What's in a name?: Paizo naming disasters


Lost Omens Campaign Setting General Discussion

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Also thinking of another instance where Paizo could have done worse -- at least they don't have a Count Dooku . . . .


How do you pronounce "yhi" in english? ihi, aihi, aihai, whyhi, whyhai, ihai???


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Sissyl wrote:
How do you pronounce "yhi" in english? ihi, aihi, aihai, whyhi, whyhai, ihai???

I'd probably say yhee (like yee, but with a slight exhalation before the ee).


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Sara Marie wrote:
Hi folks, I removed some posts (and replies to said posts) that I think? were intended to be all in good fun, but just don't translate well for everyone who might be reading these forum posts. In addition to text not always being able to capture a snarky or sarcastic tone, not all our readers or community members have historical knowledge of paizo.com forum and community interactions and relationships to understand these were likely made in a lighthearted and friendly manner.

Do we still get to blame Cosmo?


I don't suppose anyone could find me a recording of 'Iomedae'? Because no matter how I try that name is sits fantastically uncomfortable on the tongue.

Actually, this entire thread should be full of Vocaroo links. Go on, people. Share your melodious voices.

Liberty's Edge

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Iomedae has always been pronounced in my head something like this:

EYE-ohm-eh-day

Which doesn't sound that uncomfortable to me. I've always liked the way that one flowed, personally.

Scarab Sages

ive always went with

EYE-oh- meh-day


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Deadmanwalking wrote:

Iomedae has always been pronounced in my head something like this:

EYE-ohm-eh-day

Which doesn't sound that uncomfortable to me. I've always liked the way that one flowed, personally.

For me, it was always Eye-OHM-eh-day. :D


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Tacticslion wrote:
Deadmanwalking wrote:

Iomedae has always been pronounced in my head something like this:

EYE-ohm-eh-day

Which doesn't sound that uncomfortable to me. I've always liked the way that one flowed, personally.

For me, it was always Eye-OHM-eh-day. :D

Same here, although I treat the 'I' as a 'J'.


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"But in the Latin alphabet, 'Jehovah' begins with the letter 'I'..."


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Tacticslion wrote:
Deadmanwalking wrote:

Iomedae has always been pronounced in my head something like this:

EYE-ohm-eh-day

Which doesn't sound that uncomfortable to me. I've always liked the way that one flowed, personally.

For me, it was always Eye-OHM-eh-day. :D

Putting the stress on the second syllable actually doesn't sound too bad, yeah. I suspect that this is more of a personal problem since we don't speak English at our table and the name just doesn't mesh with our spoken language, but still. Four syllables of which the first three all sound vowel-like? Yeesh.


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Arthur G wrote:
I don't suppose anyone could find me a recording of 'Iomedae'?

The phonetic pronunciation from the Campaign Setting is preserved in the wiki: ahy-OH-meh-day.

("ahy" is apparently pronounced like the word "eye," according to Dictionary.com. I didn't recognize that phoneme.)


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Sissyl wrote:
How do you pronounce "yhi" in english? ihi, aihi, aihai, whyhi, whyhai, ihai???

"The ruined city of Saventh-Yhi (pronounced saa-vinth-YHEE)" ... which, frankly, only raises the question of how you pronounce "YHEE." I can't find that one. :P


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The only naming that bothers me is when real languages (such as Latin or Japanese) are brought into the game and then the official pronunciation doesn't match how they would be pronounced in real life. Fantasy names can obviously be pronounced however, but Ameiko is perfectly valid Japanese and would definitely not be pronounced "ah mee koh."

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

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But what should I do with all these marzipan tureens?


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Ross Byers?

How the hell do you even pronounce that?

Shadow Lodge

Beers?


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Haladir wrote:

The thing that annoys me about made-up names in RPGs is when players decide to make jokes about them, and then use the joke-name at all times.

** spoiler omitted **

In my Rise game...

Spoiler:

"Commander Bayden" became "Master Batin'"

I was sad. :P

Grand Lodge

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Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

I miss my days of playing Lord Drinks-A-Lot for my Austin crew.

Silver Crusade

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TriOmegaZero wrote:
I miss my days of playing Lord Drinks-A-Lot for my Austin crew.

Is he related to Sir Clangs-A-Lot of the Full Plate Stealth Check?

Silver Crusade

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drumlord wrote:
The only naming that bothers me is when real languages (such as Latin or Japanese) are brought into the game and then the official pronunciation doesn't match how they would be pronounced in real life. Fantasy names can obviously be pronounced however, but Ameiko is perfectly valid Japanese and would definitely not be pronounced "ah mee koh."

