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Nukeli Since: Aug, 2018
#8301: May 11th 2023 at 10:21:00 AM

One of the villains in my concept about Dutch street-level superheroes/supervillains is a wannabe world conqueror named King Of Crows/King Crow. I wasn't sure what to name his thugs at first, but if i'm understanding [1][2] right, a group of crows is also called "murder" in dutch? Wikipedia doesn't give a source, but the google results propably indicate it's true.

So it would make sense to have them be named "The x Murder", but i still can't think of what to put in the x. Ideas?

Note i'm writing in english and don't actually speak dutch yet. The only other character i've named at this point is named Crowsfoot (unconnected to King Crow) because caltrops are also called that in dutch, so there's already basis for this kind of Translation Convention thing.

Edited by Nukeli on May 11th 2023 at 8:54:47 PM

~*bleh*~
ArsThaumaturgis Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: I've been dreaming of True Love's Kiss
#8302: May 11th 2023 at 11:29:33 AM

I definitely should've remembered to say that I was planning to take the English words, see their translations in the local languages of the countries I had named earlier, and then pick the ones that I find best to form an acceptable acronym.

Aaaah, that does indeed change things!

That said, I would still motivate for "ubuntu" as the "South African word". It doesn't have a single-word translation into English (again, see the Wikipedia page to which I linked), but it is I think a fairly prominent idea/word within the country.

If you need a single English word as the source, you could perhaps bend definitions a little to get to "ubuntu" from "togetherness" or "unity".

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on May 11th 2023 at 8:30:48 PM

My Games and Asset Packs
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#8303: May 11th 2023 at 1:20:42 PM

[up][up][up][up] For the record, yes, naming the AI Möbius is very appropriate, given your description.


So about my Africa-based megacorp... I've decided that instead of four words with different meanings, I'll go with four words that share the same meaning, namely "brotherhood" (as in "all Africansnote  are brothers/sisters"). They're listed below, with the source language and home country.

Megacorp's name: Ubonde

  • Hausa (Nigeria): 'yan uwantaka
  • Lingala (Kongo): bondeko
  • Oromo (Ethiopia): obbolummaa
  • Zulu (South Africa): ubuzalwane

Alternatively, I can go with a purely Swahili name, since the language has been growing increasingly more popular across the African Unionnote . The name that I'm considering is "Vibara", a contraction of Swahili Viwanda vya Bara (lit. "Continental Enterprises", "Continental Industries" or "Continental Factories") that also happens to resemble English "vibrant", thus giving an additional connotation of dynamic vigor as well as an allusion to the wealth of resources hidden within the Dark Continent that the megacorp seeks to tap into.

Or maybe I could just use both? Now that I look at my list, all of the megacorps have single-word names (notwithstanding descriptors like "Corporation", "Combine", "Group" or "Inc."); I could use at least one that has two words in its name, and given the sheer size and diversity of Africa compared to the other megacorps' domains, it certainly would make sense that more than one megacorp would be able to emerge from the continent, each coming to dominate different sets of countries on it before eventually deciding that it would be better to merge in order to properly contend with the other megas instead of waiting for them to temporarily band together to pick the two apart, ushering in a new era of megacorporate neocolonialist exploitation of humanity's birthplace.

So... Ubonde-Vibara, colloquially shortened to "Ubovi/Ubo-Vi"? Or Vibara-Ubonde, colloquially shortened to Viubo/Vi-Ubo?

Edited by MarqFJA on May 11th 2023 at 11:25:32 AM

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
LoneCourier0 The Wandering Geek from A Diverse Land (Unitroper) Relationship Status: How YOU doin'?
The Wandering Geek
#8304: May 11th 2023 at 1:22:13 PM

The former rolls better with the tongue.

"Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It's unrealistic and kind of cowardly because it means you don't have to try."
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#8305: May 11th 2023 at 1:50:27 PM

Yeah, I think so too. Say, would it be better if it was "Yubon" rather than "Ubonde"? It still derives from the same words, just slightly changed which letters I've used.

BTW, I think I've found the name for the Oceania-based megacorp: Kayastra, from Austronesian kaya (meanings include "wealthy/wealth", "able/ability", "power", "competence" or "resources" depending on the language) and a clipping of either Latin australis ("southern") or English "Australasia" (region comprising Australia, New Zealand, and some neighboring Pacific islands), with a side beneft of also seeming like the latter half is derived from Latin astra ("stars"), perhaps even the phrase ad astra ("to the stars") and its use as a metaphor for immortality and eternal glory. This would reflect the megacorp having emerged from the merging of a culturally diverse assortment of business entities across the region, as well as its ambitious nature.

