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How do you pronounce "THAC0"?

JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,760
edited April 2015 in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
The idea comes from a question by @haniatri72 here http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/comment/631086/#Comment_631086

So, how do you pronounce THAC0?
  1. How do you pronounce "THAC0"?110 votes
    1. slay-co
        0.00%
    2. attack-oh
        0.91%
    3. taco
      28.18%
    4. thay-co
      10.00%
    5. thack-zero
        0.00%
    6. Soft th sound, short a, k sound, long o; /ˈθæʔ.ko/ You know, English grammar rules
      19.09%
    7. whacko, except starting with a "th"
      28.18%
    8. just roll already!
        0.91%
    9. Pronounce it? I don't even want to think about it...
        2.73%
    10. Another option
      10.00%
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Comments

  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,760
    To Hit Armor Class Zero. I never use abbreviations.
  • Saigon1983Saigon1983 Member Posts: 157
    t-h-a-k-o ("ТХАКО" in russian)
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    I've always pronounced 'Taco" .
  • ArnaeusArnaeus Member Posts: 90
    Thay - Koh. I selected the closest but wanted to clarify as it always has a hard k sound to me.
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,411
    We all used to call it "Haco"; as in "Hacko", which sounded oddly fitting. But that was back in 1E days so the term actually had no official endorsement at all. I think just from common usage it showed up at Cons and Dragon Magazine, and then when 2E was developed it was made official as "Thaco".
    But honestly, apart from my circle of gamers I'm not sure how it was usually pronounced.
  • justfeelinathomejustfeelinathome Member Posts: 353
    Taco, always has been and always will be! Since I'm not a native speaker, it took me longer than it should have to notice that's a zero in the end... Even if playing the german localization it remains taco for me.

    I rarely did play it on german, the voice acting is simply not on par (anyone with morbid curiosity should just listen to the male3 soundest in BG1). The fun-run with this voice ended way sooner than my attempt on maxed out difficulty. :frowning:
  • GreenWyvernGreenWyvern Member Posts: 247
    edited April 2015
    Albino called it "Thake-oh", so I picked it up from her. Until there is an official way to pronounce the anagram without going "To hit armor class", then I'll stick with this!

    IT'S PRONOUNCED "JIFF", I TELL YOU! LIKE THE PEANUT BUTTER!
  • MetallomanMetalloman Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 3,975
    The right way is the TACO way.

    - So sayeth the wise Alaundo... why, never heard this one? -
  • Troodon80Troodon80 Member, Developer Posts: 4,110
    I prefer to just say To Hit Armour Class Zero. I generally dislike acronyms, and pronouncing an acronym is something I will never do.
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    I don't pronounce it. I don't actually talk about D&D, people would think I'm weird.

    I do pronounce thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura regularly though. That's got lots of th's and o's in it, too.
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    Terrific Handsomely Amorphous Charisma Output











    I rest my case.
  • GodGod Member Posts: 1,150
    I don't pronounce it. I renounce it.
  • joluvjoluv Member Posts: 2,137
    How long has it been since I've had occasion to say "THAC0" out loud? Best guess: 14 years. Anyway, it's /ˈθæʔ.ko/. But θ is a hard th sound, @bengoshi. Soft th would be ð.
  • OneAngryMushroomOneAngryMushroom Member Posts: 564
    Credit where it's due THAC0 was a brilliant idea at the time but gosh do I think it's outdated.
  • skinnydragonskinnydragon Member Posts: 110
    @wubble what about the concentrated lemon juice with the great slogan for shrove Tuesday? [Spoiler] don't forget the pancakes on jif lemon day. Please don't make me feel old by saying you never saw those ads [/spoiler]
  • TuthTuth Member Posts: 233
    Trying to explain this to the new players sometimes makes me doubt whether I actually know what I'm talking about. So, I try not to ponder about it too much and go with "trust me, I'm the DM". I usually go for the "to hit armor class 0", or "thay-co".
  • wubblewubble Member Posts: 3,156
    skinnydragon said:

    @wubble what about the concentrated lemon juice with the great slogan for shrove Tuesday? [Spoiler] don't forget the pancakes on jif lemon day. Please don't make me feel old by saying you never saw those ads [/spoiler]

    I never saw those ads (or I was too young to remember them) :D
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    This, I think, or maybe "Whacko but with a Th"?

    English is not my native tongue, but I've always pronounced it "Thaco" where "Th" is pronounced the same way as in "Margeret Thatcher".
  • DreadKhanDreadKhan Member Posts: 3,857
    lroumen said:

    Troodon80 said:

    I prefer to just say To Hit Armour Class Zero. I generally dislike acronyms, and pronouncing an acronym is something I will never do.

    how do you pronounce "laser"?

    At some point acronyms become a burden to ignore.

    Or maser!
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