Matt Sommer
United States
Racine
Wisconsin
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Just picked this up at my local Goodwill tonight for $4, and started to watch a few tutorial/review videos.
Kind of baffled that so many people thought the game was pronounced "Blow-kis." Isn't the principal game mechanic to BLOCK your opponent? Why on Earth wouldn't you think to call it "Block-us"? 
And if you were one of them... I apologize for calling you out 
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Sam Yhanto
United States
Arlington
Texas
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Lrq. Well mate, people pronounce things differently all the time. For instance, in England, "schedule" isn't pronounced with a "k" sound. In America, "schedule" usually has a "k" sound. Neither is wrong. :b
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Matt Sommer
United States
Racine
Wisconsin
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rukiosu wrote: Lrq. Well mate, people pronounce things differently all the time. For instance, in England, "schedule" isn't pronounced with a "k" sound. In America, "schedule" usually has a "k" sound. Neither is wrong. :b
Well, I don't think you're trying to "bloke" people in the game, are you?
I think "block" is pronounced pretty much the same in the US, UK, Australia, and most other English speaking countries
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Derry Salewski
United States
Augusta
Maine
. . . give a ship.
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SommerMatt wrote: Why on Earth wouldn't you think to call it "Block-us"?
Because some moron left a 'C' off the box.
I played it, and never really thought of it as blocking. I just thought of all the little pieces as blocks!
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Alysa
Netherlands
Zoetermeer
This is Zotteke, one of my cute kitties!
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SommerMatt wrote: Just picked this up at my local Goodwill tonight for $4, and started to watch a few tutorial/review videos. Kind of baffled that so many people thought the game was pronounced "Blow-kis." Isn't the principal game mechanic to BLOCK your opponent? Why on Earth wouldn't you think to call it "Block-us"? And if you were one of them... I apologize for calling you out
I don't pronounce it as either
Don't forget the designer is French and not a native English speaker, why on earth would you believe that he would use the same pronunciation as you do???
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Derry Salewski
United States
Augusta
Maine
. . . give a ship.
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Aenea wrote: SommerMatt wrote: Just picked this up at my local Goodwill tonight for $4, and started to watch a few tutorial/review videos. Kind of baffled that so many people thought the game was pronounced "Blow-kis." Isn't the principal game mechanic to BLOCK your opponent? Why on Earth wouldn't you think to call it "Block-us"? And if you were one of them... I apologize for calling you out I don't pronounce it as either Don't forget the designer is French and not a native English speaker, why on earth would you believe that he would use the same pronunciation as you do???
They should have made it more French sounding. Inversé is fun to say!
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Alysa
Netherlands
Zoetermeer
This is Zotteke, one of my cute kitties!
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scifiantihero wrote: Aenea wrote: SommerMatt wrote: Just picked this up at my local Goodwill tonight for $4, and started to watch a few tutorial/review videos. Kind of baffled that so many people thought the game was pronounced "Blow-kis." Isn't the principal game mechanic to BLOCK your opponent? Why on Earth wouldn't you think to call it "Block-us"? And if you were one of them... I apologize for calling you out I don't pronounce it as either Don't forget the designer is French and not a native English speaker, why on earth would you believe that he would use the same pronunciation as you do??? They should have made it more French sounding. Inversé is fun to say!
But imagine the pronunciation threads about that one! 
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Matt Sommer
United States
Racine
Wisconsin
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If it's French, it should have some Qs and Xs in it somewhere.
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Alysa
Netherlands
Zoetermeer
This is Zotteke, one of my cute kitties!
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SommerMatt wrote: If it's French, it should have some Qs and Xs in it somewhere.
Que?
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Shemp Fill-in: Chan?
United States
Fountain Valley
California
Which way did I go?
Pick a card.
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We've been through this many times before.
In English, vowels followed by a single consonant usually have the "long" sound. As in words like:
joker
poker
locus
token
local
broke
And vowels followed by two consonants usually have the "short" sound. As in words like:
hockey
jockey
locker
soccer
occupy
knock
When we look at a word spelled "blokus", we see a single consonant after the 'o'. Therefore, being speakers of English, we conclude that it must be the long 'o' sound.
