Words are hard!

[Oryan77]

I'm sure there are very few (if any) gamers that properly pronounce every D&D word correctly. There's the whole "drow" thing (is it like cow, or is it like bro). Some people insist on pronouncing the planar city of Sigil as "sijil", and I gave up trying to pronounce Ixitxachitl correctly a long time ago.

But what about regular English words that we use often in roleplaying games? Is there anyone besides me that seems to butcher the most mundane words on a regular basis?

I guess I developed a bad habit of mispronouncing a word wrong in my head when I read it to myself if I don't hear it spoken often. I'm usually aware that I'm saying it wrong, but sometimes it still comes out wrong and players have to correct me.

A few words that trip me up over and over are:

chasm - If it is "kasm" then get rid of the h! It confuses me.
candelabra - I always want to say "candlebra". Maybe cause it holds candles?
brazier - My temples are quite interesting with all of the "candlebras" and "brassieres" lying around.
portcullis - My tongue gets twisted when I try to say this, so they are always open.

I'm sure there are plenty of others, but I can't think of any more right now.

Anyone got any examples of their own? Or am I the only village idiot?

 

[Yora]

It's not the fault of D&D.

It's the fault of the English language. Never can make up it's mind how it wants to spell sounds. ^^

 

[TarionzCousin]

"melee" should really be pronounced "meh-lay," but "may-lee" is close enough for most people.

Growing up, my friends and I all mispronounced Elric's homeland "Melniboné" as "mel-ni-boan." It wasn't until a couple years later that I learned that the accent changed the pronunciation.

 

[wingsandsword]

As I kid, I always thought Chaos was pronounced "Chah-ohs" and not "kay os".

It's not a word you hear in everyday non-gaming English, or didn't at least around where I was growing up.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Being an avid reader there are many words I probably pronounce wrong in my head cos I have never heard them said and will probably never say them.

My big d'oh moment came when I actually read Acolyte rather than just saying it. I've been thinking Ah Cot Til (as in spelt acotyle I guess) since I was single figures old!

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Not a pronunciation problem so much as a spelling problem: It's spelled "D A I S" not "dias".

Oh, and brazier is not pronounced like brassiere.
[edit: Ah, I see from the OP I wasn't the only kid with this problem!]
.

 

[renau1g]

Guenhwyvar - Drizzt's black panther - is one that I struggle with.

Oh, wait, non-gaming ones.

Commensurate is one. I always say it as commensarate (it comes up often at work).

One that was quite embarrassing as the youngest boy in my extended family is when I was so excited by the comic book story arc, Maximum Carnage (as Kar-nage) except I pronounced it as Car-naage (a long A sound) and I told all my friends about the super-cool video game of the same name...... yeah, my cousins certainly had fun with that one....

 

[SkredlitheOgre]

"melee" should really be pronounced "meh-lay," but "may-lee" is close enough for most people.

Growing up, my friends and I all mispronounced Elric's homeland "Melniboné" as "mel-ni-boan." It wasn't until a couple years later that I learned that the accent changed the pronunciation.

I have a friend and GM who pronounces "melee" as "mee lee." I stopped trying to correct him a long time ago.

And I pronounced Elric's homeland as "Me Nib Oh Nee."

"Brazier" I've always pronounces as "brayz ee er."

For the longest time as a kid, I couldn't remember how to pronounce "oxygen," so I switched back and forth between "oxee jen" and "oxee ghen."

I got a phone call from my dad a few years ago telling me that he had been diagnosed with "prostrate cancer." After I got past the whole 'cancer' thing, I had to laugh at "prostrate."

And my wife says that I have too many record "alblums."

 

[Dykstrav]

One I heard all the time growing up (and in far, far too many gaming circles) is charisma.

It's "ka-riz-ma," right? I've seen people go into apoplectic nerdrage over whether it's "ka-riz-ma" or "SHEER-iz-ma."

Another big one is mage. Most people say it rhyming with "page," but some people insist that it rhymes with "badge."

If you really want to see gamers froth at the mouth, you need only cavalier or coup de grace.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

I'm sure there are very few (if any) gamers that properly pronounce every D&D word correctly. There's the whole "drow" thing (is it like cow, or is it like bro). Some people insist on pronouncing the planar city of Sigil as "sijil", ...

The last seems pretty reasonable

sig·il
   [sij-il]
noun
a seal or signet.
Origin:
1600–10; < Latin sigillum statuette, figure, stamped figure, diminutive of signum sign; see seal