Most mispronounced monster names

[Vraille Darkfang]

Ug. Anyone who says this has obviously never studied French, and should be henceforth banned from speaking English, as well.

I've had 7 years of French thank you.

Of course its been 10 years.

And I have never even SPOKEN to a native French Speaker.

And, as mentioned up higher, I've been brain-washed by a DM who would only accept Boo-lay as a correct answer.


Or, I could have been trying to tick off the French.

 

[Teemu]

This is a very common misconception. In French, "bullette" would be pronounced BOO-lett.

Wouldn't it be more like boo-LETT? As in the stress on the last syllable.

I'm still gonna say Ixitxachitl is the worst. However, if you pronounce the 'x' as an 'h' sound (as in Mexico), it becomes a lot easier. Kind of like ee-hit-ha-CHIT-ul.

 

[Zappo]

You pronounce them "drow", "lich", "ixitxachitl", "cthulhu" and "bulette". Duh.



*is thankful 'cuz he games in one of the few languages with univocal pronounciation*

 

[Warrior Poet]

Wouldn't it be more like boo-LETT?

You could always just say land shark. But, yes, if following the conventions of French, "boo-LETT."

I'm still gonna say Ixitxachitl is the worst.

You could also adopt the old Mayan "x" pronunciation, which is like a soft "sh" (for instance, the old Mayan ruin of Uaxactun is pronounced {roughly} "Wah-shawk-toon"), and the "ch" is a harder "k" (Queztalcoatl is roughly "Ketz-all-ko-aw-tle") which would then make it something along the lines of "Ish-it-shaw-kee-tle"

Which is obviously much easier to pronounce!

All of this is why I've become an advocate for making up different names for what are essentially the same monsters (often with different appearances, too), as it adds flavor to a world to personalize it a little more, without having to worry about mechanical changes.

And I've never used an Ixitxachitl. I can see myself trying to signal the start of the encounter: "The horrid ray cuts through the water with nimble speed, lashing at you with its barbed tail! The old sailors legends are true! The ixi- . . . Ixaw- . . . Axio - uh - devil ray really exists! And aren't you terrified? Maybe even just a little bit? "

Warrior Poet

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Chimera.

So, will you guys put a bullet into a bullette or rather watch ballet?

 

[mcrow]

I go with K-thoo-loo, myself, and 9 out of 10 people have never corrected me.

I think we agree:

Ka (as in cut) Thoo- Loo for me. That's how the first group I played in said it and I haven't (until now) heard it any other way. I'm not saying my way is the correct way though, you could pronounce something spelled like that a 100 different ways.

 

[Castellan]

The whole boo-lay thing has always bothered me, too. How hard is it to look up the pronunciation of the word-form?

My pet peeve is the other name for Mind Flayer. I prefer Illithid, but everyone I know says Illithid.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

One of the more frightnening encounters I've had as a player:

The DM said we were attacked by a whore of testicular bat-zoos & a whore of tilipia tan rice.


But, since I had a Flametongue Sword, I went after the Tan Rice Tilipia. It sounded yummy. The Flying, Lustful Gonads I left to other players.

He meant Horde of Despicable Baatezu and horde of (I have no clue) of Tanar'rii. But he didn't even get close.

 

[radferth]

I'm sure that Ixitxachitl would not win the most frequently mispronounced contest, as few get past ixi- before given up (perhaps it would win most underpronounced). A couple of favorite mispronunciations I have heard are ogre pronounced org and chimera pronounced chime-er-a. The latter I had been guilty of for years (primarily before I even played D&D), but chimera pronounced kime-er-a pops up from time to time in biology, so I assume that is the way to go.

 

[reveal]

One of the more frightnening encounters I've had as a player:

The DM said we were attacked by a whore of testicular bat-zoos & a whore of tilipia tan rice.


But, since I had a Flametongue Sword, I went after the Tan Rice Tilipia. It sounded yummy. The Flying, Lustful Gonads I left to other players.

He meant Horde of Despicable Baatezu and horde of (I have no clue) of Tanar'rii. But he didn't even get close.

I can't come up with a Eric's grandma-friendly response to this, so I won't even try.