Why aren't they called Awchons

[vrellum]

Why isn't the name for Charlie's Archons cutified? Does it reflect something about the nature of Charlie?

[FoE]

Because "archon" isn't a very common word, whereas "dragon" and "spider" are. Nobody would get the pun on "awchon." Also, it looks kinda weird.

[Glome]

On top of what Faces of Evil stated, dwagon and spidews has the w follow a constant and actually feels somewhat natural. It is the type of pronunciation mistake that a little kid would make, which fits well into a world that on the surface is suppose to have a cutesy feel to it. Awchon on the other hand, follows an open vowel and doesn't feel natural, and would only be said possibly by someone with a strong New Jersey accent.

[TamLin]

I would guess because "Charlie's Archons" is already a play on "Charlie's Angels". Altering it further might make it harder for the joke to come across.

[Revlid]

On top of what Faces of Evil stated, dwagon and spidews has the w follow a constant and actually feels somewhat natural. It is the type of pronunciation mistake that a little kid would make, which fits well into a world that on the surface is suppose to have a cutesy feel to it. Awchon on the other hand, follows an open vowel and doesn't feel natural, and would only be said possibly by someone with a strong New Jersey accent.

This. It's a pronounciation things.

[vrellum]

I generally agree with what's been said, and awchon would be hard to say and not a good choice. However the "w" in spidew does not follow a consonant. Though pronouctiation-wise perhaps it does, it's certainly closer than the "r" in "archon".

I'm not a particularly imagninative type so I'm guessing there's a clever way to "mispell" angel or archon so it cutified. I think it's a little odd that Charlie has been portrayed as incredibly odd (Parson is perhaps as odd as him) and his iconic troop (perhaps his only troops) might not follow erf world naming convention.

It's entirely possible that I'm reading way too much into this

[Vreejack]

It's entirely possible that I'm reading way too much into this

hee hee hee. Well said.

The obvious reason for the apparent inconsistency is that it is a real honest-to-goodness inconsistency. Why is Rob inconsistent? Because it isn't important. What is important is conveying the cutesy-boop nature of the world without obscuring its obvious connection to our own. Dwagon, twoll and spidew are obvious distortions. Awchon is not. Why not twee? Because he forgot, or because he wanted Parson to make that mistake at least once. Also, he probably didn't want to annoy us with it popping up everywhere.

It does make me wonder what kind of music the gumps listen to.

I forgot to say that Erfworld is not just a created world in the sense that J&R created it, but it was also created by the Titans, who we assume were not omniscient but named things whimsically and not according to some observable natural language law.

[acirruscloud]

I love Gumps.

"Forest"...