How many ways can you pronounce 'ough'

You're becoming as needy as P Hucker. Can't you even put OT in the subject?

Given the subject line, I would have thought that superfluous.

The phrase I was taught to cover all the variants is:

Though the rough cough and hiccough plough me through, I ought to cross the lough.

Bloody hell. Who taught you that ?

theres quite a few more words I can think of:

Bough Bought Brought Furlough Wrought

Bought brought and ought are all the same pronunication. bough is like plough Furlough is unique

The merricans say thoughrow.

oh yeah thats a a few more words

Tough

Though

Thought

Through

Throughput

I have often wondered how "English" (in all its' variations across the world) became the nearest thing we have to a world wide language. It has few rules (and they are often broken) many illogical pronunciations, words that are spelled differently, with different meanings but spoken the same.

Yes, I know "The Empire" and in more modern times the spread of US "culture" but that never quite proves it for me.

We got taught a lot of mnemonics to help us remember odd bits of English for English 'O' level exams. That is one of the few that stuck with me.

Bough - subsumed by plough Bought - subsumed by ought Brought - subsumed by ought Furlough - subsumed by dough Wrought - subsumed by ought

This is a valid sentence in English. See if you can add the required punctuation:

Had had had had had had had had had had would have passed the exam.

Reminds me of ghoti - George Bernard Shaw's alleged re-spelling of fish.

Essentially britain became the most successful empire for a while and by the time that imploded completely, the more successful ex colonys did use a form of english and far more foreigners speak at least a little english than any other european language.

And english never did get simplified like russian did.

It should because the USA essentially took over driving what happened in much of the world industrialisation wise.

What type of school was it ? What you lot call a public school or just a grammar school ? Presumably not a secondary modern.

That is one of the few that stuck with me.

A fairly well known example of the importance of punctuation. It even has its own Wiki entry:

A grammar school, but one that prided itself in the number of open exhibition scholarships its pupils won every year to Oxbridge.

"Slough" is unusual in that it rhymes with "bough" or "enough", depending on the meaning.

surely the slough of despair is pronounce sluff of despair?