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Hello, fellow writers! Got any question that you can't find answer from Google or Wikipedia, but you don't think it needs a separate thread for? You came to the right place!

Don't be shy, and just ask away. The nice folks here, writers and non-writers, experts and non-experts, will do their best to help you.

The folder below contains links for special interest threads, mostly at OTC, but also from Yack Fest and Troper Coven.

    Special Interest Threads 

Also take a look at Useful Notes on various topics. They can be pretty useful.

Now, bring on the questions, baby!

edited 11th Apr '18 6:31:51 PM by dRoy

NoNameGiven from Nowhere Since: Jul, 2013
#8201: Sep 16th 2013 at 7:38:34 PM

Who started with the "egregious" word on Tv Tropes?

"That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death itself may die."
CrystalGlacia from at least we're not detroit (Living Relic)
#8202: Sep 16th 2013 at 8:21:09 PM

The actual page on the matter implies that it may have come from The Princess Bride, but I'm not sure it's really possible to trace something like that back to a single person.

Note for the future, however, that this thread is meant for random questions that come up in the course of your writing. Something like this would fit better in Quickie Questions.

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Night The future of warfare in UC. from Jaburo Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Drift compatible
The future of warfare in UC.
#8203: Sep 17th 2013 at 5:09:51 AM

A question of my own: how do soldiers, SWAT teams, et cetra keep from getting stunned by their own flashbangs?

There is an effective radius, obviously, but usually it's by pitching them through a door or a window, so there's a hard object between them and the detonation.

Nous restons ici.
ohsointocats from The Sand Wastes Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#8204: Sep 17th 2013 at 6:47:00 PM

Is it stupid for in some kind of alternate universe, famous books have different endings?

CrystalGlacia from at least we're not detroit (Living Relic)
#8205: Sep 17th 2013 at 7:26:44 PM

It'd definitely pique the English majors' curiosity about the nature of your world.

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
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)
#8206: Sep 17th 2013 at 9:45:16 PM

That's the kind of detail I think is really interesting to see in alternate timelines.

ERROR: The current state of the world is unacceptable. Save anyway? YES/NO
ohsointocats from The Sand Wastes Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#8207: Sep 17th 2013 at 9:48:13 PM

Like the main character has to read 1984 as a part of his summer reading, and then it's like "oh this is going to be symbolism" and then you finally see him crack it open and read an excerpt and it's like "what the fuck did I just read."

MrAHR Ahr river from ಠ_ಠ Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: A cockroach, nothing can kill it.
Ahr river
#8208: Sep 17th 2013 at 9:56:25 PM

Keep in mind you might wander into a gray area where if someone who doesn't know the specifics of an ending (or even the specifics of the general plot) might not initially pick up on the differences. But it definitely sounds like a cool idea.

Read my stories!
TeraChimera Since: Oct, 2010
#8209: Sep 17th 2013 at 10:04:38 PM

Is there any kind of relation between the height of a bowman and the length of a proper bow for them? For example, I once heard that a longbow should be about the height of the bowman, but I'm not sure.

Does the length of the arrow being used depend on the length of the bow?

TheMuse Since: Aug, 2011 Relationship Status: Browsing the selection
#8210: Sep 18th 2013 at 8:02:42 AM

Are there any gender neutral words to refer to the equivalent of a 'boyfriend/girlfriend' that aren't the word 'lover'? (And preferable are in English)

cityofmist turning and turning from Meanwhile City Since: Dec, 2010
turning and turning
#8211: Sep 18th 2013 at 8:05:35 AM

'Partner'? That suggests quite a serious relationship in casual use, but on official-type stuff I've seen it used to refer to any romantic relationship.

Scepticism and doubt lead to study and investigation, and investigation is the beginning of wisdom. - Clarence Darrow
MrAHR Ahr river from ಠ_ಠ Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: A cockroach, nothing can kill it.
Ahr river
#8212: Sep 18th 2013 at 8:59:02 AM

significant other, the person I'm seeing,

All I can think of at the moment.

