Puns we know and love

[Bill the barbarian]

   52 minutes ago,  Ali the Helering said: 

 'Absurd' covers everything from the elf bow to the names Nochet and Corflu, and yet we have them.☺

<sidetrack>

I know the story of Nochet, but what's the deal with Corflu? Start a new thread if necessary...

</end sidetrack>

"Raise shields helmsman, I believe we have entered turbulent waters"
"Aye Captain"

Well, it has been said by those who know me that I am given to pontification. Truth be told, I prefer to be known for puntificating. That is, I love puns and so in reaction to the thought that a new thread should be made it (and the demands of far too many of you to mentions here, no really let us not mention it) here it is.

What puns do you like and what is their tale as best you understand it?

For instance as I have heard it, Greg was asked about a dot on a map and he said it was a great capitol but he had not done much with it yet. When asked if he had named it, in a Californian accent replied notchet. <oooo>

Alright, line up folks, punishment time. Let's here it.

PS Oh and if it has not already been answered, what is the deal with Corflu? And I guess we will now need a thread about the absurdities of Glorantha now Thanks Ali, look what you started...

Cheers

[RHW]

Gloranthan puns/shout-outs that I know about:

Dunstop - Don't Stop.

Tada - Tadashi Ehara, Chaosium employee in the early days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadashi_Ehara

Biggle's Stone - Clint Bigglestone, game designer and Chaosium playtester

Pimper's Block - Jeff Pimper, co-author of ALL THE WORLDS MONSTERS

Pavis - a small shield

Furthest - Originally the edge of the map from the house campaign?

 

Edited March 9, 2019 by RHW

[Ali the Helering]

Corflu - an American abbreviation for correction fluid, which was covering a mark on the map. When asked what this was Greg replied 'cor flu' and thus it was named thereafter!

[soltakss]

Genertela - When said with a "J" sound not a "G", explains Genert's reproductive aspect

Svenstown, Wilms Chruch and Zorak Zoran were named after players in the Chaosium House Campaign, I believe

 

On a side note, we have pretty much banned some words in our games, as one of the players is guaranteed to come up with a stock response. There are more but I can't remember them until they come up.

• Elvish - A bloke down the chip-shop swears he's Elvis
• Bard - Hey, you're barred

 

[Bill the barbarian]

2 hours ago, soltakss said:

Elvish - A bloke down the chip-shop swears he's Elvis

Said with a slur, I bet :)

[Joerg]

Apart from the Block and the Paps, all oases/altars in the original Nomad Gods are named after people who you find in the credits of early Chaosium publications. Corflu, Pavis, Sun Dome Temple and Barbarian Town aren't oases, neither are the ruins.

Dog Latin in Glorantha comes close to pun level at times, too, as do certain persistent mis-spellings. I have no idea whether Sherman Kahn's name was responsible for the occasional alternate spelling of khan. Miss-spellings of Latin names like Malia and Sagittus with double consonants in or absent from sense-altering or nonsensical places abound. To me, Mallia is the apple goddess. One humorous take on typos that was popularized on the Digest was Monalli, the Mistress of Clams, which is of course a play on Molanni, the Mistress of Calm. And I remember being ridiculed in a friendly way when a text of mine featuring "trade goods" being exchanged was disfigured by an accidental omission of one of the "o"s in goods. "Have an Argan Argar for your Issaries."

Then there are the intentional puns like Uz. (Meaning "the people".)

[Bill the barbarian]

22 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Monalli, the Mistress of Clams, which is of course a play on Molanni, the Mistress of Calm

Dyslexics of Glorantha untie! You have only your lanes to choose!

[soltakss]

Who can forget the Marital Arts skill that appeared on one of the Character Sheets?

[Ali the Helering]

28 minutes ago, soltakss said:

Who can forget the Marital Arts skill that appeared on one of the Character Sheets?

Dammit, I had been doing so well....😵

[jajagappa]

11 hours ago, RHW said:

Tada - Tadashi Ehara, Chaosium employee in the early days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadashi_Ehara

Not just Tada (or Ta-Da! if you prefer), but also the Tada-shi (the folk of Tada) and of course Tada's Hi(gh) Tumulus

5 hours ago, Joerg said:

all oases/altars in the original Nomad Gods are named after people who you find in the credits of early Chaosium publications.

Ex? Or is that simple the old "Ex" marks the spot?

Then of course there's the locations in the Eiritha Hills: Horn Gate, Agape, and the Paps.

[scott-martin]

13 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

Ex? Or is that simple the old "Ex" marks the spot?

Ironically Greg's "ex" would have been Cam's Well.

[Joerg]

2 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

Ex? Or is that simple the old "Ex" marks the spot?

