# U.S. Dopers, are cot / caught pronounced the same to you?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 23, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823 "2010-09-23T23:35:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/61 "2010-09-24T14:56:14Z")
> [@newme](#):
>
> One word pair where most, if not all of you, make the distinction: **aw** and **ah**
>
> **Aw** , look at the cute baby!
> **Aw** , I’m sorry your team lost.
> **Aw** has the vowel sound of **caught.**
>
> **Ah** , this cold drink tastes great on a hot day.
> Stick out your tongue and say ‘ **ah.** ’
> **Ah** has the vowel sound of **cot**.
To me, this makes the pronunciation of “caught” sound like the parody of the Long Island accent on Mike Myers’ “Cawfee Tawk” Saturday Night Live sketches.
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### Author:  [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/62 "2010-09-24T15:17:47Z")
They sound different to me (I’m in western NY).
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### Author:  [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/63 "2010-09-24T15:40:41Z")
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> > [@C3](#):
> >
> > Huh, that’s where I’m from (Montgomery County, 9th generation) and I pronounce cot & caught differently.
>
> I’ve lived in MoCo my entire life and never heard anyone that’s from here pronounce them the same.
>
> **chizzuk** , are you in/from PG?
I’d also be interested in where his/her parents are from. My kids are growing up in NC, with parents from MD and Australia. They have a bizarre accent and they’ll change it slightly depending on who they’re talking to (ex., they’ll say “cah” to my husband and “car” to me).
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### Author:  [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/64 "2010-09-24T15:53:53Z")
Southern CA.
There is a _very_ slight difference to me in caught/cot, but not enough to keep them from rhyming or being homonyms. Mostly that the vowel sound in caught is stretched out juust a hair. It’s still the same vowel sound though.
The vowel sound for fought/hot is identical.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/65 "2010-09-24T16:19:13Z")
wow. Those words sound so different to my ears.
But, apparently, some people say something like “I cot a fish.” The things I don’t know, and didn’t know I don’t know, could fill an airplane hanger.
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### Author:  [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/66 "2010-09-24T17:01:44Z")
Of course they’re not pronounced the same. Cot is pronounced \ˈkät, while caught is pronounced \ˈthrōt ˈwȯr-blər ˈman-ˌgrōv\
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### Author:  [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/67 "2010-09-24T17:36:56Z")
> [@Procrustus](#):
>
> wow. Those words sound so different to my ears.
>
> But, apparently, some people say something like “I cot a fish.” The things I don’t know, and didn’t know I don’t know, could fill an airplane hanger.
They hang them up?
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/68 "2010-09-24T17:38:07Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#):
>
> > [@elfkin477](#):
> >
> > The second is an actual word (being either caught or cot),
>
> To be crystal clear, the first one was cot. The second was caught. I’m confused when you say “The second is an actual word (being either caught or cot)”. Are you saying that my second pronunciation sounds like cot to you, and that you pronounce the word with an aww sound? If so, I find that extremely interesting because I have never heard that, but would love to. Or are you saying you can’t hear the difference between my first and second pronunciation? I’d find that extremely interesting as well, as they are clearly different.
Sorry, what I’m saying is that the second one is how people here say caught **and** how people say cot both; I said it could be “caught or cot” because as a listener you interpret which word is meant through context and wouldn’t know in isolation which word they’d said (as with hear/here, see/sea, or be/bee). I’ve never heard anyone use the other three pronounciations at all.
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/69 "2010-09-24T17:47:15Z")
> [@Procrustus](#):
>
> wow. Those words sound so different to my ears.
>
> But, apparently, some people say something like “I cot a fish.” The things I don’t know, and didn’t know I don’t know, could fill an airplane hanger.
But now I suppose you’ll tell us that you pronounce “hanger” and “hangar” the same. 😛
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### Author:  [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/70 "2010-09-24T18:12:18Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#):
>
> > [@Procrustus](#):
> >
> > wow. Those words sound so different to my ears.
> >
> > But, apparently, some people say something like “I cot a fish.” The things I don’t know, and didn’t know I don’t know, could fill an airplane hanger.
