There are many familiar terms you read on the internet, but if they came up in conversation, you might not pronounce the words the same as other people do -because you've only seen them typed! Geekosystem has a pronunciation guide for 21 words and phrases that you may not have ever heard spoken out loud. But if you ever do, you'll be correct. Take, for example, the word "Cthulhu".
You'll also want to check out the best way to pronounce FAQ, Ubuntu, and meme, among others. Link
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4) Cthulhu
Created by H.P. Lovecraft, Cthulhu is a humongous cosmic entity resembling a blend of an octopus, dragon and humanoid. Bordering on a ridiculous mishmash that would be found laughable in today’s horror scene, Cthulhu is still widely-known and loved amongst literature buffs and geeks the world over.
* The Mystery: Probably doesn’t need a list of common mispronunciations, but it’s safe to say every letter in the name other than the “l” can be pronounced one way or another.
* The Answer: Wikipedia says H.P. Lovecraft once transcribed the pronunciation as “Khlûl-hloo,” though didn’t pronounce it that way at other times. Now commonplace, the accepted pronunciation is “ka-thoo-loo;” that is, if you accept a pronunciation from a source other than the creator of the word. Lovecraft didn’t seem to have any consistent way of pronouncing it though, so we’re all better off settling on the common way described above.
You'll also want to check out the best way to pronounce FAQ, Ubuntu, and meme, among others. Link
(Image credit: the NeatoShop)
Newest 2 Comments
The whole point of Cthulhu's name is that it can't be properly pronounced by a human tongue in the first place, and the best we can do is a rough approximation.
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I pronounce it "bäb."
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