Read my stories!
Demarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#8213: Sep 18th 2013 at 9:57:21 AM

@Tera: For a recurve bow, it depends on the archer's arm span. See here and here.

edited 18th Sep '13 9:57:35 AM by Demarquis

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
Noaqiyeum we must dissent (it/they) from across the gulf of space (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
SPDUDE48 Michael G. Since: Apr, 2011
Michael G.
#8215: Sep 19th 2013 at 9:05:15 AM

Is iron a purified metal? Or would there be traces of unpurified earth inside of it?

Feel free to visit my yokai blog.
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#8216: Sep 19th 2013 at 9:07:06 AM

Normal iron from a blast furnace always contains other metals without some purification.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
m8e from Sweden Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Wanna dance with somebody
#8217: Sep 19th 2013 at 9:16:48 AM

Iron is a chemical element so pure iron would be pure iron. But most 'iron' contain stuff like Carbon, Oxygen(Iron oxide), Silicon, Phosphorus and/or alloying elements.

SPDUDE48 Michael G. Since: Apr, 2011
Michael G.
#8218: Sep 19th 2013 at 9:19:53 AM

I'm running on Avatar logic and the Cold Iron trope here. When a witch casts a spell on Iron, it's like two magnets repelling each other, but if a witch can target the unpurified parts within the iron, she can manipulate them and thus manipulate the iron.

Does that make any sense?

Feel free to visit my yokai blog.
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#8219: Sep 19th 2013 at 9:23:06 AM

Well, the impurities are usually distributed at atom scale.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
alethiophile Shadowed Philosopher from Ëa Since: Nov, 2009
Shadowed Philosopher
#8220: Sep 19th 2013 at 9:24:44 AM

Which would make it harder to target, but make the manipulation probably more effective if it worked.

Iron can be specially purified to contain just about only iron, but most don't bother. I think it'd mostly usually have oxygen or oxides admixed, as well as maybe carbon.

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)
Luthen Char! from Down Under Burgess Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Playing Cupid
Char!
#8221: Sep 19th 2013 at 7:36:33 PM

@ The Muse: Partner is probably the standard, but it has a slight connotation that it describes a same-sex partnership. However I know of some people who use it to confuse people in just that manner.

Significant other tends to suggest marriage level of history/intent.

You must agree, my plan is sheer elegance in its simplicity! My Tumblr
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)
#8222: Sep 21st 2013 at 1:17:47 PM

Pure iron is all but useless - it's too malleable to make things with, so impurities are added to strengthen it and give it other useful properties. You will almost certainly never encounter anything but an alloy outside of a refinery.

ERROR: The current state of the world is unacceptable. Save anyway? YES/NO
ohsointocats from The Sand Wastes Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#8223: Sep 21st 2013 at 5:26:45 PM

I'm looking for things like furies in other mythologies. I'm sure they're out there, but I'm not sure where to find it.

The only thing I've been able to find is Al Kardai. I guess in particular I'm looking for spirits/goddesses/whatever who make it their work to punish the guilty who would otherwise not be punished.

edited 21st Sep '13 5:29:40 PM by ohsointocats

Rem Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
#8224: Sep 21st 2013 at 9:04:01 PM

[up] For a second, I read that wrong, and was confused as hell. Ironically, there are far more deities and associated spirits that would fall under that category than Furies.

I mean, there are plenty of deities and the like who go around throwing plague at oathbreakers and criminals and the like, but they usually don't operate in groups, and generally only act when they happen to see it in progress. I guess on some level it's hard for people to believe in gods taking an active role in the judiciary system when they're quite clearly not (I assume. I haven't actually been to fifth century Europe lately, and for all I know people gave a, "Good Morning," to their divine neighbors as they headed to work every day without batting an eye.)

Fire, air, water, earth...legend has it that when these four elements are gathered, they will form the fifth element...boron.
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#8225: Sep 21st 2013 at 9:24:48 PM

The Norse Goddess of justice and vengeance is Skadi.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.

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