The "What's a good name for this?" thread

In the same vein as the holopad from this post, I'm trying to figure out an elegant way to name a cone that projects hi-def, flatscreen TV screen(s). Remote is a laser-pointer. "Holovision" and "Hololens" seem taken according to Google?

Well, if it's a flatscreen image, then it's arguably not holographic.

Hmm... Since both the screen and the remote operate by projecting light, maybe something working with that? A "lightscreen", or a "videolight", perhaps...?

"Videolight" is on the right track.

What would work as a name (or translation of the name) for a militaristic alien civilization/race in a superhero universe/setting characterized by their hatred of magic and dedication to “enforcing the laws of reality” (or words to that effect) by stamping it out throughout the universe?

My suggestion: The "Abhra"

After "Abrahamic" which entails religions believing that "any supernatural powers not granted by God, are EVIL!" and might fit an "outside-force" trying to stomp it all out.

That... could be pretty offensive to those who follow said religions.

Maybe something like "The Wards of Reality"? Or maybe "The Aegis of Reality"?

I just looked up Anti-Magical Faction here on this site for possible ideas and that is what came up.

...

x3

After doing some thinking, here are some other options:

"The Purgato" = The latin word for "Cleansing"

Or "FOE" = "Followers Of Enlightenment"

or "The Censorions" being a mix of "censorship" and "centurions".

Edited by Trainbarrel on Apr 14th 2024 at 12:20:14 PM

I'd argue that there's a bit of a difference between stating that the Abrahamic religions have historically been opposed to real-world use of magic, and using an offshoot of the name for what seems to be a species characterised by hatred, militarism, and attempting to force the world to be as they desire.

Especially if—as I'd guess is the case—the setting has magic as a neutral power.

Isn't "a (X) characterized by hatred, militarism and attempting to force the world to be as they desire" the description for "right-wing crusaders", in our world and history?

Or am I mistaken on this matter?

Edited by Trainbarrel on Apr 14th 2024 at 3:36:10 PM

I would argue that you're mistaken in conflating "right-wing crusaders" with the entirety of the followers of the Abrahamic religions.

I don't recall making that statement and including all of that religion-tree in it at the same time.

I only pointed at one branch on the tree that turned ugly by a certain number of people carving in it. That's all.

Don't make a hen out of a single feather here.

...

But back to the question at hand.

A few more ideas for the one asking regarding possible names.

"The Dis" as in "Disbelief"

"The Bleached" as in "Bleaching the world of all its wonders for a sterile white sheet instead"

or "N3as" for "Nononoarticulus"

Edited by Trainbarrel on Apr 14th 2024 at 4:40:02 PM

That plus, as aliens, they aren’t followers of any Earthly religion anyway

I'm not. You didn't mention "one branch", or any such thing. You applied the name for the entire swathe of religions to the concept, thus associating the concept with the entire swathe.

That is, associating a trait with the general name for a thing implies that said trait is in general associated with that thing.

\*sigh* Anyway, as you point out, this is off-topic, so for my part I intend to leave it there.

Returning to the topic, do you have any feedback on any of the names offered thus far, whether by my or by TrainBarrel? That might give us some direction in making suggestions.

I'm thinking of giving my villain Yctrax's spells and abilities a theme of Latin phrases / names that have something to do with Death and Judgement.

For example, a guy named Lloyd attacks Yctrax, and the Timebreaker calmly allows it to hit him. And then after a few more fruitless attacks, Yctrax grabs Lloyd's arm. This is the introduction to his "Noli Me Tangere" - his touch is suffused with Destruction. In most people, it is immediately fatal as shown in the Favorite Lines excerpt - except to those with the "Imagination" / the central powers of the setting. Those people, like Lloyd there, just end up with their arm broken in every possible place, fissures in the muscle and skin, and "boiling decay".

So I'm looking to learn some other similar phrases and potential applications they have to the lead Timebreaker.

