How 'bout another dumb question?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 17 Dec 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Majecot	17 Dec 2003
Ok.. since Woof was brave enough to ask about Tarot.. I will ask this one.... How do you pronounce Thoth ?? :confused:

Imagemaker	17 Dec 2003
I say toe-th. Though I've often asked in stores about and for tarot cards (tare-oh), I just realized that I've never asked publically for the Book of Thoth! Best that I learn here before I go out into the judgmental world! Isn't it funny (not) that with all the world's problems, a clerk could need to have his little power struggle with a customer over pronouncing a couple syllables?

Umbrae	17 Dec 2003
Like Sauce with a lisp. As someone on these boards once said (I no longer remember who), "You've got thoth on your blouth."

firemaiden	17 Dec 2003
It was Genius at Wrok...

Le_Corsair	17 Dec 2003
Jim Revak of Villa Revak says it's pronounced tote, as in tote that barge, lift that bale, but he also says a poodle invented tarot. Make of this what you will. Bob :THERM

HudsonGray	17 Dec 2003
I've always heard it pronounced Thoth like 'sauce' with a TH in front and behind (thauthe), same as the Egyptian god. It didn't bother me till I read Samauri Cat & the adventure with the Egyptian gods--Thpagetti Thoth after that sort of warps the mind...

Diana	17 Dec 2003
Thoth had many names. Djhuty, Djehuty, Dhouti, Djehuti, Tehuty, Tehuti, Thout, and Zehuti (to name a few). So it would seem that the last "th" would definitely be pronounced a simple "t" (as Thoth derives from the other names). And the first "th" would be a a kind of a "t" or possibly a "j" or a "dj". Tdzjot???? Who owns a Tdzjot deck?

Majecot	17 Dec 2003
I am reading these between the tears of laughter... as I am trying to sound it out.... lol this could take some practice :D

firemaiden	17 Dec 2003
I altho thay thauthe

Bluemanticore	17 Dec 2003
To toss in my 2 cents, I always pronounced it like thawth, to rhyme with Roth, with both THs as said in "thin."

miss_apples	17 Dec 2003
You know...its things such as this that makes me think...why didnt the people who created all these languages just spell things the way they are supposed to sound...then again...leave it to humans to complicate things...lol :p

Majecot	17 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by miss_apples You know...its things such as this that makes me think...why didnt the people who created all these languages just spell things the way they are supposed to sound...then again...leave it to humans to complicate things...lol :p But then we wouldn't laugh so hard trying to get it right....:laugh: I have been thaking like thith all day :)

Imagemaker	17 Dec 2003
After this, I will only dare to buy a Thoth deck online! I'd heard in Spanish class that the Castilian d is pronounced as th because the King had a lisp. So maybe the Egyptian God did too . . .

Diana	17 Dec 2003
The Greeks had problems pronouncing it too. So they decided to call him Hermes. That's easy to pronounce. Perhaps we should re-baptise it the "Hermes" deck? (How do you pronounce Hermes? :laugh: )

jmd	17 Dec 2003
'Thoth' is simple, it is 'Hermes' which has all the inherent complications. 'Thoth' is simply pronounced the way it is spelled, letter-sound by letter-sound [font=papyrus] T 'h' Ö T 'h' [/font] The 'h' is there as an aspirated break in the full flow of pronounciation... Now to 'Hermes'... nooo, I'll leave this for another time. [question is, how tongue in cheek is this post?]

miss_apples	18 Dec 2003
Hermes is sounded the way it is spelled, with the E towards the end being long....just like you were saying Her and Me together with an S at the end.

Majecot	18 Dec 2003
... I was so sure it had some silent consonant or something... :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh: A trick pronunciation. I knew you guys would set me straight.. Yes I think an online purchase would be best.. :laugh: I am practicing my lisp, for just in case ;)

Woof	18 Dec 2003
I say it with the first th somewhere between a hard t and a th, but not quite either. But then again, I grew up in the Bronx. We drink wadda and put our folded clothes in a drawa, and when we eat to many beans we fot.:eek: Sorry Woof

Emily	18 Dec 2003
When I first started to use this deck, I had real problems about how it was supposed to be prounounced, in the end I settled on Toth, mainly because any other way I said it made me sound like I had a lisp lol. I still sometimes take the easy way out and call it the 'Crowley tarot' :)

firestorm	18 Dec 2003
I'm with you, Emily. We can never make life too easy. :D

DeLani	19 Dec 2003
OK, from hanging out with generally over-educated people with way too much time on their hands, they say the proper Egyptian pronunciation is "TOT." just like a little kid. And Crowley's last name (according to Sybil Leek, who claims to have known him), was pronounced Crow (like the bird) lee. But I say it just like it's spelled, like sauce with a lisp. Everyone seems to understand me. BtW, I'm from Southern USA.

Diana	19 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by DeLani OK, from hanging out with generally over-educated people with way too much time on their hands, they say the proper Egyptian pronunciation is "TOT." just like a little kid. That is how I pronounce it. Does this mean I am generally over-educated, DeLani? :laugh:

Emily	20 Dec 2003
When you think about it Aleister Crowley made a deck that is hard to get into/understand, you have to really study it to get the full picture - even though it was only printed after his death - so to complete the circle he made a deck that was hard to pronounce - nothing was cut and dried with that man - why would we expect the name of his deck to be different :) . The Thoth will never just roll of my tongue like the Rider Waite or the Morgan Greer does lol

jmd	20 Dec 2003
Let us remember that the appelation 'Book of Thoth' or 'Thoth deck' applied to the Tarot antedates the Crowley/Harris deck... For myself, when I hear the 'Thoth deck', I have to think as to which is meant.

DeLani	20 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Diana That is how I pronounce it. Does this mean I am generally over-educated, DeLani? :laugh: I don't know...are you? :)

The How 'bout another dumb question? thread was originally posted on 17 Dec 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.