Current Events > I had a friend who pronounced Hoothoot as Hooth-oot

(+) Yeah! (+)

And he was like 7, and normally idgaf how you pronounce a Pokemon's name.....but I mean it was a fucking owl.

Having a 7-year-old friend is weird

I know people that are over 30 and still can't understand that Tidus is pronouced "Tee-dus"

Irony posted...

Having a 7-year-old friend is weird

At what age did you start making friends, if ever?

lilORANG posted...

And he was like 7, and normally idgaf how you pronounce a Pokemon's name.....but I mean it was a fucking owl.

To be fair, even as "Hooth-oot," it still basically ends in a "hoot" sound. Honestly, it's more natural to read "Hoothoot" as "hooth-oot" than "hoot-hoot," I think. Yes, it's an owl, but also... Are there any words with a th in the middle where you pronounce the hard t?

StealThisSheen posted...

To be fair, even as "Hooth-oot," it still basically ends in a "hoot" sound. Honestly, it's more natural to read "Hoothoot" as "hooth-oot" than "hoot-hoot," I think. Yes, it's an owl, but also... Are there any words with a th in the middle where you pronounce the hard t?

Yes, Hoothoot.

lilORANG posted...

Yes, Hoothoot.

So, in other words, you do see where your argument fails.

Nockto-wul

StealThisSheen posted...

So, in other words, you do see where your argument fails.

It's not an argument. It's a fact. Every other 7 year old knew it was Hoothoot.

It is pronounced hoo-hoo

I've known people who pronounce Suicune "sue-ih-sin" despite C never making an S sound when followed by a U in English.

Also knew one kid who pronounced it "zucchini"

pokedude900 posted...

I've known people who pronounce Suicune "sue-ih-sin" despite C never making an S sound when followed by a U in English.

Also knew one kid who pronounced it "zucchini"

Yeah, that's fine tho bc its name isn't an onomatopoeia and we shouldn't be expecting children to know every nuance of English grammar.

Hoothoot tho....cmon.

lilORANG posted...

Yeah, that's fine tho bc its name isn't an onomatopoeia and we shouldn't be expecting children to know every nuance of English grammar.

Hoothoot tho....cmon.

The point I'm making is literally every other word with a "th" in the middle makes the normal "th" sound. So, yes, if your mind locks in on "It's an owl, it has to be Hoot Hoot," then sure, but that goes against what you've been taught about how english works, so I'm certainly not going to fault somebody who thinks something like "Well, hither isn't hit-her." Especially since, again, even as "Hooth-oot," you still ultimately end with a "hoot"-ish sound.

nekrodev posted...

I know people that are over 30 and still can't understand that Tidus is pronouced "Tee-dus"

We understand, we just refuse to acknowledge it.

KogaSteelfang posted...

We understand, we just refuse to acknowledge it.

probably watch fuckin dub anime, too

KogaSteelfang posted...

We understand, we just refuse to acknowledge it.

Yeah. Tie-dus just sounds better so we roll with that.

StealThisSheen posted...

The point I'm making is literally every other word with a "th" in the middle makes the normal "th" sound. So, yes, if your mind locks in on "It's an owl, it has to be Hoot Hoot," then sure, but that goes against what you've been taught about how english works, so I'm certainly not going to fault somebody who thinks something like "Well, hither isn't hit-her." Especially since, again, even as "Hooth-oot," you still ultimately end with a "hoot"-ish sound.

Not to be a shithead, but I think you need to stop being so hotheaded, sweetheart.

Not actually being condescending, these were just the first three words that I could think of lol.

Hambo posted...

Not to be a shithead, but I think you need to stop being so hotheaded, sweetheart.

Not actually being condescending, these were just the first three words that I could think of lol.

This is actually a fair point. That said, shithead isn't a real word, it's considered slang. And then the other two are arguably words that the average person may actually legitimately write out as "hot head" and "sweet heart" and not necessarily be wrong. That said, yes, those words do exist, good call.

Hambo posted...

Not to be a shithead, but I think you need to stop being so hotheaded, sweetheart.

Not actually being condescending, these were just the first three words that I could think of lol.

I love words like this because they show how arbitrary English is. People try to claim stuff like French and Spanish are difficult because there are masculine and feminine forms of words. Meanwhile, English be like "Everything you learned about 'th'? Forgeddaboudit, sweetheart."

StealThisSheen posted...

This is actually a fair point. That said, shithead isn't a real word, it's considered slang. And then the other two are arguably words that the average person may actually legitimately write out as "hot head" and "sweet heart" and not necessarily be wrong. That said, yes, those words do exist, good call.

Yeah, I had to rely on autocorrect to decide whether they were actually appended like that or if they were hyphenated or spaced, but it didn't change any of them so I'm calling it a win. Also idk how many seven year olds would know those words well enough for it to inform their pronunciation of Hoothoot, so it's not super relevant anyway.

pokedude900 posted...