It can be if that's what Ameiko prefers it to be pronounced as. Just because it's not a "fantasy" name doesn't change that.

Just like how names can have variant spellings, they can have variant pronunciations.

Aka it's Ameiko's name and she can say it however she likes :3

Grand Lodge

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Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber
Fromper wrote:
Is he related to Sir Clangs-A-Lot of the Full Plate Stealth Check?

No, but I did have a full plate paladin in 3.5 that fit that bill. He once rolled a -3 Move Silent check.


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Rysky wrote:

It can be if that's what Ameiko prefers it to be pronounced as. Just because it's not a "fantasy" name doesn't change that.

Just like how names can have variant spellings, they can have variant pronunciations.

Aka it's Ameiko's name and she can say it however she likes :3

I acknowledged that. And it wouldn't make it any less ridiculous if someone named Bob insisted their name was pronounced "Boob" or a House of Wine was pronounced "Hoe-ooo-sey off Wee-ney". These are words we already have accepted pronunciations for and for those who know foreign language pronunciations, it can take you right out of the experience.

In the Ameiko example, if the desired goal was to make Tian characters remind us in the real world of Asian cultures, it makes sense to use the same pronunciation, no? I mean that from a design perspective, not as someone bothering her about her name :P

Silver Crusade

drumlord wrote:
Rysky wrote:

It can be if that's what Ameiko prefers it to be pronounced as. Just because it's not a "fantasy" name doesn't change that.

Just like how names can have variant spellings, they can have variant pronunciations.

Aka it's Ameiko's name and she can say it however she likes :3

I acknowledged that. And it wouldn't make it any less ridiculous if someone named Bob insisted their name was pronounced "Boob" or a House of Wine was pronounced "Hoe-ooo-sey off Wee-ney". These are words we already have accepted pronunciations for and for those who know foreign language pronunciations, it can take you right out of the experience.

In the Ameiko example, if the desired goal was to make Tian characters remind us in the real world of Asian cultures, it makes sense to use the same pronunciation, no? I mean that from a design perspective, not as someone bothering her about her name :P

No.

Paizo Employee Developer

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Ross Byers wrote:
But what should I do with all these marzipan tureens?

First you have to put the penultimate ball in a bowl.


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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Rysky wrote:
drumlord wrote:

I acknowledged that. And it wouldn't make it any less ridiculous if someone named Bob insisted their name was pronounced "Boob" or a House of Wine was pronounced "Hoe-ooo-sey off Wee-ney". These are words we already have accepted pronunciations for and for those who know foreign language pronunciations, it can take you right out of the experience.

In the Ameiko example, if the desired goal was to make Tian characters remind us in the real world of Asian cultures, it makes sense to use the same pronunciation, no? I mean that from a design perspective, not as someone bothering her about her name :P

No.

After years of reminding people that Rokugan is not Japan, I feel obligated to point out that Minkai is not Japan either.

Furthermore, Ameiko is of Tian-Min ancestry, sure, but she grew up in Varisia, surrounded by people who for the most part have zero interest in the finer details of linguistics. Couple that with her rather strained relationship with her family (who almost assuredly want her to say her name "properly") and you arrive at "because she says it that way" as a perfectly valid reason.

Community Manager

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Adam Daigle wrote:
Ross Byers wrote:
But what should I do with all these marzipan tureens?
First you have to put the penultimate ball in a bowl.

With your proboscis.

Paizo Employee Developer

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Liz Courts wrote:
Adam Daigle wrote:
Ross Byers wrote:
But what should I do with all these marzipan tureens?
First you have to put the penultimate ball in a bowl.
With your proboscis.

Right!

Silver Crusade

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Cole Deschain wrote:
Rysky wrote:
drumlord wrote:

I acknowledged that. And it wouldn't make it any less ridiculous if someone named Bob insisted their name was pronounced "Boob" or a House of Wine was pronounced "Hoe-ooo-sey off Wee-ney". These are words we already have accepted pronunciations for and for those who know foreign language pronunciations, it can take you right out of the experience.

In the Ameiko example, if the desired goal was to make Tian characters remind us in the real world of Asian cultures, it makes sense to use the same pronunciation, no? I mean that from a design perspective, not as someone bothering her about her name :P

No.

After years of reminding people that Rokugan is not Japan, I feel obligated to point out that Minkai is not Japan either.

