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I once noticed somebody spelled "whine" as "whinge" and thought it was an egregious and hilarious typo. But it turns out that "whinge" is an acceptable spelling among writers of the "Queen's" (British) English (I've never seen it written that way by an American).

So: how is "whinge" pronounced - the same way as "whine," with a long "i" (but a silent "g")? If it is pronounced otherwise, is it a long or short "i"? And is it a silent "g", a soft "g" ("j") or a hard "g" (as in "goat")?

B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven
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    Ask the OED — or a Scot: both will tell you it’s /hwɪndʒ/. – tchrist Sep 23 '14 at 18:18
  • Perhaps it was my recent usage in a comment that you "once noticed". I must be honest and admit that earlier on I'd specifically written *whining* in my answer text, because I wasn't sure whether to spell the word I really meant to use with an *e* or not. With singing, singeing we need the *e* to resolve ambiguity, but apparently it's not required in *whinging*. (Spelling not being my strong point, I checked before daring to use it! :) – FumbleFingers Sep 23 '14 at 18:23
  • @FumbleFingers: No, it was on StackOverflow, several months (at least) ago. – B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven Sep 23 '14 at 18:29
  • @B. Clay Shannon: You obviously have a better memory than me! I'd only used the word 10-15 minutes before your post here, and I was still annoyed with myself for being such a lousy speller. But if it had been several hours earlier (let alone days, weeks, or months) I'm sure I'd have forgotten. The awful truth for me is I'll probably have to Google the spelling again next time I want to write *whinging. (That's not counting this* time, which I checked by looking at my earlier comment here! :) – FumbleFingers Sep 23 '14 at 19:13
  • I have a selectively crummy (crumby?) memory; I can remember somebody using the word "whinge" a year ago, but I can't remember my license plate number, which I see several times a day, or the names of most of my former pets. – B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven Sep 23 '14 at 20:39
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    On a related note, this answer to a different question about "whinge" explains the history of the word, and how it overlaps but is not quite identical in meaning to "whine". – M. Justin Mar 28 '21 at 08:03

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It is actually pronounced winjde (wɪn(d)ʒ)

A simple google search would tell you - it has a listen button.

Tim
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