“Phoney Phonetics” by Vivian Buchan, NEA Journal 1966/67, USA
| One reason why I cannot spell, Although I learned the rules quite well Is that some words like coup and through Sound just like threw and flue and Who; When oo is never spelled the same, The duice becomes a guessing game; And then I ponder over though, Is it spelled so, or throw, or beau, And bough is never bow, it’s bow, I mean the bow that sounds like plow, And not the bow that sounds like row – The row that is pronounced like roe. I wonder, too, why rough and tough, That sound the same as gruff and muff, Are spelled like bough and though, for they Are both pronounced a different way. And why can’t I spell trough and cough The same as I do scoff and golf? |
Why isn’t drought spelled just like route, or doubt or pout or sauerkraut? When words all sound so much the same To change the spelling seems a shame. There is no sense – see sound like cents – in making such a difference Between the sight and sound of words; Each spelling rule that undergirds The way a word should look will fail And often prove to no avail Because exceptions will negate The truth of what the rule may state; So though I try, I still despair And moan and mutter “It’s not fair That I’m held up to ridicule And made to look like such a fool When it’s the spelling that’s at fault. Let’s call this nonsense to a halt.” |
Published in Spelling Progress Bulletin Spring 1966 pdf, p6
Leading Language 