Ghotiy spelling

Question

As some of you likely know, ghoti is an interesting spelling of the word fish.

Using:

the "gh" from "tough"
the "o" from "women",
and the "ti" from "nation"

This is a rather ghotiy way to spell the word. But in the same spirit, what common phrase is spelled below?

ugh theighmolo

Please mention each sound and what word it is taken from (there may be more than one word that fits!)

Hint:

The "u" and "gh" in "ugh" are taken from separate sources.

This page may come in handy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_orthography#Spelling-to-sound_correspondences — Miles, May 10 '16 at 02:40
Given the three answers, the question could be what phrase does it not spell? — Pål GD, May 10 '16 at 16:23
@PålGD Strangely enough, I can't get it to spell "ugh theighmolo"... — paste, May 11 '16 at 00:38

score 183 · Answer 1 · answered May 09 '16 at 20:38

183

It's pronounced

Using these "sounds":

U: as in *guard*.
G: as in *reign*.
H: as in *hour*.

T: as in *ballet*.
H: see above.
E: as in *active*.
I: as in *friend*.
G: see above.
H: see above.
M: as in beginning of *mnemonic*.
O: as in *leopard*.
L: as in *salmon*.
O: see above.

(Examples mostly taken from here.)

answered May 09 '16 at 20:38

f''

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Ok +1 because this is hilarious. But that wasn't what I was looking for. – Devsman May 09 '16 at 20:40
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...I kept clicking the spoiler even after reading the explanatory text. – Deusovi May 09 '16 at 22:19
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I kept trying after reading your comment, @Deusovi, because I thought my phone was rendering something wrong. facepalm – Khale_Kitha May 10 '16 at 00:26
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I think you'll find that the second occurrence of gh is gh as in daughter. – Jonathan Allan May 10 '16 at 01:41
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I'm not English so I didn't know this common phrase :-( – Pierre Arlaud May 11 '16 at 13:28
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TIL you can spell Finnish smalltalk in English. – JiK May 11 '16 at 15:26

ruakh · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-10T20:00:04.720

44

I think it's

egg timer

Explanation:

<u> denotes /ɛ/ in bury (at least in some dialects). (Hat-tip to Miles' Wikipedia-link for this one.)
<gh> denotes /g/ in ghost.

<th> denotes /t/ in thyme.
<eigh> denotes /aɪ/ in height.
<m> denotes /m/ in timer.
<olo> denotes /ɝ/ in colonel. (Technically egg timer ends in /ɚ/ rather than /ɝ/, but I think it's close enough.)

edited May 10 '16 at 20:00

answered May 10 '16 at 19:54

ruakh

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score 18 · Answer 3 · answered May 09 '16 at 22:08

18

It is pronounced

OFF TIMER

Using:

the "ugh" from cough
the "th" from Thaïs
the "ei" from height
the "gh" from slough
the "m" from magic
the "olo" from "colonel"

answered May 09 '16 at 22:08

Lexible

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You could also combine the "ei" and "gh" sections. – f'' May 09 '16 at 22:09
@f'' This is true. :) Hmmm... maybe it's true. The "gh" might be creating the glottal stop in height. – Lexible May 09 '16 at 22:10
The glottal stop is just an allophone of /t/. Compare "sight" with "site" (they should both rhyme with "height"). – f'' May 09 '16 at 22:29
I think the second word might be tamer not timer. As in sleigh. But can't figure out the first. – Z. Dailey May 10 '16 at 05:28
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"cough" is pronounced "coff", so that makes "ugh" = "ff". – Peregrine Rook May 10 '16 at 06:08
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ugh is sometimes pronounced "you". Can't think of any examples. ;-) – Hugh Meyers May 10 '16 at 10:53
+1 This works pronunciation-wise but there's a more common phrase I had in mind. – Devsman May 10 '16 at 12:25
I've never heard of the example word for the second entry in the second spoiler box. Clearly it's a proper name, but it must for something that doesn't seem to appear often or ever in the news sources I access or entertainment that I enjoy. – Todd Wilcox May 10 '16 at 16:48
@ToddWilcox Thaïs was a famous Greek hetaria, and the name of two songs on This Mortal Coil's album Filigree & Shadow. – Lexible May 10 '16 at 17:53
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@Lexible I find it pretty funny that I also have never heard the word "hetaria" before. My college degree is in Mathematics, so that might account for my ignorance. (PS, I also haven't heard the word "hetaira" before, which I'm pretty sure is the word you meant.) Ah, my best friend is a professor of Classics and Sexuality studies, but he's a Latinist, not a Hellenist, so I've probably heard the ancient Latin equivalent before. – Todd Wilcox May 10 '16 at 17:55
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@ToddWilcox . . . o 0 O (am trying to think of a famous manifold projection named "Thaïs" ;). – Lexible May 10 '16 at 17:56
@Lexible Pretty close though. hint :) – Devsman May 10 '16 at 18:17

score 4 · Answer 4 · edited May 10 '16 at 15:48

4

Maybe

a typo? (This phrase may not be so common, but at least is related to spelling)

Using

"u" as in "support"
"gh" as in "weight" (silent)
"th" as in "Thames"
"ei" as in "height"
"gh" as in "hiccough" (pronounced like "hiccup", now obsolete)
"m" as in "mnemonics" (silent)
"o" as in "go"
"l" as in "chalk" (silent)
"o" as in "leopard" (silent)

edited May 10 '16 at 15:48

Community

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answered May 10 '16 at 14:30

trolley813

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I'm not sure that I agree on your assessment of some of those "silent" letters. "chalk" vs "chak" have different pronunciations; the 'l' changes the pronunciation, making it not silent. – Ian MacDonald May 10 '16 at 16:08
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"tap" vs. "tape" the 'e' changes the pronunciation, but wouldn't you still call it a silent 'e'? At least that's what I was taught in grade school. – Alexis Andersen May 10 '16 at 18:49
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@Dane Andersen I do agree with you. Silent letter is a letter which isn't pronounced, in my humble opinion – trolley813 May 10 '16 at 18:52
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... I distinctly pronounce the 'l' in 'chalk'. Am I just weird? – Tin Wizard May 11 '16 at 18:57
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@Amadeus9 I'm kinda confused who doesn't. "Chock?" – Devsman May 16 '16 at 12:57
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I have never pronounced the "l" in "chalk", or heard anyone pronounce it. It sounds strange to me to pronounce it that way. (I was born and raised in the northeast US.) – V2Blast Jun 21 '21 at 02:18

Ghotiy spelling

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