How do you pronounce Bullywug?

[borc killer]

BUHL-ee-WUG

I pronounce that way because it is more natural in my mother tongue.

eer.. I don’t really want to know why you have your mother's tongue but you can keep it to your self... LOL

 

[Gez]

eer.. I don’t really want to know why you have your mother's tongue but you can keep it to your self... LOL

:\ Why do this pun always come up? Mother tongue (and no, there weren't apostrophes in it) is perfectly normal English.

mother tongue
noun
1 the language first learned by a child
2 a language from which another has evolved

Source: The Collins English Dictionary © 2000 HarperCollins Publishers.

 

[Nifelhein]

Well, it was the first time I read it, that is for sure. I am not so sure but I also think that the way i pronounce it is how the D&D cartoon had it translated, although it has been ages since I first saw those episodes...

 

[the Jester]

I was not aware there was a debate.

Have you not seen the old dnd cartoon?

 

[Agemegos]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think that, like the bunyip, bullywugs are a creature whose legendary origins are in Australia.

If they are, it's news to me. I thought 'bullywug' was coined from a combination of 'bullfrog' and 'polliwog' ('polliwog' being chiefly an American and specifically US word).

 

[tarchon]

:\ Why do this pun always come up? Mother tongue (and no, there weren't apostrophes in it) is perfectly normal English.

mother tongue
noun
1 the language first learned by a child
2 a language from which another has evolved

Source: The Collins English Dictionary © 2000 HarperCollins Publishers.

It's used mostly in written English, so a lot of people probably don't recognize it. "Native language" or "native tongue" are much more common expressions for the idea. The use of "tongue" for "language" is also more literary, though it's usually recognized even if it isn't used colloquially very often.

I agree with Agemegos - it's probably based on the "pollywog" root, though the word goes back to England, so it could be from a lot of sources. Many monster names like "yeth hound" are just local dialect variants of more familiar words like "heath hound," and this could be another one. I suspect that a lot of D&D monsters, especially early on, were inspired by entries in encyclopedias of folklore.

 

[glass]

If they are, it's news to me. I thought 'bullywug' was coined from a combination of 'bullfrog' and 'polliwog' ('polliwog' being chiefly an American and specifically US word).

So what is a Polliwog?

Anyway, I have always pronounced it with short U sounds.


glass.

 

[Agemegos]

So what is a Polliwog?

I think it is a tadpole, but you'd do best to ask an native speaker of and American English dialect in which it is used.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

I picked the first choice because that was the pronunciation on the D&D Cartoon.

 

[Bloodstone Press]

I think it is a tadpole, but you'd do best to ask an native speaker of and American English dialect in which it is used.

Correct.

See here: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=polliwog

it is like a frog that is "destitute of legs"