D&D terminology pet peeves

[mhacdebhandia]

It doesn't annoy me so much as just sound silly to my ear, but some of my university gaming friends have always said "ay-oh-pee" (AoP) for attacks of opportunity.

I knew someone in high school who pronounced the Dragonlance deity "Paladine" exactly the same as "paladin". At least he had the latter correct. However, his first shot at the correct pronunciation for the former when I mentioned he had it wrong was good old "puh-LAD-in". Gah.

My friends' solution to the problem of "bulette" is a Simpsons reference:

"Oh, boo-LAY, aren't we all fancy?"
"Well, what do you call it?"
"Landshark!"

I've run into "lick" for "lich" before, sadly.

Some of the older members of my university gaming circle played First Edition AD&D, so they occasionally slip and call "shugenja" by the old name "shukenja".

I shudder to think what some of the more science-oriented and literarily-challenged of my gaming friends would make of an Arcana Evolved name like "sibeccai", even with a pronunciation key.

Despite the old TSR pronunciation files, I know of no-one who says "mod-RONE", it's always "MOD-ron" and I fully support it. We also prefer "BAH-teh-zoo" rather than "bay-AH-te-zoo". Think "Haagen-Dasz".

 

[Darkness]

I hate when people pronounce Drow to rhyme with either crow OR cow. Everyone knows it's pronounced "Bob"

I like this pronunciation:

Drow is pronounced "drih-st clohn munch-kin".

 

[Gez]

Cohorts. Cohort implies "peership." They're not peers, they're HENCHMEN!

Your fellow party members are cohorts.

Well, you know, to me, cohort implies "huge crowd". I know that in English the secondary meaning of "companion or associate" has appeared, but it still sounds weird to me to refer to a single person as a cohort. It's like if the feat said "you get one battalion, which is a single person" . . .

If I get a cohort, I want 600 soldiers!

Because of the word's history, some critics insist that cohort should be used only to refer to a group of people and never to an individual.

I'm one of those critics.

 

[sniffles]

Back on the fay vs. fey discussion, I think it's exemplary of how English is an ever changing language. Remember when "gay" meant "happy"? Usage produces change that is eventually accepted as proper. "Gay" has apparently undergone two changes of usage in my lifetime, as I now hear it being used to mean the equivalent of "lame", which of course has undergone a usage change also...


I cringe every time I hear myself say "And I went..." when what I mean is "And I said", but I do it all the time because everyone else does it.

English sucks. I shall return to teaching myself Sindarin.

 

[warlord]

That people keep calling the theif class rouge.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Just jumping in, haven't read the whole thread. My peeves...

• Blackguard: This one bugs me to no end, especially with the prestige class making this term all the more frequent. Could everyone help correct this one. It is not pronounced like it is read. Say it correctly like this: BLAY' gerd.
• Forecastle: Okay everyone, this isn't pronouced like it is read either. Say this nautical term like this: FOAK' sull.
• Boatswain: Another nautical term, and it also isn't pronouced like it is read. Say it correctly this way: BOW' sun.
• Brazier: This is not a woman's undergarment. It is a BRAY' zhur.
• Scythe: I've seen this one covered already before I had to post.

Ah, that was cathartic. I'm sure I'll remember more later.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Oh, and an old one from AD&D.

The old spell dolor. This is not pronounced like the American currency. It is DOE' lerr.