Furthermore, Ameiko is of Tian-Min ancestry, sure, but she grew up in Varisia, surrounded by people who for the most part have zero interest in the finer details of linguistics. Couple that with her rather strained relationship with her family (who almost assuredly want her to say her name "properly") and you arrive at "because she says it that way" as a perfectly valid reason.

I've had a friend since high school who has a Germanic last name (Stange). The "correct" pronunciation would be like "shton-ga" but his family pronounces it "stan-gee" because that's how people in the US pronounce it.

It actually makes perfect sense that she would pronounce it differently, for the reasons quoted above.


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Hrothdane wrote:
Cole Deschain wrote:
Rysky wrote:
drumlord wrote:

I acknowledged that. And it wouldn't make it any less ridiculous if someone named Bob insisted their name was pronounced "Boob" or a House of Wine was pronounced "Hoe-ooo-sey off Wee-ney". These are words we already have accepted pronunciations for and for those who know foreign language pronunciations, it can take you right out of the experience.

In the Ameiko example, if the desired goal was to make Tian characters remind us in the real world of Asian cultures, it makes sense to use the same pronunciation, no? I mean that from a design perspective, not as someone bothering her about her name :P

No.

After years of reminding people that Rokugan is not Japan, I feel obligated to point out that Minkai is not Japan either.

Furthermore, Ameiko is of Tian-Min ancestry, sure, but she grew up in Varisia, surrounded by people who for the most part have zero interest in the finer details of linguistics. Couple that with her rather strained relationship with her family (who almost assuredly want her to say her name "properly") and you arrive at "because she says it that way" as a perfectly valid reason.

I've had a friend since high school who has a Germanic last name (Stange). The "correct" pronunciation would be like "shton-ga" but his family pronounces it "stan-gee" because that's how people in the US pronounce it.

It actually makes perfect sense that she would pronounce it differently, for the reasons quoted above.

And then of course there's the thing that happened with names of immigrants on Ellis Island which was satirised in Alien Nation.


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It happens a lot. My name is Diego, which isn't an uncommon name. It's pronounced Dee eh go, but almost anyone who isn't a Spanish speaker pronounces it Dee ay go. When I was much younger I used to try to correct people. It happened so much I eventually just gave up. And by now even I often introduce myself with the Dee ay go pronunciation.

Silver Crusade

Drahliana Moonrunner wrote:
And then of course there's the thing that happened with names of immigrants on Ellis Island which was satirised in Alien Nation.

Yup. Happened to my great grandparents at Ellis Island.

And Alien Nation was great - the movie and the TV show. I may have to go back and rewatch those one of these days. I'm pretty sure I have them on DVD.

Silver Crusade

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littlediegito wrote:
It happens a lot. My name is Diego, which isn't an uncommon name. It's pronounced Dee eh go, but almost anyone who isn't a Spanish speaker pronounces it Dee ay go. When I was much younger I used to try to correct people. It happened so much I eventually just gave up. And by now even I often introduce myself with the Dee ay go pronunciation.

Ah, neat.

Now I just have to resist the mental image of a Leshy voiced by Gilbert Gottfried.


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Should I be pronouncing Quain as if it were English (Kweyn) or Mandarin (Chu-ahyn)?


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Cole Deschain wrote:
Rysky wrote:
drumlord wrote:

I acknowledged that. And it wouldn't make it any less ridiculous if someone named Bob insisted their name was pronounced "Boob" or a House of Wine was pronounced "Hoe-ooo-sey off Wee-ney". These are words we already have accepted pronunciations for and for those who know foreign language pronunciations, it can take you right out of the experience.

In the Ameiko example, if the desired goal was to make Tian characters remind us in the real world of Asian cultures, it makes sense to use the same pronunciation, no? I mean that from a design perspective, not as someone bothering her about her name :P

No.

After years of reminding people that Rokugan is not Japan, I feel obligated to point out that Minkai is not Japan either.

Furthermore, Ameiko is of Tian-Min ancestry, sure, but she grew up in Varisia, surrounded by people who for the most part have zero interest in the finer details of linguistics. Couple that with her rather strained relationship with her family (who almost assuredly want her to say her name "properly") and you arrive at "because she says it that way" as a perfectly valid reason.

so.

It is you....


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T.A.U. wrote:
Tim Statler wrote:

As to Andoran, I have to fight not to say Andorian. Star Trek nerd I am.

+1

This was never a problem for me until I saw Jeffrey Combs' appearance on Enterprise re-runs.

