D&D General Thaco the angry clown... really?

[Bill Zebub]

As a long-time veteran of the game I've no issue at all with Thaco the Clown, and in fact think they missed an opportunity by not calling it "Thaco the Wacko" right out of the gate.

I don't get it. Is that supposed to rhyme?

Or are you saying that Thaco is a Branch Davidian?

/wink

 

[cbwjm]

Do we need a poll to see how people pronounce Thac0? I've always pronounced it similar to Lanefan but apparently some pronounce it like Thay-co and then there's that one weird kid sitting in the corner of the classroom eating glue that pronounces it like thack-zero.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I've always heard it pronounced "THACK-oh". Then when I was overseas I heard for the first time it called "THAY-co". Those people were wrong, just like when they called it a pop instead of soda

 

[Hussar]

As a long-time veteran of the game I've no issue at all with Thaco the Clown, and in fact think they missed an opportunity by not calling it "Thaco the Wacko" right out of the gate.

But Wacko isn't pronounced this way.

I have to admit, I'd never even heard of the whole "Thayco" thing until much, much later. Why would anyone make that a long A sound? That's not how English works. Unless, for some reason you pronounce is AY col lites.

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

But isn't that how English works? A vowel followed by a consonant and another vowel is long. Admittedly, I am honestly confused by English pronunciation and I'm a native speaker, but I thought that was a rule.

By the way, I pronounce it Thack-Oh.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Read and lead rhyme, and so do read and lead, but read and lead do not rhyme. Yay for the English language!

 

[Hussar]

But isn't that how English works? A vowel followed by a consonant and another vowel is long. Admittedly, I am honestly confused by English pronunciation and I'm a native speaker, but I thought that was a rule.

By the way, I pronounce it Thack-Oh.

Not typically. Only the "e" does that usually (although, of course, there are exceptions. Even within this sentence. )

acolyte - is not pronounced with a long a. To be fair, I suppose, you do have acorn. But that is an exception. Acoustic, pharmacology, draconian. It's very much the exception for an "o" to make an earlier vowel long. And, since Thaco is an acronym, and the A is for Armor, I'm really not sure where the long A comes from.

(And, before anyone brings up USA - we don't say that one as a word - we pronounce the letters. Acronyms are pronounced as words, generally, when it makes sense. Although, thinking about it, NATO is pronounced with a long A. Sigh. )

 

[Morrus]

But isn't that how English works? A vowel followed by a consonant and another vowel is long.

Are you suggesting that the English language is in some way consistent or logical? Oh, do I have news for you!

The Chaos - Gerard Nolst Trenité

 

[Thac0 the Barbarian]

It is pronounced Thack( as in wack)-O and referencing it in this manner represents an appropriate use of a shared reminiscence of a subsection of the playing population. Thus I have spoken, this shall it be.

 

[Jack Daniel]

But Wacko isn't pronounced this way.

I have to admit, I'd never even heard of the whole "Thayco" thing until much, much later. Why would anyone make that a long A sound? That's not how English works. Unless, for some reason you pronounce is AY col lites.

For the same reason that a .gif file doesn't sound like peanut butter, on account of the "g" standing for "graphics."

THAC0 stands for "to hit armor class zero," or in shorter terms, "to hit AC 0." Which you necessarily pronounce with a long a. "I roll to hit ay-see zero." I don't know anyone on this good green earth who's saying "æ-see," so the ash sound has no place in the pronunciation of "THAC0".

(And before some joker jumps in with the obvious: no, that doesn't justify softening the c to "thay-so." The zero can only be read as a back-vowel, which automatically velarizes the c.)