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Old 19th April 2008, 12:42 PM   #2 (permalink)
Ursa major
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Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Do people read glossaries?

Being the sort of person who dips into encyclopedias randomly for fun, I do read glossaries; but I don't expect other readers to be like me.

But does it really matter how a reader pronounces a name in their head? Off-hand, I can think of only two circumstances where clarity may be required:
  • Where a plot turn is based on a character's misunderstanding of a name; this would baffle the ill-informed reader, but then I'd expect the author to rely on more than a glossary to let the reader in on what's going on.
  • A joke or pun, which is a rather poor reason for a glossary entry, don't you think?
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