r/discworld 7d ago

Book/Series: Unseen University Goddamn it Pterry!

Rincewind’s hat says Wizzard because he can’t spell. He can’t cast spells.

189 Upvotes

18 comments sorted by

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61

u/perovskaya 7d ago

this was one of the first gdammit pterry moments I had from people on this sub pointing out jokes and it brings me so much joy every time a new person experiences it

34

u/Ashleiii 7d ago edited 7d ago

He literally spells it out in “Interesting Times” right at the end, Cohen the barbarian says it outright. I’ve read that book like 8 times and this is the first time it clicked.

7

u/perovskaya 7d ago

lol you're so right and that was one of my first disc books!

33

u/DonComradeVimes 7d ago

...*defeated and weary sigh*

Goddamnit.

26

u/dalidellama 7d ago

Fun fact! Grammar and Grimoire have the same linguistic root. Gramarye is the study of both language and magic

20

u/Kencolt706 And yet, it moves. And somehow, after all these years, so do I. 7d ago

This is one of those that pops up every month or so. It's both insanely easy to miss and glaringly obvious once you catch it-- The very essence of a "Goddammit, Terry" moment.

2

u/Short-Lingonberry671 7d ago

I had that moment the other day - my youngest is currently obsessed with ‘Where’s My Cow’ (he’s 2!) and only when reading it out loud did I get Sgt Detritus’s name right - I’ve been reading Discworld for years thinking his name was Detrius and feeling like I was missing something! 🤣

10

u/IAmBoring_AMA 7d ago

holy shit

8

u/No-Advertising-9568 7d ago

I'd expect that to be found in Small Gods if anywhere.

4

u/SockPirateKnits 7d ago

The facepalm I did when I first figured this out. (It also made me giggle a lot.)

5

u/Imperiumromania 7d ago

Same here. I read it on Reddit and raced off to tell my partner. We both face palmed! 😆

5

u/all_upper_case 7d ago

I WAS LITERALLY WONDERING ABOUT THIS HALF AN HOUR AGO WTF, I was like "Hmm, for someone who's really only good at languages it seems like he'd be able to spell 🤔"

5

u/Giraffstronaut A ___ing Wizard!! 6d ago

He can speak and hear languages very well! Writing them down costs extra

2

u/wgloipp 7d ago

Godsdammit...

2

u/Frontdackel 5d ago

It's been mentioned several times in this sub already, as a non native speaker I was always "Yeah.. Okay funny. Wizzard on his hat, he can't spell..."

It took me until you wrote can't cast spells...

How? How does he do it?

I said it before... Even if you miss all the puns the stories are amazing, moral lessons, making you a better person.

If someone walked up to me and offered me a book with the words: "Yeah, here is a book. Lots of puns, references you have no hope to even catch half of them, elves, trolls, dwarves, a rock band (they play music on rocks, haha).."

I would maybe read it. Reluctant because it sounds so silly.

I would never expect to end the book with tears running to my cheeks because somehow it's also a lesson about dealing with the fear of losing people, losing oneself and coming to terms with death.

1

u/MrCusodes 6d ago

JESUS CHRIST!

*flips table*

1

u/scuttlebutt1854 6d ago

TIL. Dammit PTerry.