Okey dokey?
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Fraser
Australia
Melbourne
Yep that was 12 Power Grid maps back to back over two days. Worth doing, but possibly not in such a concentrated burst.
Ooh yes, now a little to the left - my nose is itchy. No, no the other left! Now what colour is 12 supporter badge going to be I wonder?
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As an Australian I will always call it Bloke-us. It doesn't really matter if it is correct or not, it is clearly the Australian way to say it
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Jeffrey Nolin
Japan
Nakamachi, Hiroshima
Hiroshima-ken
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SommerMatt wrote: Just picked this up at my local Goodwill tonight for $4, and started to watch a few tutorial/review videos.
Kind of baffled that so many people thought the game was pronounced "Blow-kis."
At least the Japanese consumer (with our phonetic spelling) need not be confused as to how to pronounce it (Bloke-kus), but I guess all of us would be baffling little old you.
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Christen
Canada
Toronto
Ontario
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I've called it Blow-kus for a long time and I'm trying to train myself to say Block-us. It is difficult.
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Matt Sommer
United States
Racine
Wisconsin
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Phil Fleischmann wrote: We've been through this many times before.
In English, vowels followed by a single consonant usually have the "long" sound. As in words like:
joker
poker
locus
token
local
broke
And vowels followed by two consonants usually have the "short" sound. As in words like:
hockey
jockey
locker
soccer
occupy
knock
When we look at a word spelled "blokus", we see a single consonant after the 'o'. Therefore, being speakers of English, we conclude that it must be the long 'o' sound.
Okey dokey?
Yep... just like we pronounce:
Tough
Dough
Cough
...the same, right? And how "ghoti" is pronounced "fish"?
English has nearly as many irregular pronunciations as "regular" ones, and "we" don't "conclude" such a thing because it never once occurred to me to pronounce it "Blow-kis." If you did, more power to you. Again, with the main concept of the game being "blocking" your opponent, it just seems a natural leap of logic.
I was trying to make a joke here, but apparently, this is some huge thing I've stumbled upon. How about you say blow-kis, I say block-us; let's call the whole thing off?
Okey dokey?
longagoigo wrote: SommerMatt wrote: Just picked this up at my local Goodwill tonight for $4, and started to watch a few tutorial/review videos.
Kind of baffled that so many people thought the game was pronounced "Blow-kis." At least the Japanese consumer (with our phonetic spelling) need not be confused as to how to pronounce it (Bloke-kus), but I guess all of us would be baffling little old you.
Yep, because I was obviously watching Japanese language Blokus videos and commenting on how everyone on the planet pronounces the word. 
Aenea wrote: But imagine the pronunciation threads about that one!
I think TROYES is causing enough problems
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Regional Man of Mystery
New Zealand
Christchurch
try the other overtext
No, nothing to see here
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scifiantihero wrote: Aenea wrote: SommerMatt wrote: Just picked this up at my local Goodwill tonight for $4, and started to watch a few tutorial/review videos. Kind of baffled that so many people thought the game was pronounced "Blow-kis." Isn't the principal game mechanic to BLOCK your opponent? Why on Earth wouldn't you think to call it "Block-us"? And if you were one of them... I apologize for calling you out I don't pronounce it as either Don't forget the designer is French and not a native English speaker, why on earth would you believe that he would use the same pronunciation as you do??? They should have made it more French sounding. Inversé is fun to say!
Tierra del Fuego is really great to say
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Simon Lundström
Sweden
Örbyhus
Now who are these five?
Come, come, all children who love fairy tales.
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longagoigo wrote: At least the Japanese consumer (with our phonetic spelling) need not be confused as to how to pronounce it (Bloke-kus), but I guess all of us would be baffling little old you.
In Japanese the game's the kind of crap and dust you get after blowing your hair.
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Todd Redden
United States
Manchester
Connecticut
"Don't pray in my school, I won't think in your church."