Thoughts?

Edited by MarqFJA on May 11th 2023 at 11:55:05 AM

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Nukeli Since: Aug, 2018
#8306: May 11th 2023 at 2:13:44 PM

[up][up][up]

I just had an idea, would Scissors On The Band/Strip/Loop (whichever alternate name for the möbius band would be used) be a good title for the story with Möbius?

~*bleh*~
eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#8307: May 11th 2023 at 2:21:19 PM

[up][up] I'd honestly recommend looking up Sanskrit roots over Austronesian ones, since it's historically a prestige language across Southeast Asia the same way that Latin was/is in Europe, which would also make it more palatable to mainland cultures that don't speak Austronesian languages but do have long-standing Hindu-Buddhist heritages. Although combining the Sanskrit word for "wealth", artha, with australis/Australasia would probably just net you something that sounds like "Arthashastra".

(And if our megacorp is a tech megacorp, then they'd probably opt for the kind of cutesy name that tech companies everywhere seem to like.)

Also do be advised that there are a lot of false friends among modern Austronesian languages because of the way words' usage diverge over time. A word that sounds poetic in one language can mean something entirely different in a neighbouring one (even between, say, Malay and Indonesian, which diverged relatively recently and can appear identical on the surface).

Edited by eagleoftheninth on May 11th 2023 at 2:29:20 AM

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#8308: May 11th 2023 at 3:18:00 PM

The problem with that is that I'm trying to distance the region from India, given that said country has risen in my setting to become the hegemonic power of South Asia, with the supranational polity that it forms the core of extending even as far west as Iran and newly independent Kurdistan. This is partly reflected by Indonesia having formally changed its name to "Nusantara".

That said, your mention of Sanskrit actually drew my attention to the fact that I forgot to include a megacorp for the South Asia region. I'll need to figure out a name later; maybe derive it from Sapta Sindhavah or Samudra?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#8309: May 11th 2023 at 4:04:33 PM

Sapta Sindhavah is a little too strictly (North) Indian in meaning, which I don't suppose would speak well to, say, Buddhist Sinhalese or Muslim Bengalis. Samudra might be a good place to start.

I recommended Mandala because it's a historically common term across Southeast Asia that evokes power and divinity. Palapa is strictly Javanese in origin, but I felt that it's phonetically inoffensive enough to roll off the tongue easily for speakers of any major Southeast Asian language (not to mention passing for a typical tech company name).

edit: can't read

Edited by eagleoftheninth on May 11th 2023 at 4:47:16 AM

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#8310: May 11th 2023 at 5:42:47 PM

Sapta Sindhavah is a little too strictly (North) Indian in meaning, which I don't suppose would speak well to, say, Buddhist Sinhalese or Muslim Bengalis.

Well, the idea is that it originated as an India-based conglomerate, then gradually grew over time until its major operations spanned the breadth of the Indo-Iranian suprapolity.

... You know, in hindsight, I'm suspecting that you are under the misconception that these megacorps actively rule the territories that they operate in. Which they do not, actually.

Edited by MarqFJA on May 11th 2023 at 4:33:34 PM

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#8311: May 14th 2023 at 11:24:03 AM

On a different note: Is it correct to use "animalism" as a term for the idea that humans should regress to a completely animalistic state, forsaking any and all elements of civilization and anything else that sets apart real-life humans from nonhuman primates?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Florien The They who said it from statistically, slightly right behind you. Since: Aug, 2019
The They who said it
#8312: May 14th 2023 at 12:44:22 PM

[up] no, if just because anarcho-primativism already exists and has roughly that ideology, that humans should go back to being hunter-gatherers.

There's nothing really beyond agriculture and technology that sets us apart from other primates aside from our being much smarter and having more complex language, neither of which can really be changed, so this ideology would just be anarcho-primativism.

