Why is bullette pronounced like that?

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miqued
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Why is bullette pronounced like that?

Post by miqued »

Alternatively: why is it spelled like that?

"Boo-lay". It's clear what to call this land shark, but it's unclear to me how it got its spelling. I've called them bull-etts for as long as I've known about them, having only ever read the word before in either the "Manual" or the "Folio", I forget which. Which came first, the pronunciation or the spelling? Who's the big cheese that said "my lasting legacy shall forthwith be, and I declare, we shall give this monster a soft-ending name and a hard-ending spelling!"? I can't be the only one who's had this question...

I'm partially joking, in the sense that I'm acting a bit dramatic about it on purpose, but it's a serious question. Where'd the name sound/spelling dissonance (at least as perceived by me) come from?
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LibraryLass
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Re: Why is bullette pronounced like that?

Post by LibraryLass »

miqued wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:17 pm Alternatively: why is it spelled like that?

"Boo-lay". It's clear what to call this land shark, but it's unclear to me how it got its spelling. I've called them bull-etts for as long as I've known about them, having only ever read the word before in either the "Manual" or the "Folio", I forget which. Which came first, the pronunciation or the spelling? Who's the big cheese that said "my lasting legacy shall forthwith be, and I declare, we shall give this monster a soft-ending name and a hard-ending spelling!"? I can't be the only one who's had this question...

I'm partially joking, in the sense that I'm acting a bit dramatic about it on purpose, but it's a serious question. Where'd the name sound/spelling dissonance (at least as perceived by me) come from?
Because Gary thought that was how French worked and he wasn't as smart as he thought he was.
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miqued
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Re: Why is bullette pronounced like that?

Post by miqued »

Well, at least then the way I imagined it happening is probably not far from how it actually went. LOL
miqued wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:17 pm ... "my lasting legacy shall forthwith be, and I declare, we shall give this monster a soft-ending name and a hard-ending spelling!"
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Boggo
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Re: Why is bullette pronounced like that?

Post by Boggo »

Well, since Gary Gygax invented the monster the name and the pronunciation, I think we should blame Dave Arneson since it's more than likely he did and Gary stole the glory
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Mars
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Re: Why is bullette pronounced like that?

Post by Mars »

Boggo wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 12:23 am Well, since Gary Gygax invented the monster the name and the pronunciation, I think we should blame Dave Arneson since it's more than likely he did and Gary stole the glory
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Re: Why is bullette pronounced like that?

Post by Boggo »

OH! it was neither, it was Tim Kask!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Kask
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Re: Why is bullette pronounced like that?

Post by toddlyons »

miqued wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:17 pm Alternatively: why is it spelled like that?

"Boo-lay".
I guess Tim Kask liked the look of French, but didn't understand how to match spellings with pronunciations. He probably should have asked around. And his editor(s) dropped the ball, too.
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Re: Why is bullette pronounced like that?

Post by Boggo »

toddlyons wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 6:43 am
miqued wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:17 pm Alternatively: why is it spelled like that?

"Boo-lay".
I guess Tim Kask liked the look of French, but didn't understand how to match spellings with pronunciations. He probably should have asked around. And his editor(s) dropped the ball, too.
lol Tim WAS the editor :D

though that pronunciation was from the Monstrous Manual (2e) so everyone who was actually playing when it was introduced wasn't actually there anymore...
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Re: Why is bullette pronounced like that?

Post by toddlyons »

Boggo wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 7:09 am lol Tim WAS the editor :D
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Re: Why is bullette pronounced like that?

Post by Seven »

Never really looked like French to me.

There is no such word in French. Bulle means bubble and ette tends to mean little.
It sure ain't no little bubble.

In French, name often ends with a silent letter which people tend to pronounce when they anglicize. Bouchard, for example.

In English, you got Bull, which is already more suggestive.
Also, bullet, which is lethal enough, but suggest speed.

In German, bulette is a meatball which is interesting.
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