TriOmegaZero wrote:
Set wrote:
Kobold Cleaver wrote:
HEY, "STATLER"!
The Statler I know is the one next to Waldorf.
They are my spirit animals.

This gives me a really weird idea for a shaman archetype.


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I'm sure it's been said on boards before, by many others, but one of my least fave Paizo names is The Darklands. It's so not evocative enough, imho. Also not very specific. I have to say, "Underdark" was really a good coinage. (Though obvi Paizo couldn't just rip that name off.) "Underdark" was mysterious and broody and menacing, in part because "Underdark" only barely works as a legitimate formation in English (at the very least, it's a an *unusual* formation - 'dark' without a 'the' in front of it is an adjective) so right off the bat, for English speakers, just grammatically the name conjures up "everything is going to be VERY different down there." * I love it. As one of my fave regions in any campaign setting, I wish Paizo's name for it was more unsettling & unique. (This is the not even a ding against Paizo because 1. I'm a total fanboi AND 2. I don't EXPECT to like everything in a setting, just like I don't expect everything in the real world to always be named or described with my sense of appropriate drama & poetry.)

I think it's the "lands" part of "Darklands" that really dulls the word. "Lands" to me implies something knowable, mappable. Makes everything too prosaic. It's too familiar. Also, I really do think any name for an underdark region has to include SOME reference to 'belowness.' 'Cause I hear the Darklands and I immediately think of surface-stuff: Mirkwood. The Badlands. The Land of Shadows. "Land" also conveys a broad expanse, where is one of the key things about underdarks is how twisted and cramped and claustrophobic they are. Even the biggest cities like Menzoberranzan or Zirnakeynin (sp?) feel super-tight and pressurized. No rolling plains of anything... No skies! No real weather... no spaciousness...

OMG this is a long post. Let's subtitle this "A Writer Avoiding His Real Writing for the Day"

* Please no one lecture me on how compound words are formed in English. I know how they're formed.


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Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

I can assure you there is no uh or rrhh sound in the word ki/chi/qi.

It´s a chinese word and the chinese transcription is actually qi with a falling pronounciation at the end.
Unfortunately i don´t really know the english phonetic spelling that good anymore.

Quain kinda can´t be a chinese word, because of it´s syllable structure, so there´s no sense in speaking that in chinese. I´m just speaking it in german like kwain.


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As to Ameeko vs. Amayko -
As a one time student of Japanese, that bothered me at first too.
On the other hand, a good friend of mine in the 2000s was named Mariko, and at first I persisted in calling her mah-ree-koh because that was 'right.' But eventually I stopped 'cause I sounded like boob because she herself always used "muh-REE-koh" though she knew that 'technically' that wasn't right. And everyone else said "muh-REE-koh" too - in America, that was her name. Though she had a few friends from childhood who'd call her "mah-ree" for short - i.e. with the 'correct' vowel sounds.

I now know another Mariko, the wonderful YA writer Mariko Tamaki, and she uses "muh-REE-koh" too come to think of it. Though I'm sure when either Mariko's in Japan, they'd totally roll with being addressed as "mah-ree-koh."

I think the other thing people tend to forget in discussions of correct pronunciation is how vastly different words are pronounced WITHIN THE SAME LANGUAGE in the real world.

"a-luu-MIN-ee-uhm" versus "uh-LOO-min-uhm" is just one obvious example, but even within the States alone the way vowels, especially, are voiced can vary dramatically. And then there are all the different regional accents in England, let alone Ireland, Scotland and Wales. And Australia. And New Zealand. And Canada. And the Caribbean. And what about countries like Nigeria? Etc etc etc... Even within one lifetime some styles of pronunciation die out (or arise). No one uses the old Hollywood "Mid-Atlantic" accent anymore, for instance. And my (heavily American) sense of things is that the precise accent of Queen Elizabeth and pre-50s BBC radio announcers has basically given up the ghost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBRP-o6Q85s


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Indeed, even the Queen's accent itself seems to change a bit in less than 30 years: to my ears her 1984 speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSA-iuHXrps&nohtml5=False
sounds a bit less poncey than her 1957 one, above...


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Hayato Ken wrote:

I can assure you there is no uh or rrhh sound in the word ki/chi/qi.

It´s a chinese word and the chinese transcription is actually qi with a falling pronounciation at the end.
Unfortunately i don´t really know the english phonetic spelling that good anymore.
.

Does that depend on the dialect? Mandarin and Cantonese are quite different....


