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Settle a bet for me: Do you know these words?

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Never heard of bough, but there's an Australian National Park named Wilson's Prom, so I know promontory. I'm from Southern Illinois but have lived in Sydney and Melbourne.
 
Yes I know those words. Bough is in a very famous Christmas carol as well as a nursery rhyme and promontory while a little obscure is pretty common when describing geography. I live in New Jersey/Native English speaker.
 
Native English speaker, United States.

Bough: like, as in an evergreen bough or "when the bough breaks"? Anyone familiar with the lullaby is going to know this one.

Promontory: this one's hazier, but I feel like it's an overlook or maybe a peak. Like, a high place.

Now to look at the rest of the thread / google it and see if I'm right.

Edit: right about the definition of bough, sorta-kinda right about promontory (didn't know that it was jutting out over a body of water...the "point of high land" part was right).
 
Knew both of these. Native English speaking from australia.

Promontory is a semi common landmark name here eg Wilson's Promontory.
 
I didn't know either, my girlfriend immediately did. California, native speakers.

After thinking about it I think I did know promontory.
 
First learned bough from the lullaby.

First learned promontory because the Transcontinental Railroad was finished in Promontory, Utah.

Native English speaker. Texas education did me well, I guess.
 
I was talking to a friend who challenged my English vocabulary, and after I failed to know two words I claimed native speakers would not know those either.

The words are: bough, promontory. Please say whether you're a native English speaker, where you're from and whether you knew either of the definitions. Be honest!

I'm a native english speaker. I think bough is like a tree branch. And promontory is like a raised up land thing like a lookout I think?

I'm terrible at giving definitions for words.
 
Non-native English speaker, from Canada.

I know both these words. I did have to double-check the first to be sure it was what I thought it was (I was right).
 
Promontory I know from Promontory Summit, Utah where the transconstinental railroad sides met up to complete it. Its a geographical term. That is the only time I have ever seen it used before.
 
Never heard of either, native English speaker from the UK.
 
I know both; promontory from history (promontory forts) and growing up on an island, and I think bough is fairly common. Native English speaker from Canada
 
Bough is a branch - from the song.

Promontory is raised land that extends like a peninsula - from Promontory Point in the Great Salt Lake in Utah.

Native English - US
 
same as everyone else

I would reckon "bough" from the lullaby, although no one uses the term

promontory I guessed to be some sort of architectural feature, and was wrong obviously.

canadian
 
I recognize both as words, and know bough from the rhyme, but I wouldn't be able to tell you the definition of either precisely. Neither word is common in day to day usage, at least around here.

North east coast USA native speaker.

I knew these, and I'm from Missouri. But I read a lot.

I read a lot, and the meaning of both is easy to divine in context, but I haven't heard anyone say those words in years. One strikes me as archaic outside of perhaps forestry and the other is geography specific.
 
I was talking to a friend who challenged my English vocabulary, and after I failed to know two words I claimed native speakers would not know those either.

The words are: bough, promontory. Please say whether you're a native English speaker, where you're from and whether you knew either of the definitions. Be honest!

Native American English speaker.

I know bough, but I've only heard promontory. Is it related to prominent?
 
I'm a native English speaker from the US and I used to use the Glass Promontory sniper rifle on Destiny. No clue what either of the words mean though.
 
No to both

I've heard the nursery rhyme and vaguely recall the definition of it but haven't came across that word for decades and thus didn't recognize it. I was wondering about the pronunciation as I saw it.

First generation English speaker in canuckistan
 
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