Causeplay

It annoys me that lots of people pronounce the word 'cosplay' with a hard S, when it's a portmanteau of 'costume' and 'play'. (Unless they also pronounce 'costume' with a hard S, in which case it would make sense, but I haven't heard anyone do that.)

Therefore, I propose starting a movement or a charity, called 'causeplay', that uses play of some sort for a good cause. It's vitally important that costumes are *not* worn for this, and it would be preferable if the movement or charity appeals to a different group of people than cosplay does, though still a similar enough group of people that they'll know about each other.

Why avoid costumes? If people hear about causeplay, and see that the people are in costumes, they'll think they just heard about 'cosplay', mispronounced (and might not even realize it was mispronounced). If people see 'causeplay' written down, they'll think it's just a play on 'cosplay', mispronounced, if they see that costumes are involved. By not using costumes at all, we make a sharp distinction between causeplay and cosplay, and make it clear that one isn't meant to be confused with the other in any way.

Once this is established, people will naturally pronounce the word 'cosplay' correctly, out of wanting to avoid their listeners thinking they're talking about something unrelated. A bonus is that it achieves some benefit for a hopefully good cause.

N/A [2019-11-24]