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#8313: May 14th 2023 at 1:03:34 PM

Specualtive fiction would like to have a word with that, as the many examples of Formerly Sapient Species would illustrate.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Noaqiyeum we must dissent (it/they) from across the gulf of space (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
Noaqiyeum we must dissent (it/they) from across the gulf of space (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#8317: May 14th 2023 at 4:22:28 PM

... Right. So, back to my question: Does "animalism" work for what I'm going for?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#8318: May 15th 2023 at 5:30:17 PM

... You know, in hindsight, I'm suspecting that you are under the misconception that these megacorps actively rule the territories that they operate in. Which they do not, actually.

No, but they have to sell. You'd want a brand name that's either culturally recognisable or rolls of the tongue easily, like the IRL Indian conglomerates Adani and Tata Groups. A name that evokes a specific cultural concept is good; a name that does that in territories that historically defined themselves in opposition to that culture could still work but runs a higher risk of pushback unless they do a regional rebrand.

You could absolutely make something work off Sapta Sindhavah, but I think the polysyllabic construction of the base phrase really gives it an old-world vibe — maybe more suited to, say, a national sovereign wealth fund than an internationally competitive MNC.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#8319: May 16th 2023 at 1:09:10 PM

Fair enough. I've been leaning towards Samudra anyway.

New item, in addition to the "animalism" one from earlier, and (hopefully) the final one in this megacorp-naming series: A name for a megacorp operating in a suprapolity that's basically basically an evolution of the Organization of Turkic States, plus Mongolia and an independent Uyghuristan (essentially a Turco-Mongolian suprapolity).

FWIW, it seems to me that it would make more sense for such a megacorp to emerge initially as a Turkish-based company, given that the Turkish economy (as inefficient as it may be under the current corruption-riddled regime) eclipses that of even Kazakhstan, the second biggest economy in the group (over four times bigger, in fact), so a company that has firmly established itself within said economy (assuming that a more competent regime has taken control of the country) would be that much better positioned to expand to the other Turkic states. Therefore, I looked into how Turkish companies are named, and noticed that a lot of them use as their trade name a contraction of what I assume to be the longform name (e.g. Erdemir and Aselsan).

So... How about if the megacorp originated from a three-way merger between the respective quasi-megacorps of three men named Terzioğlu (Turkish), Musategi (Kazakh/Uzbek), and Rinchyengiin (Mongolian), creating "TEMUR Sanayi" (lit. "TEMUR Industry"), or TEMURSAN? The name Temur (and, by proxy, its many variants) is of both Proto-Turkic and Ancient Mongolian origin, with descendants of the root word existing across many of the Turkic and Mongolic languages; the name also happens to be a likely candidate for the origin of Genghis Khan's birth name Temujin, and is also the name of several Mongolian and Turkic rulers, most (in)famously the founder of the Timurid Empire and eponymous dynasty. And to top it off, the name literally means "iron", which adds positive connotations of strength, fortitude, etc.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Nukeli Since: Aug, 2018
#8320: May 17th 2023 at 4:14:18 AM

For this story, would something like "Scissors On The Band/Loop/Strip" or "Cut The Band/Loop/Strip", or something like that, be a good title?

~*bleh*~
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#8321: May 17th 2023 at 7:02:42 AM

Yeah, any of those looks good. Not sure how to rank each version, though.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
CrystalGlacia from at least we're not detroit (Living Relic)
#8322: May 17th 2023 at 10:10:25 AM

I personally prefer "Cut the Loop". "Cut" is more forceful and vivid, because it's an action, and "Loop" clearly alludes to the basic essence of what a Mobius strip is, which is ultimately a type of loop.

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#8323: May 18th 2023 at 1:00:57 PM

I suppose nobody has any feedback on the "animalism" question, or the name of the Turkic megacorp?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Noaqiyeum we must dissent (it/they) from across the gulf of space (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
we must dissent (it/they)
#8324: May 19th 2023 at 11:31:55 PM

"Animalism" feels a little bland but works well enough. It's an established term for the philosophy that humans are animals first and people second, and while I think some other term might be more evocative it's close enough to what you want that I can imagine it taking on that meaning politically.

Edited by Noaqiyeum on May 19th 2023 at 7:32:23 PM

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Nukeli Since: Aug, 2018
#8325: May 20th 2023 at 12:28:00 PM

I have a Transformers oc named Blackstorm, a Decepticon assassin who transforms into a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am recaro. He was Recruited from the Gutter by Megatron himself and is fanatically loyal.

I thought Blackstorm wasn't his original name, and his birth name was "Ion something", but i can't think of the other part. Ideas?

~*bleh*~

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