The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
One of my stories employs a political union of the Arabian Peninsula's countries, which I tentatively name "(United) Kingdom of Arabia". This immediately brings up the problem of finding a good endonym
to use for citizens/nationals of this country (i.e. internal demonym), because AFAIK "Arab" and "Arabian" are denoted by the same word in Arabic, which could lead to Fridge Logic about why non-Arabian Arabs don't take offense to the Arabians' seeming pretension of being the only "true Arabs".
Yes, I know it's weird to ask foreigners for help about my own language. It's not like I know any Arabic linguists.
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
In a way, it'd be the somewhat analogous to that of non-China Chinese and China-borne Chinese, wouldn't it?
edited 20th Jul '13 1:33:30 PM by peasant
Char!
Well, more like China declaring themselves Asia, and all other Asian aren't really Asians.
I think it'll be more analogous to Americans. The USA isn't all of America but no specific demonym for them has really stuck (in English at least).
I've been looking for the Arabic word for "kingdom" which wiktionary tells me is "mamlaka", so in the same way people from the UAE are called Emirati(s) maybe you could use a similar construction? Mamlaki? I don't know how Arabic works.
Going to The Other Wiki's Emirate page has a selection of Arabic country divisions are the bottom if you want to make it the United Arab Muhafazah or something.
edited 20th Jul '13 3:45:29 PM by Luthen
You must agree, my plan is sheer elegance in its simplicity! My Tumblr
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
You know, you reminded me of something... You know what they call an Arab from one of the Gulf States? Khaleeji, from khaleej, Arabic for "gulf", i.e. the Persian Gulf. And the Arabian Peninsula is either Shibh al-Jazeera al-Arabiyyah (literal, most accurate) or al-Jazeera al-Arabiyyah (also accurate, but sort of more poetic in nature). So... (Arabi) Jazeeri? Jazeeri seems to actually exist in the language despite being almost nonexistent in actual usage, as far as I can tell, and from a quick Google search, it seems like some Saudi Arabians prefer it in lieu of "Saudi", probably in protest of the implication by the term that the country and the people are the possessions of House Saud.
, but none of have stuck. "US American" is perfectly viable, actually, but I reckon that US citizens are either too attached to the more simple "American" or totally apathetic to other American people's sentiments about the issue in spite of the gross inaccuracy and unjust pretensions inherent in it... and that's not counting the ones that actually approve of the pretension.
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
I'm making some enemies for a game but I don't know what to call them. Each of these are Kung Fu Proof Mooks that need certain tactics to be used against them. Basically these serve as part of the enemy forces, who are extradimensional Outside Context Villains.
Those whose names I have:
Masochist: It gains health and gets stronger when damaged, and loses health and gets weaker when healed. Strategy to beat: Heal it.
Brightspark: An opponent so bright it blinds those who look towards it. Mainly found with light-harnessing troops. Strategy to beat: Use area damage or moves that don't require sight.
Those whose names I don't have:
???: A Giant Mook. Unharmable until it destroys a victim, after which it become vulnerable for a few seconds. A great Hero Killer. Strategy: Send in a Red Shirt as a "sacrifice".
???: A human-sized swordsman thing. Sports an Always Accurate Attack that is a One-Hit KO on a single target (Causes Cessation of Existence). Another great Hero Killer that can utterly destroy an party of heroes. Strategy: Swarm it with a Red Shirt Army. It can only attack ONE unit at a time.
???: Another Giant Mook. This fearsome foe is immune to any kind of harm (including Reality Warping) in the first 2 minutes of a fight. Great at breaking defences. Strategy: Buff defences and offenses for the 1st 2 minutes, then go to town on it once the invincibility wears off.
???: An Invincible Minor Minion. This enemy is immune to any kind of harm and its uses area attacks are a One-Hit Kill if unguarded/not avoided. However, it only exists for one minute after entering the battlefield- after that, it is erased from existence. (Nicknamed "Flash In The Pan"). Strategy: Survive as best as you can!.
???: A goofy-looking cartoon humanoid thing. Immune to ALL forms of damage if said damage isn't Zany Cartoon Violence. (They'll act as if they got harmed, but immediately recover w/o taking damage). Strategy: Throw its own bombs back to it.
edited 20th Jul '13 4:57:37 PM by ironcommando
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YEEEEAH— no.
