Pedants' Paradise

[Serial_Apologist]

“Furlough” hitherto had no meaning in employment law, not even colloquially such as possibly to justify it being used now in the way it is. It shows such an absence of imagination on the part of Cummings. I find this man a daily insult to my intelligence. I dearly wish he would go away.

Given that "furlough" has come up many times in relation to temporarily suspended jobs, and is a word I had never previously encountered, I looked up "furlow" in a number of places, eventually deciding my hearing must be giving me problems. So I would like to thank everyone here for writing the name and giving me its correct spelling!

[LezLee]

I’ve always known ‘furlough’ to mean leave from the armed forces, particularly the army.

[oddoneout]

Given that "furlough" has come up many times in relation to temporarily suspended jobs, and is a word I had never previously encountered, I looked up "furlow" in a number of places, eventually deciding my hearing must be giving me problems. So I would like to thank everyone here for writing the name and giving me its correct spelling!

Which has set me off wondering about why the english word is spelled and pronounced as it is. A colleague who wasn't sure of the pronunciation said 'furloff' initially, which is an approximation to the dutch word from which it originally came, 'verlof'. Was it originally pronounced that way in America where presumably early settlers would have taken it, so the 'ough' was as in 'trough'? I know that spelling was erratic and usage changes pronunciation over time, but your 'furlow' would have made more sense if that was how it was being said originally?

[Bryn]

Which has set me off wondering about why the english word is spelled and pronounced as it is. A colleague who wasn't sure of the pronunciation said 'furloff' initially, which is an approximation to the dutch word from which it originally came, 'verlof'. Was it originally pronounced that way in America where presumably early settlers would have taken it, so the 'ough' was as in 'trough'? I know that spelling was erratic and usage changes pronunciation over time, but your 'furlow' would have made more sense if that was how it was being said originally?

Shades of The Goose Steps Out and the pronunciation of "Slough".

[Pulcinella]

But is that how 'furlow' would have been pronounced?
Think of plow and plough.

Does -ow represent the -off sound anywhere else (thinking cap about to go on!)?

[Padraig]

But is that how 'furlow' would have been pronounced?
Think of plow and plough.

Does -ow represent the -off sound anywhere else (thinking cap about to go on!)?

Krakow?

[Pulcinella]

Krakow?

That's got us off to a cracking start, Padraig.


But I was thinking more UK/US English, as I'm sure you knew.

And given how our US 'friends' pronounce Moscow, what do they make of Krakow?

[LeMartinPecheur]

Which has set me off wondering about why the english word is spelled and pronounced as it is. A colleague who wasn't sure of the pronunciation said 'furloff' initially, which is an approximation to the dutch word from which it originally came, 'verlof'. Was it originally pronounced that way in America where presumably early settlers would have taken it, so the 'ough' was as in 'trough'? I know that spelling was erratic and usage changes pronunciation over time, but your 'furlow' would have made more sense if that was how it was being said originally?

The -ow pronunciation goes back to pre-Dec'n of Independence days (c.1659, Cleveland's wks: 'are but gay Furlows for another World'). OED mentions the Dutch as a possible reason why we put the stress on the first syllable with consequent weakening of the second, shifting it away from Ger. Verlauf.

[cloughie]

I’ve always known ‘furlough’ to mean leave from the armed forces, particularly the army.

Interesting LezLee, that I had not encountered it previously but Mrs C, originally from Liverpool, as I believe you are too, knows of it in the services leave context.

[oddoneout]

The -ow pronunciation goes back to pre-Dec'n of Independence days (c.1659, Cleveland's wks: 'are but gay Furlows for another World'). OED mentions the Dutch as a possible reason why we put the stress on the first syllable with consequent weakening of the second, shifting it away from Ger. Verlauf.

So was the '-ow' spelling the result of phonetic transcription or a direct altering of the possibly Dutch origin?

[Pulcinella]

Interesting LezLee, that I had not encountered it previously but Mrs C, originally from Liverpool, as I believe you are too, knows of it in the services leave context.

Merriam-Webster's dictionary gives 1625 for its use as a noun (a leave of absence from duty granted esp. to a soldier) and 1781 for its use as a verb (to grant a furlough to; to lay off from work).

[LeMartinPecheur]

So was the '-ow' spelling the result of phonetic transcription or a direct altering of the possibly Dutch origin?

Umm, that's a tricky one! Subject to correction I'd guess simple phonetic transcription is more likely, there being a lot more spoken words than written (at least in Pre-Virus Days - remember them?). 'Proper spelling' is of course a late concept anyway, basically post-Dr Johnson's Dictionary of 1785. Before that, if you used a decent phonetic spelling i.e. one that helped your reader make the right noises, it was probably fine. (Except maybe with Classical scholars, where relevant??)

[gurnemanz]

The word makes me think of the German Urlaub (leave or holiday) to which it is obviously related. I went aGoogling and was interested to read that the "lough" bit of it goes back to a posited Indo-European root *leubh- "to care, desire, love." My Chambers Etymological Dictionary gives the first use in English by Ben Jonson in 1625 in the form "verloffe" meaning permission and borrowed from Dutch.

Cognates include "believe", i.e. denoting something you hold dear or you like to think is true - still there in current German "glauben". Also "lief", an obsolete adverb for willingly. The classic Fairport Convention album Liege and Lief comes to mind (it seems to refer to a peasant's pledge to be loyal and willing) The comparative "liefer" (more willingly, preferably) is still very much there in modern German "lieber". Libido is apparently another cognate.

[LeMartinPecheur]

The word makes me think of the German Urlaub (leave or holiday) to which it is obviously related. I went aGoogling and was interested to read that the "lough" bit of it goes back to a posited Indo-European root *leubh- "to care, desire, love." My Chambers Etymological Dictionary gives the first use in English by Ben Jonson in 1625 in the form "verloffe" meaning permission and borrowed from Dutch.

Cognates include "believe", i.e. denoting something you hold dear or you like to think is true - still there in current German "glauben". Also "lief", an obsolete adverb for willingly. The classic Fairport Convention album Liege and Lief comes to mind (it seems to refer to a peasant's pledge to be loyal and willing) The comparative "liefer" (more willingly, preferably) is still very much there in modern German "lieber". Libido is apparently another cognate.

Ooh, gurnie, cognates and etymological dictionaries!

That's inspired me to drag out(*) my Skeat Etymological Dictionary of the Eng. Lang. 1898 and C.T. Onions' Oxford Dictionary of Eng. Lang. Etym., much more modern (1966) but far less fun to read! (The work of both these scholars underlies the full 1933 OED - Skeat died too soon, and anyway was sadly from the 'other place', but Onions was a direct contributor/ co-author.)

Onions adds little except to confirm Dutch as the likely direct source because of our 1st-syllable stress. Skeat, as is his wont, has much more fun with cognates and derivatives, via his entry for LIEF: "love, leave(2), liberal, liberty, liberate, libertine, libidinous. Also deliver; perhaps clever."
Clever, eh?

(*) My physiotherapy bill follows under separate cover

[Sir Velo]

But is that how 'furlow' would have been pronounced?
Think of plow and plough.

Or cough; or rough; or dough