Also knew one kid who pronounced it "zucchini"

Walking Wake has a new nickname, congratulations.

(Actually, I am unsure if we are permitted to name it now that I think about it.)

StealThisSheen posted...

To be fair, even as "Hooth-oot," it still basically ends in a "hoot" sound. Honestly, it's more natural to read "Hoothoot" as "hooth-oot" than "hoot-hoot," I think. Yes, it's an owl, but also... Are there any words with a th in the middle where you pronounce the hard t?

I may be personally biased cause it's me, however thinking it makes more sense to deduce a owl's name being pronounced hooth-oot instead of hoot-hoot, when it's literally the sounds they're known for, is insane. It's literally just the same word repeating itself, so it's weird that they'd separate the second h from the rest of oot.

I mean, if the kid's never heard of an owl before and knows nothing about them I guess it makes sense.

Kradek posted...

I may be personally biased cause it's me, however thinking it makes more sense to deduce a owl's name being pronounced hooth-oot instead of hoot-hoot, when it's literally the sounds they're known for, is insane. It's literally just the same word repeating itself, so it's weird that they'd separate the second h from the rest of oot.

I mean, if the kid's never heard of an owl before and knows nothing about them I guess it makes sense.

The reason I think it's more likely to confuse a kid than an adult is because a kid is literally learning things like how "th" typically works, at that time, so they, more than anyone, may be confused by "wait, this is different?" Like, as adults, it's very easy for us to see what they're going for, but you're basically asking a kid to ignore something they were, probably likely quite literally JUST taught, which is why I could see a 7 year old having more difficulty with it.

StealThisSheen posted...

The reason I think it's more likely to confuse a kid than an adult is because a kid is literally learning things like how "th" typically works, at that time, so they, more than anyone, may be confused by "wait, this is different?" Like, as adults, it's very easy for us to see what they're going for, but you're basically asking a kid to ignore something they were, probably likely quite literally JUST taught, which is why I could see a 7 year old having more difficulty with it.

I am speaking as a child as I was a 5th grader when G/S came out. Older than 7, sure, however I knew what owls were and what sounds they made just from being alive and watching anything that had owls.

But also as I stated, it's literally just the same word repeated. If someone/thing was named hathat I would see the word "hat" and notice it's repeated twice. So yeah maybe I'm just biased because I knew the word "hoot" existed and was associated with owls, however I don't think that's particularly mind-blowing for a child to know.

Having said that, the child is seven and I don't know their educational/informed level.

lilORANG posted...

And he was like 7, and normally idgaf how you pronounce a Pokemon's name.....but I mean it was a fucking owl.

> only 7 years old

> Fictional characters name from lazy rehash series

WHO CARES? There are far more important things in the world to complain about.

The Witcher audiobooks pronounces Dandelion "Dan-DEL-leon"

Yeah, all you have to do is figure out the root words.

Like how charizard is pronounce like char and lizard, cha-riz-erd. Or blastoise being a combination of blast and tortoise, blas-tiss. Or how arceus is the word deus (probounced day-oos) combined with the prefix from archbishop or what not, making it ark-oos.

...Waitaminute...

I'll never accept the anime's pronunciation of Arcanine. Arcane and canine both put the stress on "cane" and Arcanine's name should do the same.

Kradek posted...

But also as I stated, it's literally just the same word repeated. If someone/thing was named hathat I would see the word "hat" and notice it's repeated twice. So yeah maybe I'm just biased because I knew the word "hoot" existed and was associated with owls, however I don't think that's particularly mind-blowing for a child to know.

To be fair, we had stuff like the anime to go by, too. Hoothoot literally looks nothing like an actual owl until it becomes Noctowl, so it's not necessarily as clear as it appears, so assuming "Oh, it's an owl, so it's Hoot-hoot" isn't necessarily as obvious as it seems. I don't know if I would have known it was Hoot-hoot as a child or not, because the first time I ever saw the thing was literally when the "Who's that Pokemon?!" revealed it and said the name. If I had seen it in-game first, I might have plausibly been unsure, since it doesn't look like an owl, and nothing says it's an owl, initially.

EDIT: I guess the Pokedex does call Hoothoot the "owl Pokemon," but then again, it also calls Sandshrew the "mouse Pokemon," so...

I don't appreciate the trolling but I do appreciate the bumps. Mixed feelings but I'll walk away thinking this was a mostly positive experience.

nekrodev posted...

I know people that are over 30 and still can't understand that Tidus is pronouced "Tee-dus"

It's "Tied-us" and you can fuck off with this bullshit.

I think I got Mandela Effected, because I could have sworn there was a hyphen and it was Hoot-Hoot

ket shee

pokedude900 posted...

I've known people who pronounce Suicune "sue-ih-sin" despite C never making an S sound when followed by a U in English.

Hahaha I've heard this one too. It really makes you wonder if they actually read the word every time it comes up on screen.