For the first Giant Mook, maybe name it after some particularly large/fierce sport fish, like the Barracuda? To go with the baiting strategy.
For the swordsman... the Samurai, perhaps? One-hit kills and all.
For the cartoon-thing, for some reason I gravitate towards calling it the Bouncer. Double-meaning due to its general resilience and bounciness.
"I've come to the conclusion that this is a very stupid idea."
Avatar Sakaki Ignore cat
Ok, since my previous post was largely ignored I'll try again
Has anyone some suggestions of names for the following fictional locations?:
- A smoky city in the US, with an industrial background slowly being replaced by an attempt to appeal to modern luxury property developers, and a small international airport lying at its outskirts, which is occasionally closed so that events such as concerts can be held on the large expanses its runways, taxiways, and parking areas take up.
- A remote rural area of Japan, with many steep hills and very few inhabitants, but surprising accessibility to tourists visiting from the cities.
- A tourist focused US city, somewhat like Las Vegas or Reno, with a large shopping mall at its centre and many dual carriageway roads criss-crossing it. A surprisingly large dairy industry exists in the local area.
- A once run down industrial area in the British Midlands, now experiencing a surprising amount of investment in an attempt to turn it into a commercial centre.
- A forest in Austria.
Any help would be much appreciated. I'm afraid if I do use any names you suggest I probably wouldn't remember to credit you for your help... Sorry.
@ironcommando
- Aldozat: A Giant Mook.
- Jeden: A human-sized swordsman thing.
- Mugatu: Another Giant Mook.
- O-Star: An Invincible Minor Minion.
- Karikatura: A goofy-looking cartoon humanoid thing.
edited 21st Jul '13 10:04:57 AM by porschelemans
I'm so sorry that my avatar doesn't appear fully in the shot, but the cat was threatening the photographer.
YEEEEAH— no.
Something to reflect its start as an industrial center. Steelburgh is the only thing that I can think of, but it sounds a bit too generic.
Something Spanish, like Las Vegas ("the meadows") or Los Angeles ("the angels"). A quick skim of a Spanish/English dictionary brings to mind La Finca ("ranch", "estate", "building").
Something ending with "wald" (German for "forest")? Find some descriptor you want to use, translate it into German, add on the suffix.
"I've come to the conclusion that this is a very stupid idea."
Trans Siberian Anarchestra (it/they)
.
...I could be more suggestive if you were more specific. :P
The Revolution Will Not Be Tropeable
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
lolz, could be a good Shout-Out Theme Naming / Names The Same if it's different enough.
thanks to all who gave input on my query. I'm going with "Oathbound". however, I will also use "The Pledged" for well, their Not So Different "baptized" enemies... thought i'd mention that.
@ current queries:
2251 Flanker 66 — nice.
3. lolwut, i wasn't aware of that.
2259 porschelemans —
Smoky City — Arkham city. definitely not a shoutout to Batman.
Rural Japanese area — Kirigakure, named after the ninja Kirigkure Saizo. because ninja villages make good tourist spots. yeah, the Naruto village was apparently named after the same guy.
2256 ironcommando —
1. Deathbringer
2. Snipeblader
3. Hekatonkheir
4. Court Jester
5. Bugsprey
edited 22nd Jul '13 3:58:27 AM by ShanghaiSlave
Is dast der Zerstorer? Odar die Schopfer?
Avatar Sakaki Ignore cat
OK, I've gone with Kankōkyaku for the Japanese rural area, El Pastoreo for the touristy city with the dairy industry surrounding it, and Shephaminster for the place in the British midlands. Thank you, your comments have been very helpful with this.
I'm still looking for a name for the post-industrial US city with the airport and the forest in Austria (sorry if I've been vague on that, it's currently just a minor location that comes up in back story. I imagine it as being largely coniferous with a medium sized gorge running through its centre.) I am also looking for names for these fictional locations:
- An area of the French Alps, with one small village and a few hamlets being the only real signs of inhabitance for a great distance, but with a large sports stadium inexplicably placed at the high end of a valley, about two and a half miles from the village.
- An expy of Daytona Beach.
Geographical context on the French Alps request?
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Avatar Sakaki Ignore cat
Ok, context on that little fictional bit of France I wanted a name for.
