In the city of my youth, I recall a major cross street named Loughborough, a long name containing two identical “ough” syllables. Local residents pronounced the two syllables differently, as “Luff’ and “Oh”, to obtain the desired pronunciation: “luff’ – bohr – oh.”

For good balance, one would have expected consistent pronouncement of the “ough” sound, as either: “Luff’ – bohr – uff” or “Loh’ – bohr – oh.” Either one would have made the name more memorable, but it does not stop there. Many “ough” sounds vary as:

(1) “auff” as in rough, rhymes with puff
(2) “okh” as on the Scottish loch, sometimes spelled lough
(3) “ow” as in plough, bough, rhymes with cow
(4) “oo” as in through, or slough, rhymes with too
(5) “oh” as in dough, though, rhymes with go
(6) “uhp” as in hiccough, rhymes with cup
(7) “uhff” as in cough, rhymes with off
(8) “aw” as in thought, rhymes with caught
(9) “a” as the a in above, called a schwa.

With nine different sounds, Loughborough could have been pronounced in a myriad of ways, depending on the sound combinations of the selected “ough” syllable. Surely, when one street name encompasses so many potential different pronunciations, a better alternative must exist. Can you imagine a tourist giving instructions to a cab driver, who knows the location of “Luff’ – bohr – oh,” but has no idea where “Loo – bohr – oo” or “luhp’ – bohr – okh” may be? — perhaps invoking a tearful, Bough Hough (Boo Hoo!)

The “ough” sound comes from Middle English. Old Anglo-Saxon words, like “loch” pronounced the “h” as a hard h, but when the Normans arrived, they softened the sound with a “gh”, which remained, but continued with a strained pronunciation. Etymologists identify the “gh” combination as a digraph or consonant blend. In the beginning of a word, “gh” compels an “g” sound, in the middle may be silent, and at the end assumes a “f” sound. (english.stackexchange.com) Ghosh!

Enough on ‘ough!” Etymologists ought to: give thought to, get tough on, and move the slough of “ough” sounds, through thorough studies to achieve better consonance.