You sign up to a war campaign to fight "orcs", or so you were told

the joke was about words sounding identical, not words sounding similar... oh fuck it

>auk and orc sound identical
The joke is about words sounding similar.

they are both pronounced /ɔːk/
unless you're Scottish and cram an R in their somehow

Orc has an r.

it's obviously silent. like overwhelming majority of Rs after A and O in English

almost everyone puts an R in there

Everyone pronounces "Orc" with an 'r'.

Welcome to English where the rules don't matter and the pronunciation is made up amyways. Orc is pronounced with an "r". If your are still convinced you are right, go unearth Tolkien and take it up with him

except the orc = auk joke is straight outta Tolkien's letters
also, feel free to check pronunciation on wiktionary or anywhere else

>overwhelming majority

I don't play dice with language. It's pronounced how its pronounced.