Stop Combining Words in RPGs! - Let English prevail

[Starfox]

It is true that this is possible to do in German.

Swedish is even "worse" here. In Swedish, it is the default to combine words in these occasions, and making new compound words is done on an everyday basis.

In Swedish, it is actually a very common English import these days to NOT combine words. Darned cultural imperialism!

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

3e annoyed me with its 'short swords' and 'longswords'. (Or was it 'shortswords' and 'long swords'?) Anyway, we can complain all we want, but we don't have much room to argue on the basis of 'proper' English. It's an ever-changing, incredibly inconsistant and confusing language, and the only true meter of propriety is common usage. (At least in the USA.)

I mean, seriously, who actually pronounces 'great' or 'sword' the way they're spelled? Nobody; we say 'grat' and 'sord'. At least half of the English language is made up of words and expressions that break the grammatical rules that we learned in elementary school.

 

[hong]

Can’t be bothered arguing over this, but I know intuitively that in this case your rule is wrong. Mage isn’t modern english, whereas warm is, and "age" an acceptable addition to it for a contrived word.

Any word where you don't pronounce the last syllable is French, even if it's English.

 

[rounser]

Any word where you don't pronounce the last syllable is French, even if it's English.

I think the problem here is that we don't share the same alignment tongue. I'm fluent in Lawful Stupid, whereas he's clearly using Chaotic Annoying. I'll try Draconic Pidgin Thieve's Cant next, because clearly neither of us know Common.

 

[hong]

I think the problem here is that we don't share the same alignment tongue. I'm fluent in Lawful Stupid, whereas he's clearly using Chaotic Annoying. I'll try Draconic Pidgin Thieve's Cant next, because clearly neither of us know Common.

Pulp Fiction picture time!

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[Pbartender]

I may be just irritable today but I'm ticked at the stupid combined words the game seems to be filled with. eg Greataxe instead of Great Axe.

It happens all over where two perfectly good words that work together by time honoured rules of english get pushed into one new word for no good reason I can think of. Someone in the legal department might like that you make a whole new word from a combination but it's terrible language.


There is nothing wrong with Great Club, Great Axe etc.... I've also seen it creep into other parts of the game.

We could go back to the way it was done in 1st edition AD&D instead...

"Boots, low, soft"
"Shield, small, wooden"
"Sword, bastard, & scabbard"
"Quarrel (or bolt), light, single"
"Oil, flask of"

 

[Piratecat]

I loved my boots, high, hard, mister - useful against green slime!

 

[WhatGravitas]

Swedish is even "worse" here. In Swedish, it is the default to combine words in these occasions, and making new compound words is done on an everyday basis.

Actually, it's the same in German - or was, right now, it's all the range to use English words nonsensically.

I mean... we call a mobile "handy" in German... for no other reason that it looks and sounds English.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

We could go back to the way it was done in 1st edition AD&D instead...

"Boots, low, soft"
"Shield, small, wooden"
"Sword, bastard, & scabbard"
"Quarrel (or bolt), light, single"
"Oil, flask of"

This reminds me of the German Bundeswehr method of categorizing items, which (exaggerated) looks like this:
Trap, rodent, small, gray - Mousetrap.

 

[AllisterH]

It's either "combining words" OR the use of madeup words....