” There’s a definite difference between “wolf” and “woof” but the “L” is nowhere near as pronounced as it could be. I got it from my dad for whom the words “oreo” and “oriole” are homonyms. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/33 "2010-10-11T19:31:04Z")
I say the “l”, as do most people I know. But the non-l pronunciation happens around here too. [aside]I used to know a dog named “Woofen”, who was named because a friend of the owner was going on about the movie “Wolven” at about the same time the dog was acquired. The owner got so tickled with the pronunciation that she used it as the name of her dog.[/aside] On review - I do often use a bit of a swallowed “L”, though. It’s definitely not “woof”, but it’s not a fully-pronounced L, either. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/34 "2010-10-11T19:35:04Z")
Wolf. /wʊlf/ Where I grew up, just outside London (the estuary accent you hear all over TV) it’d be wɒwf. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/35 "2010-10-11T19:44:00Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Yes, I meant to ask, for those of you who say “woof,” how do you pronounce the plural? When I say “wolf,” I think there’s an L in there, but I know it’s a swallowed sort of L and probably sounds more like “woof.” As if it were spelled (w) (u) (very small l) (f). When I say “wolves,” the L comes through a lot more. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/36 "2010-10-11T20:06:16Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > I got it from my dad for whom the words “oreo” and “oriole” are homonyms. homophones, not homonyms:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/37 "2010-10-11T21:04:53Z")
My parents both say “woof” and they grew up in rural towns in the west. I just picture it as a rural thing, like “crick” for creek and “ruf” for “roof”. Their accents are both pretty standard American Midwest but there are a few words that are different. You should hear my mother completely mangle “hormone.” _giggle_ I do say wolf with the l, however, no matter how I was raised. I was also raised saying “pop” and I’ve trained myself to say “soda.” ---
**Author:** ![Ispolkom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@Ispolkom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ispolkom)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/38 "2010-10-11T21:24:29Z")
In North Dakota “wolf” rhymes with “roof,” as Miss Woodhouse says, but I never heard “creek” pronounced as “crick.” When I lived in California I was mocked into learning to insert the “l” in “wolf.” ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/39 "2010-10-11T21:56:28Z")
I’m from Philly, as SE as you can get in Pennsylvania and I have never heard “woof”, not that I noticed. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645/40 "2010-10-11T22:00:58Z")
> [@Miss\_Woodhouse](#): > > I’ve trained myself to say “soda.” That’s your problem. 🙂 I pronounce the L in ‘wolf’, but lived in Pennsylvania long enough that I heard many people omit it. Or was that in Ohio? Hmm… Today I read a Facebook status that referred to ‘woofing’ down one’s food. That’s the best eggcorn I’ve seen today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-wolf/556645.md?page=3)