
Well, thank goodness that's over with!
Since the reveal of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom at the most recent Nintendo Direct presentation, some fans have been feverishly debating how to pronounce the new title: is it tears (as in crying), or tears (as in ripping)?
Now, this writer had absolutely no doubt about the pronunciation - just ask anyone - but Nintendo has now confirmed for definite, just in case you're still not 100% on the matter. The news comes via Eurogamer, and yes, as most of us suspected, the pronunciation is "tears" - as in crying tears (much like the tears you're no doubt shedding having to read yet another article on that ruddy title... grumble...).

So there we go, end of discussion, move on, thank you very much.
Oh actually, wait, don't go yet - we have a whole boatload of other theories that you simply must check out if you're a fan of the Zelda series! These include the likes of time travel, time loops, and the return of everyone's favourite redhead, Demise. There's plenty to unpack ahead of the game's launch on May 12th, 2023, so make sure you join in the fun.
For even more information on Tears of the Kingdom, make sure to head over to our 'Everything We Know So Far' page, where we breakdown... well, everything. We've also compiled the best places you can currently pre-order the game from, to save you the trouble of scouring the web!
So what do you make of the title now that we know its pronunciation for definite? Like it? Hate it? Indifferent? Tear on down (as in move at a fast pace) to the comments section and let us know!
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 95
Now I can finally get some sleep.
@Purgatorium And cry while doing so.
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The people who thought it was tears not tears:

You mean it was the only one that made sense? 😲
What a non-troversy. Obviously it was the tears you cry.
The shortest lived pronunciation controversy is finally over.
Ah ok, so it was tears, not tears. Much more clear now.
@the_beaver So much clearer
It doesn’t makes any sense for it to be anything other than the crying tears, because otherwise it would be Tears in the Kingdom, not Tears of the Kingdom.
Finally! It was tearing me up inside not knowing if it was "tears" or "tears". Tears out in a rush
(Seems I was right from the beginning)
I was curious if they meant tears or tears. Glad to know it's tears so I can go back to wondering what significance the title has to the game's story/lore, considering they were hiding it initially for plot reasons.
The headline cleared it up for me, thanks.
NINJA APPROVED
It's a good job Nintendo took so long with this game, can you imagine what name would have been chosen if they had rushed it?
Zelda dies, the kingdom cries. Calling it now.
Nintendo shot down my idea when I pitched it to them.
BotW2: Two Tears Too Much to Tear
Considering the emphasis on vertical mobility, they should have called it Tiers of the Kingdom
I just assumed it was called tears as Link is shown turning into some kind of water droplet or tear and passing through objects in one of the older trailers
Well the crying one sounded like a good Zelda title and the ripping one sounded like a Kingdom Hearts title mess.
Kingdom Hearts 1.7 minus 3: Pre-sequel Prologue X End Scene part II: Tears of the Kingdom 5.
Yup. See the crown-shaped water droplet in my profile pic: Tears of the Kingdom.
Whenever these controversies arise I just go look at the Japanese titles. That cleared it up immediately.
Now it’s time to release that port of Wind Waker. Wait, is it wind like the breeze or wind like a wind-up toy? LOL.
@rmswriter Or just ‘The Torn Kingdom’.
Obviously... 😢🤦♂️
@Tyranexx No need to cry about it, or rip yourself apart over it. ; )
@Fizza Was it....tears for fears?
@Joekun Neither. It's the wound waker you silly thing.
More like The Legend of Zelda: The Kingdom of a Bunch of Wusses
Damnit, I was in team tears (rips). Oh well.
@Tandy255 totally.
Thank you for relieving my agony
I always thought it was pronounced tears like crying, but it doesn't take away from the multiple meanings behind the word tear and the phrase Tears of the Kingdom. Which is still brilliant on their part.
I knew that was the right pronunciation!
Of course it's tears! I mean, tears would've made no sense because everyone knows that tears don't tear and you can't tear a tear so tears it is.
That makes the most sense to me. But I could've also seen it pronounced the other but I'm glad they told how to pronounce it.
@rmswriter That's a logical answer and not wrong. But this is Nintendo we are talking about and I mean that endearingly. I feel like they're wacky enough to have had it been the other tear as well
Well duh! Are people really so dense?
Who the hell thought it meant ripping? Using it in that context sounds very stupid.
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LOZ: Homonyms of the Kingdom
Thank goodness we had Japanese and other languages to clarify which tear they meant in the English title!
Cap’n Crunch®️ is sweet and golden, with a crunch you’ll love!
What a tearjerker.
But really, all the tear puns in here give me life.
@Tempestryke I suppose it's the same as tearing up over spilled milk.
Of course it was the crying tears. "Tears (as in torn) of the Kingdom" just doesn't make grammatical sense... Maybe unless Nintendo has really tough bosses ready to tear Link a new one 🤔
No Groose is the real favourite red hair.
Tears as in rips sounds terrible. It’s not something a native English speaker would ever name anything. I’m amazed people actually thought that that was it.
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@MitchK NO ONE actually did. It's click bait.
rip and Tear, until it is Done.
Hopefully the game itself won't lead to tears of rage.
Legend of Zelda: Detroit tear city.
let me be real
the idea that it was "tears" and not "tears" was one of the stupidest fan theories i have ever heard
i know there is nothing inherently wrong with theorizing about lore in this way, nobody's hurting nobody, but for some reason i just find it so phenomenally silly and cringey. i guess it's just the idea of people thinking they're a lot more clever than they really are. it's silly in itself for me to feel this way but hey
I love it when contrarians are proven wrong.
