"Clique": kleek? klick?

[Jim Parish]

Wilson Gray asks (snipped):
> However, the fact of the matter is that I've never heard "clique" pronounced
> other than as "klick" by any American of any race, creed, color, or social
> status anywhere, under any set of circumstances. Admittedly, "clique" is
> not a word of everyday utility, but, over a span of a half-century or so,
> I would expect to have heard "kleek" at least once. A minute ago, just
> for the hell of it, I asked my wife to pronounce "o-b-l-i-q-u-e." Her
> response: "obleek." Then I asked her to pronounce "c-l-i-q-u-e." Her
> response: "klick."
>
> OED2 gives "kleek" as the sole pronunciation and RHD and WNW give "kleek" as
> the preferred pronunciation.
> So, what's up? How say ye?

The gang I ran with in high school (San Diego, first half of the '70s) called
itself "the Clique", pronounced "kleek". Ever since then, I've assumed that was
the, or a, standard pronunciation (although possibly a pretentious one).

Jim Parish
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