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Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Orfamay Quest wrote:
Hayato Ken wrote:

I can assure you there is no uh or rrhh sound in the word ki/chi/qi.

It´s a chinese word and the chinese transcription is actually qi with a falling pronounciation at the end.
Unfortunately i don´t really know the english phonetic spelling that good anymore.
.

Does that depend on the dialect? Mandarin and Cantonese are quite different....

Yes they are and i dont speak cantonese, but i´m pretty certain it doesn´t depend on that at least in this case. Just doesn´t make any sense linguistically. Even japanese and korean pronounciation is very similar. Uhh and rrrh are just too far away phonetically.

What i can imagine though is people being victim of some older and confusing transcription systems than pinyin. Some of those are really hard to understand and esoteric.


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Hayato Ken wrote:
Orfamay Quest wrote:
Hayato Ken wrote:

I can assure you there is no uh or rrhh sound in the word ki/chi/qi.

It´s a chinese word and the chinese transcription is actually qi with a falling pronounciation at the end.
Unfortunately i don´t really know the english phonetic spelling that good anymore.
.

Does that depend on the dialect? Mandarin and Cantonese are quite different....

Yes they are and i dont speak cantonese, but i´m pretty certain it doesn´t depend on that at least in this case. Just doesn´t make any sense linguistically. Even japanese and korean pronounciation is very similar. Uhh and rrrh are just too far away phonetically.

What i can imagine though is people being victim of some older and confusing transcription systems than pinyin. Some of those are really hard to understand and esoteric.

Well, I know that the Cantonese for /sifu/ is /shr fu/, so I will have do dig further. It's been decades since I was in Hong Kong....

Scarab Sages

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Add in rising and falling tones, and most English speakers are totally lost.


drumlord wrote:
Rysky wrote:

It can be if that's what Ameiko prefers it to be pronounced as. Just because it's not a "fantasy" name doesn't change that.

Just like how names can have variant spellings, they can have variant pronunciations.

Aka it's Ameiko's name and she can say it however she likes :3

I acknowledged that. And it wouldn't make it any less ridiculous if someone named Bob insisted their name was pronounced "Boob" or a House of Wine was pronounced "Hoe-ooo-sey off Wee-ney". {. . .}

Now you've given me this vision of a bar & grill proprietor whose name is Hoseaoff Weenie . . . .

Hrothdane wrote:


"Cole Deschain wrote:

{. . .}

Furthermore, Ameiko is of Tian-Min ancestry, sure, but she grew up in Varisia, surrounded by people who for the most part have zero interest in the finer details of linguistics. Couple that with her rather strained relationship with her family (who almost assuredly want her to say her name "properly") and you arrive at "because she says it that way" as a perfectly valid reason.

I've had a friend since high school who has a Germanic last name (Stange). The "correct" pronunciation would be like "shton-ga" but his family pronounces it "stan-gee" because that's how people in the US pronounce it.

It actually makes perfect sense that she would pronounce it differently, for the reasons quoted above.

Actually, if you're a GM who can keep these kinds of things straight and voice-act accordingly, it might be fun to play this up -- when Ameiko finally gets there, people keep making fun of her or at least being confused at her for pronouncing her name wrong. Almost as if she was Young Fraankensteen . . . .


Hayato Ken wrote:

I can assure you there is no uh or rrhh sound in the word ki/chi/qi.

It´s a chinese word and the chinese transcription is actually qi with a falling pronounciation at the end.
Unfortunately i don´t really know the english phonetic spelling that good anymore.

Quain kinda can´t be a chinese word, because of it´s syllable structure, so there´s no sense in speaking that in chinese. I´m just speaking it in german like kwain.

That's the best way I knew to phonetically represent it. The way I've heard it pronounced is like a combination of a soft "ch/sh" plus the "oo" "eh" "uh" and a soft rolling of the last syllables.


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Freehold DM wrote:
Cole Deschain wrote:
After years of reminding people that Rokugan is not Japan

so.

It is you....

Who, me?


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Kobold Cleaver wrote:
HEY, "TIM"!

Yes?

Steve Geddes wrote:
Do we still get to blame Cosmo?

The sun rose in the east again and the day ends in "y", so yes, of course.


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Shiba Gunichi wrote:
Freehold DM wrote:
Cole Deschain wrote:
After years of reminding people that Rokugan is not Japan

so.

It is you....

Who, me?

yes.

You...

Silver Crusade

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So what's the correct pronunciation of Yuelral?

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