D&D terminology pet peeves
- Thread starter Quasqueton
- Start date
focallength
First Post
arnwyn said:I'm not particularly picky or anal. I suppose mispronouncing "drow" would be my pet peeve. Oh, and I do dislike the whole "-folk" thing in 3e. It's lizardMEN.
LizardMEN is insensitive and disrespectful to lizardWOMEN, thus Lizardfolk
sniffles
First Post
Ooh, this is the thread for me! I'm known as the Grammar Police by my fellow players (who for some reason remain my friends 
).
One GM in our group constantly commits my pet peeve: he says "nucular" instead of "nuclear". We also have an occasional player who insists that "lich" should be pronounced "lick".
I try to be forgiving regarding a lot of the monster names, and some of the unusual weapons. After all, how often have you heard "guisarme" or "tarrasque" used in casual conversation? And how many people stop to look up a strange word in the dictionary when they see it? Not to mention, how many dictionaries contain the pronunciation for either of those words?
My pet peeves with game terminology have more to do with misuse of terms than pronunciation. For example, the names of some of the character classes. Classes such as bard, fighter, wizard make sense because they are occupations or specialties. But "barbarian" is not an occupation. It's a derogatory term used by one culture to refer to another culture. (And why do character sheets have a "profession" space on them? Isn't my character's class her profession?
)
I feel the same about referring to the different peoples of fantasy worlds as "races". Elves are not a race. They are a species, or a genus of the same species as humans (since elves and humans can interbreed). Sun elves are a race of elves. Svirfneblin are a race of gnomes. If dwarves and halflings are races, then why can't they interbreed with elves, humans, or each other? Yeah, I hear you out there shuddering at the thought of "dwarflings".
).One GM in our group constantly commits my pet peeve: he says "nucular" instead of "nuclear". We also have an occasional player who insists that "lich" should be pronounced "lick".
I try to be forgiving regarding a lot of the monster names, and some of the unusual weapons. After all, how often have you heard "guisarme" or "tarrasque" used in casual conversation? And how many people stop to look up a strange word in the dictionary when they see it? Not to mention, how many dictionaries contain the pronunciation for either of those words?
My pet peeves with game terminology have more to do with misuse of terms than pronunciation. For example, the names of some of the character classes. Classes such as bard, fighter, wizard make sense because they are occupations or specialties. But "barbarian" is not an occupation. It's a derogatory term used by one culture to refer to another culture. (And why do character sheets have a "profession" space on them? Isn't my character's class her profession?
)I feel the same about referring to the different peoples of fantasy worlds as "races". Elves are not a race. They are a species, or a genus of the same species as humans (since elves and humans can interbreed). Sun elves are a race of elves. Svirfneblin are a race of gnomes. If dwarves and halflings are races, then why can't they interbreed with elves, humans, or each other? Yeah, I hear you out there shuddering at the thought of "dwarflings".
Gentlegamer
Adventurer
In that case, don't tell the huMAN females . . .focallength said:LizardMEN is insensitive and disrespectful to lizardWOMEN, thus Lizardfolk
Goblyn
Explorer
I think my only pronunciation pet peeve would be the rogue <-> rouge thing. It's not just wrong prununciation. It's something entirely different.
DM: "Ok, so our new party consists of a fighter, a cleric, a mage, and the colour red.
...
wait a minute ..."
A friend of mine once played a "slerik", but the rest of us just found that funny rather then bothersome.
DM: "Ok, so our new party consists of a fighter, a cleric, a mage, and the colour red.
...
wait a minute ..."
A friend of mine once played a "slerik", but the rest of us just found that funny rather then bothersome.
Viktyr Gehrig
First Post
I don't really have any problems with pronunciation or spelling issues. I used to be a little oversensitive about it, but after one too many ass-kickings in Junior High, I taught myself to talk like the average troglodyte. It's carried over into an increased tolerance for misuse of the obscure words used in D&D.
The people in my gaming group that say "pa-LAD-in" also say "weh-men" for "women". Ain't no sense in trying to fix that. My father says "Aff-skan-i-skan" for "Afghanistan" and thinks "beaucoup" is a Vietnamese word.
As for my problems with D&D terminology... "mind-effecting affects". Say it aloud a few times and tell me you don't feel ridiculous.
The people in my gaming group that say "pa-LAD-in" also say "weh-men" for "women". Ain't no sense in trying to fix that. My father says "Aff-skan-i-skan" for "Afghanistan" and thinks "beaucoup" is a Vietnamese word.
As for my problems with D&D terminology... "mind-effecting affects". Say it aloud a few times and tell me you don't feel ridiculous.
PrinceZane
First Post
Hrm... To throw my two cents in...
I use "Cuh-thoo-loo"
I hate me-lee AND muh-lay
This is my haiku
Don't ask why I put pet peeves in a haiku... I guess thats what happens when you build a char and take a break to read about peeves....
I use "Cuh-thoo-loo"
I hate me-lee AND muh-lay
This is my haiku
Don't ask why I put pet peeves in a haiku... I guess thats what happens when you build a char and take a break to read about peeves....
Pbartender
First Post
sniffles said:Yeah, I hear you out there shuddering at the thought of "dwarflings".
Dwarflings? We've already got them... They're called "gnomes".
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