>Weird. To me, it is:
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>tool, pool, spool, rule, school, fool (not like wool)

The jocks say "wool" like "spool"

>pull, bull, null, wolf

Not quite the same. The "u" is gently and slightly pronounced. "Wool" comes out on me more of a slight bass growl in the throat. However, as I said, "u" and "oo" (as in wood) are all the same to my accent.

>gulf (definitely not the same as wool) the ulf is evident
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>wool is not quite like tool or pull or gulf
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>"Can't pull the wool over my eyes" wool and pull are not the same It's not "Can't pull the wull over my eyes" In that example, it is probably closer to tool and pool but not quite.

Agreed. My trying to say "... pull the wool ..." woud be like Eliza Doolittle trying to say "The rain in Spain etc." :-)

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>>>Well, when I think about it, to me 'bull', 'pull' and 'full' are pronounced as in 'wool', but 'cull', 'dull', 'gull', 'hull', 'lull', 'mull', 'null' are pronounced as in 'gullet'. Do you pronounce them all the same?
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>>Yeah, I'd followed that chain mentally, as well. Definitely agree on "bull," "full," and "pull." I do hear a slight difference for some of the others, but don't even know how to spell the two sounds differently. My instinct for both of them is "uh." "Cull" is definitely in the second group. Most of the others fell right to me either way.
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>>Tamar