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SommerMatt wrote: Just picked this up at my local Goodwill tonight for $4, and started to watch a few tutorial/review videos. Kind of baffled that so many people thought the game was pronounced "Blow-kis." Isn't the principal game mechanic to BLOCK your opponent? Why on Earth wouldn't you think to call it "Block-us"? And if you were one of them... I apologize for calling you out
Obviously, if the designer expected the game to be pronounced "Blah-kus" the game would have been spelled BLOCKUS. Standard grammar/pronunciation rules suggest the game spelled B L O K U S should be pronounced "Blow-kus". This topic has really been dug into the ground in so many other threads it's hardly worth bringing up again. I suppose the hex space-filler game spelled G E M B L O should be pronounced "Gem-blah"?
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Paul W
United States
Eugene
Oregon
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tmredden wrote: SommerMatt wrote: Just picked this up at my local Goodwill tonight for $4, and started to watch a few tutorial/review videos. Kind of baffled that so many people thought the game was pronounced "Blow-kis." Isn't the principal game mechanic to BLOCK your opponent? Why on Earth wouldn't you think to call it "Block-us"? And if you were one of them... I apologize for calling you out Obviously, if the designer expected the game to be pronounced "Blah-kus" the game would have been spelled BLOCKUS. Standard grammar/pronunciation rules suggest the game spelled B L O K U S should be pronounced "Blow-kus". This topic has really been dug into the ground in so many other threads it's hardly worth bringing up again. I suppose the hex space-filler game spelled G E M B L O should be pronounced "Gem-blah"?
The difference is that "blah" isn't evocative of anything to do with Gemblo. On the other hand, it makes much more sense to call a game in which the players are placing blocks on a board "block-us" rather than "blow-kus", the latter pronunciation being in no way evocative of what the game is about.
edit - in short, context matters. If, on the other hand, this were a game about a bunch of Englishmen, I would pronounce it "Bloke-us"
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Daniel Corban
Canada
Newmarket
Ontario
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Blowkus? Really? It's bad enough that people are actually admitting to using that pronunciation, but then we have people trying to rationalize it!
I suppose if you saw the word in the context of a mountain on the surface of Mars, but a boardgame comprised of blocks?
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Daniel Corban
Canada
Newmarket
Ontario
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I just discovered there are several threads here debating this topic. It's official, the Internet needs to be deleted so we can start over.
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Alysa
Netherlands
Zoetermeer
This is Zotteke, one of my cute kitties!
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dcorban wrote: I just discovered there are several threads here debating this topic. It's official, the Internet needs to be deleted so we can start over.
Let's start with the users who pronounce it wrong!
(ie. you! )
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Willi Van Bogaert
Belgium
Ghent
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Here's the official word on the issue:
Quote: The correct pronunciation is as in “Block-us!”
source: http://www.blokus.com/en/how_to_prononce.htm
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Russ Williams
Poland
Wrocław
Dolny Śląsk
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StrangeQuark wrote:
Given all the variations in English pronunciation (especially taking into account non-native English speakers, which is relevant here), it would be better to hear an mp3 file of the game's designer saying it and also have an IPA representation of the intended pronunciation.
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William Hostman
United States
Eagle River
Alaska
Gaming in Greater Anchorage area, Alaska since 1978. Looking for Indy-willing RPG players in Eagle River (or willing to drive to Eagle River). Geekmail me if interested.
Yes, this really is what I looked like when I uploaded that avatar. Not that it's quite current anymore.
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russ wrote: StrangeQuark wrote: Given all the variations in English pronunciation (especially taking into account non-native English speakers, which is relevant here), it would be better to hear an mp3 file of the game's designer saying it and also have an IPA representation of the intended pronunciation.
The word Block has only one english pronunciation: /blɒk/.
Tho' foreigners often mangle this to /blok/ or /bloʊk/
Same single pronunciation for the word us: /ʌs/.
Thus, /blɒkʌs/.
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Russ Williams
Poland
Wrocław
Dolny Śląsk
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aramis wrote: Tho' foreigners often mangle this to /blok/ or /bloʊk/
Which is why I wonder how much to take the word of the foreign publisher when they give written English words as the example of how to pronounce it. I certainly know plenty of non-native English speakers who don't pronounce it like English "block us".
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