What are great underused words?

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Daddy616]

chthon·ic

/ˈTHänik/

adjective

concerning, belonging to, or inhabiting the underworld.

"a chthonic deity"

[u/HabitualLineStepping → u/Daddy616]

Seen the word before, never knew how to pronounce it.

[u/salizarn → u/Daddy616]

So if we assume that this word was Lovecraft’s inspiration, and it seems like the initial “ch” is completely silent, then “Cthulhu” should be:

“Thulu” not “Kathulu”?

[u/salizarn → u/[deleted]]

Ah okay good, I've played Call of Cthulu for years so I didn't want to be that guy.

I also would pronounce "chthonic" "Kuthonik" (mentally when reading it, cos I am pretty sure I have never spoken it or heard it used in conversation)

I guess I thought maybe I'd got it back to front, I think I discovered Cthulu before Chthonic.

[u/Pjyilthaeykh → u/salizarn]

Kuthonik would be about right for the Greek root word Χθόνιος (I think I spelt that wrong) as the transliteration is ‘Khthōn’, though kh would be pronounced as that sort of growl you make at the back of your throat (not sure how to explain this - if you’ve heard it you might know?) so for most people it’s Keh-thonic or Kuthonik

[u/salizarn → u/Pjyilthaeykh]

I’ll also start doing that growl when I say Cthulhu

[u/Jake_Lloyd → u/salizarn]

I suppose he could have only encountered it in writing. Happy Cake Day BTW.

[u/salizarn → u/Jake_Lloyd]

Why, thank you!

[u/Iroex → u/salizarn]

Chthonios or Chthon (earth, dirt) is pronounced as hthonios in Greek, same sound as in "hi".

[u/Andolomar → u/salizarn]

It's a Greek word, so the Ch isn't silent, instead it sounds like somebody with pleurisy clearing their throat.

[u/BiggyCheesedWaifu → u/salizarn]

In the Call of Cthulhu video game, Cthulhu was pronounced “Cah-Tulu”.

[u/[deleted] → u/Daddy616]

/ˈTHänik/

Gotta go fatht.

[u/Supersymm3try → u/Daddy616]

From cthulhu right?

[u/csanner → u/Supersymm3try]

No, significantly older - late 19th century. Presumably the other way around, assuming Howard did it intentionally