>
> But now I suppose you’ll tell us that you pronounce “hanger” and “hangar” the same. 😛
Of course not, only a Philistine would pronounce those alike. 😉
Grew up in PG County MD work in DC and live in Baltimore. I pronouce the words in question differently.
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### Author:  [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/71 "2010-09-24T18:40:31Z")
> [@Oakminster](#):
>
> Cot rhymes with hot.
>
> Caught rhymes with fought.
This is how I would pronounce these words as well.
Born in California, raised all over.
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### Author:  [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/72 "2010-09-24T19:41:30Z")
As a non-anglophone I’ve always been bothered with stocking vs. stalking. How do you say ?
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### Author:  [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/73 "2010-09-24T19:46:51Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#):
>
> As a non-anglophone I’ve always been bothered with stocking vs. stalking. How do you say ?
Stocking = Stahking
Stalking = Stawking
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### Author:  [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/74 "2010-09-24T19:55:55Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#):
>
> > [@Gymnopithys](#):
> >
> > As a non-anglophone I’ve always been bothered with stocking vs. stalking. How do you say ?
>
> Stocking = Stahking
> Stalking = Stawking
There’s like 75% of an _L_ in there for my SE Michigan accent: “Staw(\*.75)king”
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### Author:  [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/75 "2010-09-24T20:05:50Z")
Eh. To me, saying aloud “Are you stalking the girl in the stockings?” produces two uses of the same word-sound. In other words, no, no difference in pronunciation.
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### Author:  [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/76 "2010-09-24T20:06:32Z")
Georgian here (Atlanta sub-dialect) and the two words are not homophones to me.
But I pronounce ‘pin’ and ‘pen’ differently as well.
I will query my pubmates this evening.
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### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/77 "2010-09-24T20:07:06Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#):
>
> As a non-anglophone I’ve always been bothered with stocking vs. stalking. How do you say ?
I don’t say them with any difference at all.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/78 "2010-09-24T21:13:18Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#):
>
> Okay, because I love you guys so much, and because I am amazed so many of you can’t hear the difference between cot and caught, I recorded the different pronunciations for you. In fact I recorded four of the commonest ones.
>
> - First is what I’ll call the upper Midwest version, which is a homonym of the word cot.
> - Second is the mid-Atlantic version. This is how I say it.
> - Third is the New York version.
> - Fourth and last is the Appalachian version.
> [Get the file here. It is in .wav format.](http://www.4shared.com/audio/pVZhkC98/Caught.html)
>
> So now, what say you all?
Interesting. I think I pronounce both ‘cot’ and ‘caught’ similarly to your #2. But I’ve occaisionally heard people say I have a hint of an English accent (relative to other Ontarians, that is).
> [@Who\_me\_1](#):
>
> > [@Tom\_Tildrum](#):
> >
> > But now I suppose you’ll tell us that you pronounce “hanger” and “hangar” the same. 😛
>
> Of course not, only a Philistine would pronounce those alike. 😉
I’m not Philistine; I’m Canadian. Sheesh, some people…
🙂
> [@Gymnopithys](#):
>
> As a non-anglophone I’ve always been bothered with stocking vs. stalking. How do you say ?
I pronounce those almost identically. There’s a hint of an ‘l’ sound in ‘stalking’ that isn’t there in ‘stocking’, but the vowels are the same.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/79 "2010-09-24T21:35:54Z")
> [@Kyla](#):
>
> I made a [very short sound file](http://www.mediafire.com/?z6xxex5410xu8yz). I couldn’t find a place to host it where you could just press play and it would play, without downloading. Hm.
Actually, your “caught” and “cot” do sound different to me. However, the difference is not as exaggerated as in my (Chicago) accent, where they’re very clearly different vowel sounds.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dopers-are-cot-caught-pronounced-the-same-to-you/554823/80 "2010-09-24T21:53:46Z")
> [@Oakminster](#):
>
> Cot rhymes with hot.
>
> Caught rhymes with fought.
[Here’s my (nasally) version](http://www.peterpawinski.com/cotcaught.mp3) of those two sentences.
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