Ex is at best a ruin of a Godtime city, but it is not an oasis or altar. I am not certain about Winter Ruins, but I am positive that there was no human name for the source of Monkey Ruins, though possibly a person exchanging the offer of their name being immortalized for a location from Jungle Book to be included in the map (as happened with Duckton on the WBRM/Dragon Pass map).

2 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

Then of course there's the locations in the Eiritha Hills: Horn Gate, Agape, and the Paps.

I'll yield you Horn Gate and Agape, which might count as oases though not altars. I named both the Paps and the Block as (likely) exceptions - you never know with family names.

Agape is of course a nerdy pun in itself, as we don't know whether the Greek term or the English adjective are meant.

The retcon about William Church's son Christian getting a feature on that map is balanced with the inherent pun in the Real World name of that individual, and possibly what was covered up by Corflu.

Immortalizing a dental technician uncle at Jaldon's Rest is a deviation of the "appeared in the credits" rule, too, but that applies already to White Bear and Red Moon and is (from memory) the only location shown on both game boards.

Mallia's Stool is a later addition and doesn't appear on the original board.

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

Agape is of course a nerdy pun in itself, as we don't know whether the Greek term or the English adjective are meant.

That we don't.

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

Mallia's Stool is a later addition

And is another that can have a pair of meanings.

1 hour ago, scott-martin said:

Ironically Greg's "ex" would have been Cam's Well

Yes, that's also true.

[Bill the barbarian]

1 hour ago, jajagappa said:

Ex? Or is that simple the old "Ex" marks the spot?

Then of course there's the locations in the Eiritha Hills: Horn Gate, Agape, and the Paps.

Ex, one of my personal faves... (is this a spot where the block bounced and does this have influence on the name?)

Edited March 9, 2019 by Bill the barbarian
clarity

[Bill the barbarian]

1 hour ago, jajagappa said:

Horn Gate

Not sure I get that one.

[jajagappa]

51 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Not sure I get that one.

They are the Horns of Eiritha, and presumably the gateway into the mind of Eiritha. If you turn the map of Prax sideways, you'll see all the parts of Eiritha nicely laid out as a range of hills.

[Joerg]

17 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

They are the Horns of Eiritha, and presumably the gateway into the mind of Eiritha. If you turn the map of Prax sideways, you'll see all the parts of Eiritha nicely laid out as a range of hills.

It also marks the narrowest stretch of the lower Zola Fel valley in terms of distance between the Eiritha Hills and the Condor Crags, creating a gateway for the river that way. That was my interpretation of the meaning of "gate" in that place name. Anything but exciting, I'm afraid, but then place names like "Long Dry" aren't that exotic either.

 

As to "Ex", as far as I know, Greg's separation from his wife Cam occurred at a later date, so that interpretation is unlikely.

[Sumath]

Mahome - the hearth fire.

Although I pronounce her name Ma-ho-may

[PhilHibbs]

On 3/9/2019 at 3:46 PM, soltakss said:

Who can forget the Marital Arts skill that appeared on one of the Character Sheets?

✋ That was me. I made that typo on a character sheet that I produced on a dot matrix printer from a Sharp MZ80-A computer, and I carried it in forward on all my character sheets since then.

[Sir_Godspeed]

4 hours ago, Sumath said:

Mahome - the hearth fire.

Although I pronounce her name Ma-ho-may

Holy crap I never noticed that before.

[g33k]

On 3/9/2019 at 8:46 AM, soltakss said:

Who can forget the Marital Arts skill that appeared ... ?

I found that one on the Yellow Pages of a phone book once...

[Tindalos]

There's also (Em)Issaries, and Subere (Or Erebus backwards)

[Bill the barbarian]

9 hours ago, Sumath said:

Although I pronounce her name Ma-ho-may

Being as I come from that strange land north of Valind's Glacier, I might pronounce it:

 Ma home, eh?

[Bill the barbarian]

On 3/9/2019 at 2:06 PM, jajagappa said:

They are the Horns of Eiritha, and presumably the gateway into the mind of Eiritha. If you turn the map of Prax sideways, you'll see all the parts of Eiritha nicely laid out as a range of hills.

That's cool. The gag and a bit of a dig into the thinking behind the gag, thanks jajagappa. I had long ago noticed the shape of a herd animal (?) on the original map (signed by william, would the t be William Church?) but had not looked inside, as it were.

Still, aren't the paps in the wrong location?
...and the Biggle Stones (just what are...nevermind?

Cheers

[Bill the barbarian]

5 hours ago, PhilHibbs said:

✋ That was me. I made that typo on a character sheet that I produced on a dot matrix printer from a Sharp MZ80-A computer, and I carried it in forward on all my character sheets since then.

So how are your martial relations with your better half these days?