Trying to come up with a good name for a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Switzerland. How does Almerland (intended to translate as "land of the Almer people") sound as a German-language name? Alm is a cognate of Alp, both technically referring to the grazing pastures that proliferate in the sub-glacier areas of the Alpine mountains rather than to the mountains themselves; Almer on the other hand is a neologism modelled after Switzer (derived via Alemannic Schwiizer from the place name Schwyz) as a term for inhabitants of such lands, and thus as the country's demonym.

That said, I'm stumped on how to derive cognates from that in French and Italian (the other two major languages of Switzerland).

I would say Alpelandia for the Italian counterpart. Don't know French and Rhaeto-Romance, especially since the latter is actually several languages.

Nymph is Greek for "young woman" so what's the Greek name for young man? Looking to make a all male race similar to nymphs but not the same satyr since I want those nurturing vibes them nymphs be having.

γαμβρός for bridegroom but I think "young man" is ephebe

After thinking about it and consulting some country names in French and Italian, I've reached the following names for the country.

• English: Almerland
• German: Almern (compare Bayern "Bavaria")
• French: Alme (compare French Suisse and France ^note the latter especially being derived from Latin Francia)
• Italian: Almera (compare Italian Svizzera) /
• Latin: Almia

Several of them rely on the handwave that Alm exists in-universe as an ancient root from the equivalent of Old High German, and it was inherited by the equivalents of Latin and the Romance languages via the equivalent of Latinization; as a result, the equivalent of the Alps are called the Alms instead in English, with similar changes in other languages.

Incidentally, I believe the logical demonyms would be:

• English: Alme (compare Dane and Pole)
• German: Almer
• French: Alme (compare Suisse)
• Italian: almero/almera (compare svizzero)
• Latin: almius (compare helvetius)

The derivation of adjectival forms and such would probably be straightforward. What do you guys think?

Note that "alm" is Bavarian German, not Alemannic German where we say "alp", "alb" or "alpe". So if you are talking about a Switzerland stand-in, you shouldn't say "alm".

I know that, I'm just invoking Artistic License – Linguistics and handwaving that "alm" in this setting has had a different etymological history that led to it replacing "alp" as the standard root for the Alps' names in the various Indo-European languages, going all the way back to Proto-Indo-European (basically taking the place of *albʰós) and through the Germanic and Italic branches of said language family.

one for the lawyers

Is using "Gnoll" for a race of dog-eared people in the vein of say Korone Inugami legal or no?

Relatedly are there any alternatives for such besides "Kobold" (and "Lycanthrope", wolves are a separate case here)

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Apr 28th 2024 at 7:49:58 AM

It's probably easier to just make up a new word for them in this case.

Like "Cani" or something dog-related like that.

In my WWII superhero story one of the resistance heroes, Tadpole, needs a french first name and surname.

She isn't actually human, but a Apparently Human Merfolk-ish (they have gills and webbing between toes and fingers, and possibly something else) creature whose people have been in the Eurasian freshwaters since at least ancient Rome. They don't have a spoken language (you try speaking with your mouth full of water) and while they propably do some kind of names, they aren't normal french names. So she needs to make up one to somewhat blend in after she's exiled to the surface for making contact with humans.

"Tadpole" is a resistance codename, which comes from her going from a water-breather to an air-breather. She's a scientist who somehow gave herself the ability to also breathe air (science) to explore the surface, which is why her xenophobic home lake kicked her out.

I Am Not A Lawyer, but looking at Wikipedia, it seems that the name has already spread beyond its origins in Dungeons & Dragons to other IPs.

Thus it seems likely to be safe.

That said, under US law at least (to the best of my knowledge), a case can still be brought, even if it's technically a losing case, and effectively won by financial attrition. As the owners of Dungeons & Dragons likely have more money than you, there is still presumably some small risk involved.

As to other names, are the ears of these beings their only canine features? If so, you could perhaps go Japanese and call them "Inumimi" (if I have the right construction there).

Otherwise... a simple solution might be "Dogfolk".

("Kobold", I'll note, doesn't necessarily have canine connotations. The original folkoric kobolds were magical beings who—amongst other forms—could appear as small humans. The D&D version is draconic. I've seen, I believe, a vaguely goblin-like version. And so on.)

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Apr 29th 2024 at 9:47:19 PM