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“Phony” or “Phoney”

Phony is predominantly used in American (US) English (en-US) while phoney is predominantly used in British English (used in UK/AU/NZ) (en-GB).

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Usage by country

Where each spelling is used

Of the 12 countries below, 9 prefer “phony” and 0 prefer “phoney”. Usage levels are out of 100; the more common spelling in each country is in bold.

Usage level out of 100 (if available).
Country phony phoney Preference
United States 83 17 “phony”
United Kingdom 50 50 No clear preference
India 72 28 “phony”
Philippines 90 10 “phony”
Canada 71 29 “phony”
Australia 62 38 “phony”
Liberia 0 0 Not enough data
Ireland 52 48 “phony”
New Zealand 67 33 “phony”
Jamaica 100 0 “phony”
Trinidad & Tobago 100 0 “phony”
Guyana 0 0 Not enough data
Usage

Examples in context

Real sentences for each spelling. Hover an example to copy it.

“phony”

  • …Gallo offers to stage the phony kidnapping of Luisa, he refers…
  • …public comments, calling them "as phony as the day is long."
  • …Knot", and becoming entangled with phony defector Ingrid Brugge in "My…
  • …idealistic newcomer, politicians stage a phony re-count and Brown loses his…
  • …Bradstreet's mercury provoked tests as "phony".
  • …little Jewish Princess" with "long phony nails", "a garlic aroma", "titanic…
  • "Phony Eyes"
  • …a rigged lottery and a phony perpetual motion machine.
  • …masquerades as Smith to give phony information to Longworth to pass…
  • …individuals (a midget, a giant, phony blind beggars) and Ambrosia, a…

“phoney”

  • Phoney Cronies is a 1942 American…
  • The Phoney Civilization web page
  • …Great Cow Race () – Phoney Bone
  • …mono tracks were treated with "phoney stereo" in the original stereo
  • …to the end of the Phoney War on 10 May 1940,…
  • Carr spent the Phoney War working as a clerk…
  • …conflict became known as the Phoney War) and extended no aid…
  • …the Maginot Line during the Phoney War.
  • …to cook up a thoroughly phoney yarn about the struggles of…
  • …three different continents, an extremely phoney looking rubber mask used for…

Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license.

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