A very mountainous area of the French Alps, with one small village and a few hamlets being the only real signs of inhabitance for a great distance, but with a large sports stadium inexplicably placed at the high end of a valley, about two and a half miles from the village. At the opposite end of the valley a grand viaduct with a dual carriageway running over it stands, clearly visible from the village. There is one particularly large mountain on the south-east face of the valley, with a twisty road that runs all the way around it.
edited 22nd Jul '13 5:04:31 PM by porschelemans
I'm so sorry that my avatar doesn't appear fully in the shot, but the cat was threatening the photographer.
I got an archipelago kingdom whose name has to have something to do with the sky. But I don't want it to be in Latin or some other language.
Any thoughts?
edited 22nd Jul '13 8:54:12 PM by WSM
Char!
...so you want it in English?
Do you mean like naming it after some esoteric cloud type or sky god?
You must agree, my plan is sheer elegance in its simplicity! My Tumblr
Disregard the Latin thing, I guess. Whatever names you can come-up with
Char!
Is there a Fantasy Counterpart Culture effect in play? Because if we're choosing names in other languages probably should pick one relevant.
And my brain is giving me nothing. Sorry. I'll get back to you.
You must agree, my plan is sheer elegance in its simplicity! My Tumblr
The country's culture is suppose to be a mix of Norse, Maori and Greek. Sea-faring warriors, basically.
Starsea. An archipelago of islands in the same way the sky is an archipelago of stars.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
I need a drink
I need help coming up with a name for an underwater city. Something with a completely alien sounding name. Not alien as in space, but something we on the surface would never have heard before. Mind is gone blank on this one guys. Just looking for a direction.
Theres sex and death and human grime in monochrome for one thin dime and at least the trains all run on time but they dont go anywhere.
Perhaps something with a 'gurgling' sound? The kind of sound one makes when trying to talk underwater, if that makes any sense? For some reason, my mind went straight to "M'rku" (muh-er-koo) as something that would fit. Not sure why though.
edited 23rd Jul '13 5:53:43 AM by peasant
Avatar Sakaki Ignore cat
@WSM How about Cumulusia?
I'm so sorry that my avatar doesn't appear fully in the shot, but the cat was threatening the photographer.
Ah, thank you very much for all the responses, everyone! They're greatly appreciated. I'll try to provide my response to each of the suggestions, so sorry if this comes off as an overly wordy!
2. I think I might use "Obsirnyj" for their main production facility (which is indeed rather vast!).
3. Yeah, I realise that it's not an 100% perfect fit. Then again, the Russians also named air defence systems "Cube" and "Beech", so who am I to talk?
4. That's actually kind of neat.
5. Hm... although it's got a nice ring to it, I think that sort of term would be more likely to be used by political opponents to the programme. Still, thanks!
6. That's a good idea!
1. Ah, good point. I mostly used "Ural" since it had a nice ring to it. I figure I could handwave away the fridge logic aspects by explaining that since it's relatively desolate it's perfect for testing new designs or alternatively it built tiny vessels at first and by the time it became a major conglomerate bureaucratic inertia meant it kept its original name.
2. That sounds kind of nice, though Google tells me it's a type of cheese from Italy.
4. I'll use that for any recon variants that exist, cheers!
5. I quite like that!
6. That's a pretty interesting idea.
2.) Siberian Spacecraft, or perhaps Siberian Space Systems & Technology.
3.) No strong feelings on this, for or against.
4.) The name 'watch dog' comes to mind, perhaps more as a nickname then an official title. Perhaps an acronym like 'TSR' (For Tactical Support Robot) which could lead to a nickname like 'the Tsar'.
5.) How about Genetic Augmentation? Or, in Spanish: Aumento, or, Aumentacion Genetico.
6.) I imagine some sort of gunship. Reminiscent of the kind used by the clones in Star Wars, but bulkier, loaded with more weaponry.
2. I think I'll go with Siberian Space Systems and Technology, thank you very much.
4. Both of those are great names - I figure the troops either informally call it the "Watch Dog" as you said or the "Tsar", and its official designation is TSR*.
5. I think I'll use Aumento for the actual procedure and/or chemical, and Realzamiento for the "end product".
6. That's another good idea.
Thank you again for all your help, folks.
@porschelemans:
For the first one I sort of imagine it being named "Grimsborough", like how here in the UK we've got Grimsby. I know it's not particularly fantastic (and there's a niggling feeling that "borough" is too British), but hopefully it should provide something for you to build upon.
Locking you up on radar since '09