Pronunciation of "brooch"

[Dfcoye at AOL.COM]

This was one of the words I included on my survey of 'hard words' that appear
in Shakespeare for my book Pronouncing Shakespeare's Words.  I conducted a
random sample of professors of Shakespeare in three countries.  In Canada 9
rhymed it with coach and none with pooch.   In the UK  14 rhymed it with
coach and none with pooch.  In the US  10 rhymed it with coach and 2 with
pooch.   And there were 5 additional respondents with a hybrid background who
rhymed with coach.  So at the upper education level the /u/ pronunciation is
a small minority in the US, and not evident elsewhere, and in fact I would
have a tough time refraining from correcting any student who used this
pronunciation.   /u/ is clearly a newer, spelling pronunciation I think.

Dale Coye
The College of New Jersey