# Strewn or Strown? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 8, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221 "2014-03-08T21:41:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/1 "2014-03-08T21:41:41Z")
I have always referred to a cluttered house or something scattered about as being “strown” (rhymes with stone). Most Northerners I have no refer to it as being “strewn” (rhymes with rune). Per wiki, ‘strown’ is an archaic English form of ‘strewn’. I’m curious as to which is the most prevalent in today’s use. Which one did you grow up using more hearing? A comment on where you grew up may also help. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/2 "2014-03-08T21:46:27Z")
I say “strewn” and, until this poll, had never heard of the pronunciation “strown”. ETA: I grew up in Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/3 "2014-03-08T22:06:08Z")
Strewn. I have never heard the “strown” version. I grew up in Europe, mostly, although I am in the US now. Also it seems to me that “strewn” (or “strown” if you prefer) is an active adjective, indicating things being purposefully scattered about. I would not describe a cluttered house as strewn. I might say the house was cluttered because things had been strewn about inside, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/4 "2014-03-08T22:06:54Z")
Strewn. Western, NY. Never heard of strown (which just autocorrected to strewn!) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/5 "2014-03-08T22:17:52Z")
Weird. On my Facebook page, Alabamans and Georgians, even upper-middle class/well educated ones, are unanimously saying “strown” and anyone from Mid Atlantic north or the Midwest is saying strewn. I was grown before I heard strewn. Or maybe I was grewn. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/6 "2014-03-08T22:18:29Z")
Strewn, as in: “It pisses me off to leave a clean house, and come back to find clothes and dirty dishes strewn everywhere again!” Never heard ‘strown’. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/7 "2014-03-08T22:19:18Z")
Strewn but always with something, e.g. this room is a mess - it’s strewn with clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/8 "2014-03-08T22:19:45Z")
PS: Apologies for the wacky spelling and syntax in the OP. Siri is not a very good secretary. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/9 "2014-03-08T22:21:45Z")
Strewn here. I have never heard strown. I grew up in northern WV and have lived mostly in WV, PA, and MD. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/10 "2014-03-08T22:24:07Z")
Strewn. From Michigan. Never heard of strown. Do you still spell it “strewn”? I’m not finding any definitions for “strown” online. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/11 "2014-03-08T22:25:44Z")
Strewn here too (Australia) and as **saje** and **jabiru** mentioned, not a word used alone, but in conjunction with the thing/s being strewn. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/12 "2014-03-08T22:32:22Z")
I have heard “strown,” but I always assumed it was a variant pronunciation of strewn. You know, like the archaic shewn as used in the KJV Bible. I personally use “strewn” pronounced “stroon”, though. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/13 "2014-03-08T22:33:21Z")
I’ve definitely heard both, but definitely use strewn. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/14 "2014-03-08T22:35:16Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > Strewn but always with something, e.g. this room is a mess - it’s strewn with clothes. Yes, this. A _house_ isn’t strewn. Papers might be strewn about the living room, though. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/15 "2014-03-08T22:40:28Z")
Never heard of strown before. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/16 "2014-03-08T23:27:32Z")
Chicago, never heard “strown” until now. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/17 "2014-03-08T23:48:59Z")
I am British (but lived over 20 years in California), and I have never before heard of “strown”. Where is it that you think that people say “strown”? Is it the southern USA? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/18 "2014-03-09T00:32:17Z")
The answer, my friend, is strowen in the wind. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/19 "2014-03-09T01:00:50Z")
“strewn” = “stroon”… Chicago and NY State. ---
**Author:** ![JacksMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/839c29/32.png) [@JacksMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacksMom)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221/20 "2014-03-09T02:53:09Z")
Louisiana, US I grew up hearing ‘strown about’ mostly when I was getting in trouble for a messy room. My parents grew up in Mississippi. I still hear it said ‘strown’ but I live very close to the MS state line and there are a lot of MS transplants here. I’ve lived across the south from TX to Georgia, and I think it’s fairly common in northern LA, MS, AL, and GA but not heard commonly in TX and southern LA. It’s hard to say because it’s not a usual occurrence for non-family members to comment on things being strewn/strown about. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strewn-or-strown/683221.md?page=2)