I've known people who pronounce Suicune "sue-ih-sin" despite C never making an S sound when followed by a U in English.

sluice?

Fluttershy posted...

I've known people who pronounce Suicune "sue-ih-sin" despite C never making an S sound when followed by a U in English.

sluice?

I'm gonna need you to show me the part where the C comes before the U

It never occurred to me that hoothoot could be pronounced that way.

oh, lol, i misread that.

ui -> c has plenty of examples where it makes an 's' sound, though. i don't think it's that out of the question, and suicune isn't an english word, anyway.

nekrodev posted...

I know people that are over 30 and still can't understand that Tidus is pronouced "Tee-dus"

Gross.

Fluttershy posted...

oh, lol, i misread that.

ui -> c has plenty of examples where it makes an 's' sound, though. i don't think it's that out of the question, and suicune isn't an english word, anyway.

It's not a word at all. Yes it's a portmanteau in Japanese, but it's not written as a Japanese word (which would normally come out as "suikun"). So it should read under the assumption that it follows English rules. And I don't know of any words in the English language where "cu" is pronounced "su", let alone "si". At least none that a child would know.

I think the issue is these kids didn't actually look closely at the spelling and thought there was an i after the c.

it should read under the assumption that it follows English rules. And I don't know of any words in the English language where "cu" is pronounced "su", let alone "si".

but you do know of english words where 'c' is pronounced with an 's' sound following the letters 'ui'. right?

my point is when you have words that aren't english and you're trying to apply english pronunciation to them, you go to similar words. if someone sees 'suicune' and thinks the first half has the same pronunciation as the first half of 'suicide', i'm not sitting here judging them. as you said, there aren't other english words off of which to base it.

JoeDangIt posted...

It never occurred to me that hoothoot could be pronounced that way.

Because it has only happened exactly one time with my friend.

pokedude900 posted...

It's not a word at all. Yes it's a portmanteau in Japanese, but it's not written as a Japanese word (which would normally come out as "suikun"). So it should read under the assumption that it follows English rules. And I don't know of any words in the English language where "cu" is pronounced "su", let alone "si". At least none that a child would know.

I think the issue is these kids didn't actually look closely at the spelling and thought there was an i after the c.

No it shouldn't. It was created by a Japanese company not an American one.

No it shouldn't.

yes, it should. what language do the characters speak?
(that's your cue as to what rules the made-up words should follow)

Fluttershy posted...

it should read under the assumption that it follows English rules. And I don't know of any words in the English language where "cu" is pronounced "su", let alone "si".

but you do know of english words where 'c' is pronounced with an 's' sound following the letters 'ui'. right?

my point is when you have words that aren't english and you're trying to apply english pronunciation to them, you go to similar words. if someone sees 'suicune' and thinks the first half has the same pronunciation as the first half of 'suicide', i'm not sitting here judging them. as you said, there aren't other english words off of which to base it.

What kind of backwards logic are you using here? The letters that precede C are completely irrelevant to its pronunciation. I know words where a T that follows "en" is pronounced "sh", but I never heard anyone pronounced Entei "enshay". Because kids know that T only makes a "sh" sound when followed by an i. Much like they know that C only makes an s sound when followed by an i or an e.

Also can you please explain to me why any English-speaking American child in the year 2000 would not try to apply English pronunciation to every single word in an English game?

Revelation34 posted...

No it shouldn't. It was created by a Japanese company not an American one.

...what the fuck does this even mean? Are you suggesting that, because the game is Japanese in origin, every word in it should be read using Japanese syllables regardless of whether that makes sense in the context of localization? Should be pronounced su-i-ku-ne? Should Sudowoodo be su-do-wo-o-do?

What kind of backwards logic are you using here?

i'll continue the conversation on the grounds that you can actually prove you understood my post. did i, or did i not, give an example where a similar word may lead a person to pronounce suicune a certain way?

Also can you please explain to me why any English-speaking American child in the year 2000 would not try to apply English pronunciation to every single word in an English game?

by maybe looking at similar words and going from there? what aren't you getting lol.

pokedude900 posted...

I think the issue is these kids didn't actually look closely at the spelling and thought there was an i after the c.

Again, there is NO precedent in the English language for "cu" to sound like "si". If you read it correctly, it's clearly "cu". The ONLY way you could pronounce it "si" is if you read the letters wrong. As opposed to the Hoothoot issue where either pronunciation could be theoretically correct when applying the rules of the language.

you tried, but i don't think i'm getting through. maybe next time.

pokedude900 posted...

I've known people who pronounce Suicune "sue-ih-sin" despite C never making an S sound when followed by a U in English.

That's how I used to pronounce it for some reason.. Soo-ee-shin

Hambo posted...

I'll never accept the anime's pronunciation of Arcanine. Arcane and canine both put the stress on "cane" and Arcanine's name should do the same.

I cant understand this...