# Silent letters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2005, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-letters/292575 "2005-03-02T09:27:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-letters/292575/1 "2005-03-02T09:27:07Z")
Lincoln, the second “l” is silent. What are some other odd silent letter words? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-letters/292575/2 "2005-03-02T11:19:48Z")
Well to get you going , although I’m not sure if any of these would qualify as ‘odd’ but … there’s the ‘t’ in listen & fasten; the ‘b’ in numb, thumb, lamb not to mention debt & doubt. Then the silent or not ‘t’ in often … ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-letters/292575/3 "2005-03-02T12:38:06Z")
English silent letters are a doddle. Try learning Irish or Scots Gaelic! Although, to be fair, there was a bit of a clean-up in the 1940’s to get rid of most of them in Irish. ---
**Author:** ![hocow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hocow/32/4112_2.png) [@hocow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hocow)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-letters/292575/4 "2005-03-02T14:02:12Z")
My personal pick for most odd is _Corps_. What happens to the p and the s in pronunciation? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-letters/292575/5 "2005-03-02T17:30:42Z")
Phlegm. Wednesday. Band name! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-letters/292575/6 "2005-03-02T18:17:58Z")
Colonel. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-letters/292575/7 "2005-03-02T22:20:04Z")
Worchestershire. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-letters/292575/8 "2005-03-02T22:26:37Z")
Forecastle. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-letters/292575/9 "2005-03-02T22:54:01Z")
The Silent Alphabet A-Aisle B-Subtle C-Indict D-Handsome E-Forte F-Neufchatel G-Gnome H-Myrrh I-Heifer J-Marijuana K-Knight L-Talkfest M-Mnemonic N-Autumn O-Leopard P-Psychotic Q-Quay R-Atelier S-Viscount T-Nuptial U-Plaque V-Volkslied W-Writhing X-Billet-doux Y-Prayer Z-Rendezvous Most of these should be obvious, and all can be found in standard American college dictionaries even if they are borrowed from other languages. Neufchatel is the cheese, not the place it’s named for. Volkslied, a type of folk song, is pronounced as in German, with the “v” as an “f”. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-letters/292575/10 "2005-03-03T01:06:44Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Worchestershire. That’s **WORCESTERSHIRE** , pronounced _Wuster-sheer_. Not to mention **Leicestershire** (Lester-sheer). ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-letters/292575/11 "2005-03-03T09:51:06Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > That’s **WORCESTERSHIRE** , pronounced _Wuster-sheer_. > > Not to mention **Leicestershire** (Lester-sheer). Who knows how to spell that? Not only is it not pronounced how it sounds, its spelled in a wierd way. How would you even pronounce Worcester phonetically anyway? The “wor” part is obvious, but cester? I always want to put an h in there too! I mean really! 😃 Unless you want to say “Worces” sounds like “wors” which makes more sense, but very little! I only kid, but yeah, those are funny. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-letters/292575/12 "2005-03-03T12:11:53Z")
> [@Merkwurdigliebe](#): > > How would you even pronounce Worcester phonetically anyway? The “wor” part is obvious, but cester? I always want to put an h in there too! I mean really! 😃 Not surprising, as it has the same root as the “chester” place element. “Cester” is the older element, I guess, being closer to the Latin “caster”; and “Winchester” was once “Wintoncester” IIRC. Then there’s Gloucester, of course (“Gloster” - like the aircraft firm that made the Gladiator, but that’s another story.) If you think that’s bad, then you’ll really struggle with Cholmondeley (“Chumly”) and Featherstonehaugh (“Fanshaw” (_sic_) ). Diana, Princess of Wales, is buried on Althorp (“Althrup” to the owners) estate. The Norfolk town of Wymondham is pronounced “Win-dem” and the seaside village in much danger of falling into the north Sea, Happisburgh, is pronounced “Hazeboro”. But I’ll leave it to a native Glaswegian to advise you on Milngavie - it can be authentically pronounced half a dozen different ways, of which “Milngavie” is not one. 🙂 Someone mentioned “forecastle” so I’ll add two more nautical terms - there are more - “studding sail” and “boatswain”.