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So I was a student of English was taught English right on the border between the US and Canada. My husband (who is from the Southwestern states) was reading something I wrote where I used the spelling hiccough and laughed at the spelling as he had not yet encountered it. I was wondering if there was any regionality behind how one spelling gets chosen over another in how the spelling is taught. I actually know and use both spellings (I don't know why I choose one over another in any particular circumstance).

To draw an analogy, all over BC Canada, you find "cheque" spelled as I show here. However, all over Washington State US, you find it spelled, "check." Pronunciation is the same. I'm just wondering if any one knows if there is a similarity in regard to hiccup/hiccough.

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More likely age, socioeconomic group, and education are the relevant variables, rather than region. Spelling is not part of language, but rather writing, and has to do with education, not with regional dialects. Pronunciation of /'hɪkəp/ may vary regionally, but spelling is entirely a function of primary education, which -- in the U.S.A, anyway, is locally autonomous and independent in curriculum. –  John Lawler Nov 21 '12 at 18:53
I may not be using the correct terminology, but I would equate it to the Canadian "Cheque" vs. US "Check" where I have encountered shifts in spelling based on culture and region of origin. –  balanced mama Nov 21 '12 at 18:59
I always presumed it was more akin to "aluminum" vs "aluminium" that is to say: a different word, but I see it asserted that they are pronounced the same (and the internet is always right). –  horatio Nov 21 '12 at 20:20
The -ough ending is pronounced in a lot of different ways, of which '-up' is probably the most outlandish. –  Edwin Ashworth Nov 21 '12 at 22:05
@ Edwin Ashworth agreed. –  balanced mama Nov 22 '12 at 2:35

5 Answers 5

Hiccup is the elder of the two words but not by much. Regionalism doesn't dictate any difference in spelling and labeling either correct in an etymological sense is difficult.


hiccough 1620s, variant of hiccup (q.v.) by mistaken association with cough.

By etymological standards, both have "folk etymologies" although hiccup is the most correct. The earlier hyckock combined hyck (an onomatopoetic) with the diminutive suffix -ock. Compare that to hiccough which is derived from the same onomatopoetic "hic" sound and the mistaken combination of that with "cough." For this reason, hiccough could be called a piece of false folk etymology.

It is labeled "a mere error" by the OED. That, perhaps, says it all.

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Hey, the OED's not all bad. –  Edwin Ashworth Nov 21 '12 at 22:03

Check is American English, Cheque is British English. Hiccup is American, and Hiccough is British. Canada tends to use British English spellings like color (Am.) vs. Colour (Br.).

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No, ‘hiccup’ vs. ‘hiccough’ is not an American vs. British English thing. ‘Hiccup’ is the more common and more standard form on both sides of the Pond, with ‘hiccough’ being a less common, alternative form. –  Janus Bahs Jacquet Oct 25 '13 at 23:51

Since I'm American and was raised spelling it hiccough, I agree with John Lawler. It must have to do with the curriculum and/or the preferences of your English teacher at the time, since both are correct. I might even find that my brothers, who had their primary education in a different state than I, spell it hiccup.

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Welcome to EL&U. This is not a discussion forum, but a Q&A site; to agree with an existing answer, please "upvote" it using the icons to the left of it, rather than submitting a new answer. I encourage you to take the site tour and to peruse the help center. –  choster Mar 11 '14 at 16:30

I think "hiccough" represents the written form, and that, in modern parliance, "hiccup", reflects the pronunciation, and has therefore migrated into orthography. Whether the "folk etymology" represents a historical confusion with "cough" or not, it seems that today, "hiccough" is the more formal written spelling. I remember encountering it first in published books, and wondering how it could be that that word was pronounced "hiccup". As "donut" slowly encroaches upon "doughnut" both in spelling and morphology (the former is underlined in this text box, but not in MS Word), I suspect that "hiccup", too, will replace "hiccough" as the historical and morphological context becomes less relevant, and as people have more access to informal written language.

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Welcome to EL&U. What evidence can you present that hiccup is a modern spelling, when other answers indicate that it is in fact the older form? –  choster Apr 16 '14 at 14:37

I am British, living in the United States. I was taught (in England) to spell it hiccoughs. But I notice everyone in the US writes hiccups! I wonder if it might be a generational thing too? I noted recently a British niece wrote hiccups!

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