But how do we pronounce Kakariko???
Lol where people actually serious? About the tears thing.
Bit aside from that, i hope zelda is more lively this time around.
Glad we can move on from this thing that should not have been a thing.
Once I was informed of the Japanese title that refers to crying, it was finally cleared up. But if I'm brutally honest, I thought it was crying tears at first and only got confused about ripping when my sister and others started bringing that up. Hey, I was just having fun while it lasted!
Literally didn't need to be said. I suppose there were tears for people who hoped it was tears though
This game is in the Link to the Past timeline. We are witnessing the birth of lorule.
Was anyone actually confused? I thought it was pretty obvious how to pronounce it
The mystery was charming and it's a pity they've decided to solve it. Intrigue and a little ambiguity can be good for a title.
I was kind of hoping for a double meaning. Then again, not sure how it should be pronounced.
the funny thing is that is works both ways. cause the kingdom tears apart
@Mattock1987 If Zelda dies how can it still be "The Legend of Zelda", and what would be the actual goal of the game?
@sanderev it’ll be a good plot twist, and she’ll be brought back to life with some time travelling BS like in Age of Calamity. And Avengers Endgame
So it wasn't supposed to be pronounced as ters! Who would've thought.
Pretty sure there would still be a militant minority who will say otherwise to the very end.
"Yes, it's tears, not tears" I'm glad we cleared that up!
I don't know why people want to fight about everything. Tears of the Kingdom sounds WAY better than Tears of the Kingdom.
@calbeau It'll never end. There's still so many people that say Live A Live or Live A Live, when it is so obviously Live A Live.
Well I'm glad we got that sorted out.
This is why we could have a live direct in the UK because of our tears for the Queen aka tears of the kingdom!
It never passed in my head that it could be "ripping", and now I got this one ringing in my head because of this "controversy"...
Tears (ripping) of the Kingdom 🙄
Shocker. All Zelda did in BotW was cry. Zelda and Mipha were the absolute worst characters in a Zelda game ever, mostly from their voice actresses. Wispy weak breathy damsel in distress crap. I was hoping for a badass Zelda like wind waker or Ocarina. Or a gutsy zora like ruto. Instead we got voices that sounded like they all ran out of breath while crying. At least the Gerudo wasn't like that. This new Zelda game will probably cry more than Merry and Pippen combined (that's a LotR ref)
English is weird.
@eaglebob345 no, its Live A Live. You probably pronounce it Data instead of Data too. 🙄
@Deminox Latín American Spanish voice acting is top notch for both Zelda and Mipha. Also, Japanese is very good.
You'd have to judge given the original language, which is Japanese in this case.
@Lord I've been blasting "God Save the Queen" by the S3x Pist0ls (not sure if comments algorithm would block reply if I spelled out the name correctly). The world needs Johnny Rotten right now.
@calbeau like those fools that pronounce Pho "fuh". It's not even a Vietnamese word, they pronounce it both ways. But fuh is wrong.
@Jokerwolf that would make sense because of mostly everything seen so far, but it's stated Lorule was already named like that since before their Triforce broke down.
@Deminox Nope, it's definitely Live A Live. You're probably one of those people that says route instead of route. 🤔
@Olmectron That could still hold true, we could be witnessing it manifesting physically in Hyrule, like they are crashing into one another.
Wait it’s not tears? Well now I’m not buying it
Cthulhu ftaghn of the Kingdom.
The customers will decide how it's pronounced.
@Jokerwolf That sounds even better. Worlds/dimensions collapsing.
Now to crack the mystery behind the meaning of “Just” in Just Dance.
I hate that I’ve inadvertently contributed to junk articles like this by even clicking in it.
@Deminox But what of the King of Pho? The Pho King.
@bimmy-lee Simple: かかりこ
Botw should have been called Breadth of the Wild given how expansive the map is.
@NEStalgia - Ah, it all makes sense now. Haha, it’s been a while, hope you’re well.
How do you pronunce tear as in rip and tear?
Was thinking it was as in the Tear (Crying).
So, as Bear?
Maybe some other non english Mother Speaker is here that has a Language that uses the latin Alphabet more aline to the Letters and can transcript it.
@bimmy-lee it’s blatantly obvious. Kakariko. Or to troll people, pronounce it Kakariko.
@WiltonRoots - Ah, now I see. I enjoy a good troll, so I’ll go with the second option there. I think it also depends on what timeline you’re in at any given moment. Hopefully we enter a timeline with no game breaking dropped frames in Kakkarikkiko village, AMIRITE?!?
@bimmy-lee Oh, I've been around, I've just been mostly on Push and PXB due to lack of interesting goings on in the Nintendoverse until recently for a while, and....eh, NL's feel has changed over the years and it's more...IDK...Twittery/Instagramy/Youtuber-y than it once was. I guess that's what the younger cool cats, or swell folks, or tubular gnarly radical kids are into these days?
@NEStalgia - Good to know you’re still kicking, us blue haired old folk can’t take that for granted. I’m still reading what interests me here, but don’t usually have much to say in the comments or the forums. Been trying to work Time Extension into my reading, schedule, but it’s not quite what I had hoped. Wish the best for you, keep yelling at clouds and whacking these kids in the shins with your cane.
Glad that is cleared up!
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