Mmm one of those nightmares where hearing a word pronounced has escaped one’s education! I’m 53 and I just discovered this year that ague is pronounced in this way! I think as a child I must have read the word and wrongly assumed that it was pronounced to rhyme with plague, vague, Hague etc. French, German, Czech – all have their difficulties but the pronunciation is so much more predictable than English.
Thank you for this thoughtful and interesting article.
Gregory Harris:
August 18th, 2019 at 8:58 am
I pronounce “ague” as “AG-way” to rhyme with “segue” and “Hemingue.”
M:
August 30th, 2019 at 2:56 pm
A passing thought, pronounced as one syllable, wouldn’t it sound like the backhalf of ‘plague’?
Heather Allan:
December 19th, 2019 at 5:07 pm
I also thought it was pronounced to rhyme with vague, it was hearing someone say it probably for the first time and me quietly thinking that cannot be right, coupled with some googling that led me to this post.
Ginger Smith:
September 16th, 2020 at 11:20 am
I always pronounced the word to rhyme with plague…the other night I watched an old episode of Gunsmoke and heard Chester and Doc pronounce it a- guyoo so here I am doing a little research into the correct pronunciation. Doc and Chester were right.
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Simon:
August 9th, 2019 at 11:43 pm
Mmm one of those nightmares where hearing a word pronounced has escaped one’s education! I’m 53 and I just discovered this year that ague is pronounced in this way! I think as a child I must have read the word and wrongly assumed that it was pronounced to rhyme with plague, vague, Hague etc. French, German, Czech – all have their difficulties but the pronunciation is so much more predictable than English.
Thank you for this thoughtful and interesting article.
Gregory Harris:
August 18th, 2019 at 8:58 am
I pronounce “ague” as “AG-way” to rhyme with “segue” and “Hemingue.”
M:
August 30th, 2019 at 2:56 pm
A passing thought, pronounced as one syllable, wouldn’t it sound like the backhalf of ‘plague’?
Heather Allan:
December 19th, 2019 at 5:07 pm
I also thought it was pronounced to rhyme with vague, it was hearing someone say it probably for the first time and me quietly thinking that cannot be right, coupled with some googling that led me to this post.
Ginger Smith:
September 16th, 2020 at 11:20 am
I always pronounced the word to rhyme with plague…the other night I watched an old episode of Gunsmoke and heard Chester and Doc pronounce it a- guyoo so here I am doing a little research into the correct pronunciation. Doc and Chester were right.