White Flag -- "rythm", no vowel in

[Garson O'Toole]

I think the word cwm functions primarily as an answer to trivia questions

cwm  (km)
n.  See cirque.
[Welsh, valley.]
cwm [kuːm]
n  1. (Earth Sciences / Physical Geography) (in Wales) a valley
    2. (Earth Sciences / Geological Science) Geology another name for cirque [1]

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cwm

Definition of CWM
chiefly British
: cirque 3
Origin of CWM
Welsh, valley
First Known Use: 1853

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cwm

On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 6:01 PM, Larry Sheldon <LarrySheldon at cox.net> wrote:
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> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Larry Sheldon <LarrySheldon at COX.NET>
> Organization: Maybe tomorrow
> Subject:      White Flag  -- "rythm", no vowel in
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I am really going to have to show my ignorance now.
>
> When I was little, the officially sanctioned vowels were "AEIOU and
> sometimes W and Y".
>
> All theses years since I have (when four-leaf clovers are plentiful)
> searched for an occurrence of an English "w" making what seems to me to
> be a vowel sound (what ever THAT turns out to mean), and one of "y" that
> does not.
>
> (For me, a "vowel sound" is one that allows me to pronounce successive
> sharp-edged consonants.)
>
> Would somebody pleas point me to an example of each?
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