Gone Off===  *gone takes on a peculiar quality: whereas all other  (born, saw) became , and all  (hot) became , gone stayed as .  Somehow I think that what's really going on here is the the remnants of the LOT-CLOTH split.  You can hear the same happening in the word off as well.  However, it seems to me that these pronunciations are on the out.  I haven't heard anyone of my generation or younger using // for these words. -Jim 14Mar05  ===Bread vs Bred===  Is it just me or do other Aussies distinguist these words?  For me bred rhymes with red but bread doesn't.  Bread rhymes with haired. - Jim 14Mar05  =