Re: [Off-Topic] Community Chat Thread
Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2024 10:04 pm
Ok now I'm having an existential crisis about how to pronounce Necropotence, a card name I've been saying out loud for nearly 30(!!!) years. Thanks.
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How is it pronounced? When I was a kid, I thought it was neck-rop-o-tents (phonetically) but now I say nec-ro-po-tents, with long o's in the middle syllables. Although if I say it without thinking about it, the first o is more of a schwa sound, like the o in dragon/wagon. Great. There goes my afternoon.RxPhantom wrote: ↑5 months agoThey are above the law, because Necropotence should be pronounced similarly to omnipotence or impotence, but it's not. And. I. HATE. It.
Ok, so in keeping with words like omnipotence (om-nip-uh-tuhns) and impotence (im-puh-tuhns), it is my staunch belief that Necropotence should be pronounced 'ne-krop-uh-tuhns.' Instead, the official pronunciation is 'nek-ro-poh-tens.' This has bothered me for decades now, but...kirkusjones wrote: ↑5 months agoHow is it pronounced? When I was a kid, I thought it was neck-rop-o-tents (phonetically) but now I say nec-ro-po-tents, with long o's in the middle syllables. Although if I say it without thinking about it, the first o is more of a schwa sound, like the o in dragon/wagon. Great. There goes my afternoon.RxPhantom wrote: ↑5 months agoThey are above the law, because Necropotence should be pronounced similarly to omnipotence or impotence, but it's not. And. I. HATE. It.
EDIT - how do y'all pronounce "necromancy" and "necromancer"?
I didn't plan to, but I will by God.
Yeah, that's completely different than I pronounce them. The way I do is the same way I say Necropotence.RxPhantom wrote: ↑5 months agoOk, so in keeping with words like omnipotence (om-nip-uh-tuhns) and impotence (im-puh-tuhns), it is my staunch belief that Necropotence should be pronounced 'ne-krop-uh-tuhns.' Instead, the official pronunciation is 'nek-ro-poh-tens.' This has bothered me for decades now, but...kirkusjones wrote: ↑5 months agoHow is it pronounced? When I was a kid, I thought it was neck-rop-o-tents (phonetically) but now I say nec-ro-po-tents, with long o's in the middle syllables. Although if I say it without thinking about it, the first o is more of a schwa sound, like the o in dragon/wagon. Great. There goes my afternoon.RxPhantom wrote: ↑5 months agoThey are above the law, because Necropotence should be pronounced similarly to omnipotence or impotence, but it's not. And. I. HATE. It.
EDIT - how do y'all pronounce "necromancy" and "necromancer"?
English is a lawless, messy stew of other languages, so in response to @kirkusjones: 'nek-ro-man-see' and 'nek-ro-man-ser.' But then necropolis is 'ne-krop-uh-lis' and necropsy follows the same pattern.
Regardless of English's wild inconsistencies, I will die on the hill of Ne-Krop-Uh-Tuhns.
Yeah, that's what i was implying.kirkusjones wrote: ↑5 months agoDon't try to apply rules or patterns to names, that way lies madness.
That's how I would've laid it out too, but I was getting those phonetic pronunciation things from dictionary.com, so I deferred to them.kirkusjones wrote: ↑5 months ago@RxPhantom English is definitely a lawless mishmash and teaching it to children for whom it is not their first language is a daily challenge. It forces me to confront the inconsistencies and exceptions, causing my brain to seize up as I seek to understand why nation is nay-shun, but national is nash-in-ul.
As for necropotence, omnipotence and impotence, I think the sound of the vowel in the second syllable is more of a schwa sound (like the o in dragon, what we describe to the kids as a "lazy vowel") than long or short o. Necropolis is just applying English pronunciation to a Greek word, which never was meant to follow our dumb spelling rules anyway.
EDIT - Also, for your pronunciation of necropotence to work, the c needs to go with the n and the e in the first syllable, otherwise you end up with nee-krop-uh-tuhns.
With how unintuitive and downright confusing some rules interactions are based on sentence construction and location of punctuation, you really think the people at WOTC adhere to logical conventions? There are Secret Lairs to print. UB collabs to chase! No time for your silly spacing. Their bottom line does not care for your desire for logic or consistency, only your dollars.Dunadain wrote: ↑5 months agoI'm disappointed people aren't as frustrated about the arbitrary spaces in mtg names.
I always hoped there was some underlying rule that I just hadn't picked up on, kind of like how I just learned last week why the colors on dual lands are placed left to right in the order that they are (it's inconsistent with WUBRG, which bothers me, but at least there's SOME logic to it), but I feel like Cliffgate petty much confirms that the spaces are completely arbitrary.
It's too late for you. Welcome the madness. Let it flow through your veins and unlock your true potential as the greatest troll this site has ever seen.
Sea GateDunadain wrote: ↑5 months agoI'm disappointed people aren't as frustrated about the arbitrary spaces in mtg names.
I always hoped there was some underlying rule that I just hadn't picked up on, kind of like how I just learned last week why the colors on dual lands are placed left to right in the order that they are (it's inconsistent with WUBRG, which bothers me, but at least there's SOME logic to it), but I feel like Cliffgate petty much confirms that the spaces are completely arbitrary.
Right, all of the other gates have spaces, just not Cliffgate.TheGildedGoose wrote: ↑5 months agoSea GateDunadain wrote: ↑5 months agoI'm disappointed people aren't as frustrated about the arbitrary spaces in mtg names.
I always hoped there was some underlying rule that I just hadn't picked up on, kind of like how I just learned last week why the colors on dual lands are placed left to right in the order that they are (it's inconsistent with WUBRG, which bothers me, but at least there's SOME logic to it), but I feel like Cliffgate petty much confirms that the spaces are completely arbitrary.
Sea Gate, Reborn
They're from different planes, though. That bothers me more.Dunadain wrote: ↑5 months agoRight, all of the other gates have spaces, just not Cliffgate.TheGildedGoose wrote: ↑5 months agoSea GateDunadain wrote: ↑5 months agoI'm disappointed people aren't as frustrated about the arbitrary spaces in mtg names.
I always hoped there was some underlying rule that I just hadn't picked up on, kind of like how I just learned last week why the colors on dual lands are placed left to right in the order that they are (it's inconsistent with WUBRG, which bothers me, but at least there's SOME logic to it), but I feel like Cliffgate petty much confirms that the spaces are completely arbitrary.
Sea Gate, Reborn
Sorry, I've been busy inventing the COOLEST FICTIONAL MAGIC SYSTEM OF ALL TIME.kirkusjones wrote: ↑5 months agoDoes anyone have eyes on @DirkGently? The levels of pedantry in this conversation should have drawn him to the thread like a cartoon character to a pie on a window sill.