Drow: like cow or crow?

[Tsyr]

I used to pronounce it drow as in cow... but when I read the dragon magazine article about a year ago on where the dark elves originate in myth... from a creature called a trow, which, when I checked on the net, is pronounced as in crow... I adopted drow = crow.

Here's another one:

Shaman

Is it shah -or- shay? I say it shah, but most people I know say shay...

 

[Gez]

Shah-man. Like the French "chamane".

No, go away before I taunt you a second time !

 

[Buttercup]

I like it to rhyme with cow rather than haut. Or I would, if I used them. How now, brown drow? Haut Drow ho?

 

[Skarp Hedin]

The Ruler of Coot said:

When I discovered the "drow" listing in an old, unexpurgated dictionary

Drow! Drow the wagons into the drow fortress, before we draw fire from those drow-hating gnomes! Drow, drow I say!

Obsolete imperative of 'draw', eh? You chaucerian, you.

 

[Alaric_Prympax]

The first time I saw the word "Drow" in the A2 module I've always thought it rhymed with crow. I think that sounds much more dark and menacing then something that rhymes with cow.

 

[Buttercup]

I say shaman, you say shayman. Let's call the whole thing off.

Actually, dictionary.com gives the short 'a' as the preferred pronounciation. So does the American Heritage dictionary.

 

[mattcolville]

I pronounce it to rhyme with whoa.

And since it's a made up word used to describe something that doesn't exist, I don't feel any obligation to pronounce it the way it's creators do, especially when they pronounce it silly.

There are other examples of this.

Tolkien pronounced it 'SOUR-on' instead of 'SOAR-on' which is similarly goofy.

Frank Hebert pronounced it 'HARK-o-nen' instead of 'har-CONE-en' Also goofy.

 

[Aaron L]

rounser has it right. If you pronounce troll as "trowel", then feel free to rhyme drow with cow. If not, then you better rhyme it with crow. Much cooler animal to be associated with for a race of evil elves, anyway.




Cows? Moooooooo

 

[Tom Cashel]

This always reminds me of a player I gamed with years ago who insisted that lich was pronounced 'like' (as in 'I like Mike'). :rolleyes

Actually, "lich" sounds like "lick," not "like." Lich is an old Scottish word for a corpse, so I assume the "ch" would be pronounced as it is in "loch"...with a "k" sound.

So, I agree...quit rollin' them eyes!

 

[-Ekimus-]

I'll put it simply: Drow (rhymes with crow) sounds cool, takes less time to say, and it's just "row" with a "D".

Drow (rhymes with cow) sounds really stupid, takes longer to say, and isn't anything like "cow".

Took the words right out of my mouth. Drow with 'cow' sounds stupid, it hurts my ears just to hear it!