On Wed, 27 Aug 1997, Charles & Mary Boewe wrote:

> As I sit on my couch and crouch over dictionaries, I realize I cannot
> vouch for the fact that "smouch" rhymed with "ouch" in Mark Twain's
> America.  But, as implied in my recent note via e-mail pouch, I accept
> the OED pronunciation until smOOch can be legitimately documented.
>
> Sorry to be such a grOOch!
>
>                         Mary Boewe

Very sensible.

The distinguished *Century Dictionary* (volume 5), published 1890-91, is a
fully American authority for "smouch" (rhymes with ouch). Also, *Webster's
Third New International Dictionary,* published in 1981 and an eminently
distinguished work in its own right, gives the same (ouch) pronunciation
for the 4th form of the word, meaning to get by stealing or trickery. By
contrast, for the first form, meaning a slobbery smacking kiss, it gives
two pronunciations, first "smooch" then "smouch" (rhymes with ouch). The
inference is that the older, British form even for a slobbery kiss was
pronounced like ouch.

When Josephine Hobby typed up Mark Twain's dictation for 19 November 1906,
which he subsequently went over and corrected in ink, she typed
"smouched," not "smooched." And even though Ramsay and Emberson (*Mark
Twain Lexicon*) say that Mark Twain's spelling in a 1935 edition of
"*Slovenly Peter* probably indicates his usual pronunication" (smooch), a
check of the manuscript shows that Mark Twain spelled it "smouch," as he
did invariably elsewhere. So the 1935 printer's pronunciation may have
been "smooch" but Mark Twain's was in all likelihood "smouch" (rhymes with
ouch).

Bob Hirst
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