A forum for discussing and organizing recreational softball and baseball games and leagues in the greater Halifax area.
You'll be fine
-
It keeps blowing my mind when I learn that other languages haven't obfuscated the meanings of names behind two thousand years of linguistic divergence. Your name almost certainly means something basic too, you just don't remember what it is.
-
It keeps blowing my mind when I learn that other languages haven't obfuscated the meanings of names behind two thousand years of linguistic divergence. Your name almost certainly means something basic too, you just don't remember what it is.Yep. Some common names: Steve ← Steven ← Stephanus ← στέφανος = crown (or wealth) Linda ← -linde = tender, soft James ← Iacomus ← Iacobus ← Ἰάκωβος ← Ἰακώβ ← יַעֲקֹב = heel, footprint / follow, watch, observe Karen ← Catherine ← Αἰκατερίνη ← Ἑκάτη = one who works from far away (referring to a goddess)
-
Yep. Some common names: Steve ← Steven ← Stephanus ← στέφανος = crown (or wealth) Linda ← -linde = tender, soft James ← Iacomus ← Iacobus ← Ἰάκωβος ← Ἰακώβ ← יַעֲקֹב = heel, footprint / follow, watch, observe Karen ← Catherine ← Αἰκατερίνη ← Ἑκάτη = one who works from far away (referring to a goddess)And "Tiffany" may sound like a very 20th-century American name, but it actually dates back to the early 13th century and is based on a Greek word that's even older. The "Tiffany Problem" is a really interesting phenomenon in the anthropological/perceptual space based on that. Tiffany ← Tifinie ← Θεοφάνεια = "God's arrival/appearance" It's also more closely related to the name "Natalie" than you might think, at least etymologically. Natalie ←Natalia ←natale domini = "birth of the Lord" (Latin)
-
He also nearly named Celeborn _Teleporno_, which would have been ~~awful~~ amazing.Not "nearly." That's actually his name in the "pretranslated" language that the book was "originally" written in, within the fiction.
-
And "Tiffany" may sound like a very 20th-century American name, but it actually dates back to the early 13th century and is based on a Greek word that's even older. The "Tiffany Problem" is a really interesting phenomenon in the anthropological/perceptual space based on that. Tiffany ← Tifinie ← Θεοφάνεια = "God's arrival/appearance" It's also more closely related to the name "Natalie" than you might think, at least etymologically. Natalie ←Natalia ←natale domini = "birth of the Lord" (Latin)
-
In my headcanon, that's not his real name. The books were written after the facts, so I imagine the writers wanted him to be remembered only as a Sauron henchman, erasing him from history.Really, your headcanon has some precedence in the books. If Wormtongue had written the history, he literally would've called Gandalf "bad news." And in fact, Saruman's actual name was Curumo. ...uh, or Curunir. Or Sharkey, or Tarindor, or... I mean, part of the problem is that every person (and place, and country, and river...) has like a half dozen names depending on who's talking and what time or place they're in. Gandalf himself is Greyhame, Gandalf, Stormcrow, and Lathspell *in Rohan alone*; and Mithrandir, Olorin, Incanus, and Tharkun to other people in Middle Earth. Aragorn and Strider and Elessar and Estel and Wingfoot and Longshanks are the same person in different contexts. Galadriel is also Alatariel and Artanis and Nerwen. Legolas is Laicolasse and Greenleaf (all three of which, in fairness, mean the same thing in different languages). And that's before we even talk about what their names "really" were in the "original" Red Book of Westmarch, before Tolkien "translated" them to English. The "actual" sound that came out of Bilbo's mouth when he introduced himself was *Bilba Labingi,* but Tolkien decided that the name *Labingi* "actually" would've sounded like the word for bag or sack to the "original hearers." Likewise Frodo's name is "translated" from *Maura Labingi* and Sam "actually" introduced himself as *Banazir Galpsi.*
-
This post did not contain any content.
-
It keeps blowing my mind when I learn that other languages haven't obfuscated the meanings of names behind two thousand years of linguistic divergence. Your name almost certainly means something basic too, you just don't remember what it is.
-
This post did not contain any content.
-
While I made the same association when first reading the books, I'll point out that the name Saruman is one the humans gave him. His Quenya name, Curumo, has little to do with Sauron, nor with the latter's original name Mairon before he revealed his allegiance to Melkor and the elves dubbed him Sauron (Quenya) and Gorthaur (Sindarin). There is a connection between them, but it isn't by name. They were both originally Maiar of Aulë, both ambitious and cunning, both desiring order. But where Sauron thought siding with Melkor would get him the means to impose his noble order, Saruman stuck with the Valar and was eventually sent to protect the newly awakened elves from Melkor. Still, that shared ambition for order eventually made allies of them, while their respective cunning saw each scheming against the other. If Gandalf and those meddling mortals hadn't gotten in the way, the final stage of the War of the Ring would have been a struggle between these two former colleagues. Depending on where the Ring ended up, that might have been an interesting struggle, the two most cunning Maiar going head to head, but I think it's for the best we never found out how that would have gone.
-
He also nearly named Celeborn _Teleporno_, which would have been ~~awful~~ amazing.Not "nearly" and not "Celeborn Teleporno". Celeborn is his name in the language Sindarin. Teleporno is his name in the language Quenya. I think you can see the similarities between "Cele/Tele" and "born/porn(o)", right? Similarly Galadriel (Sinadrin) has a Quenya name - Altáriel. We have very similar situations here on Earth with differences in spelling/pronunciation between languages (and ages): James vs Iacobus or Catherine vs Aikaterínē.
-
I don't know if Tolkien's notes support this, but I always assumed that his Entish name was something completely unpronounceable for anyone who isn't a tree, and "Treebeard" was a nickname that he picked for himself. Maybe because he thinks it's funny that other species think he looks like a tree. (I'm sure that ents look clearly different from trees to other ents.)
-
In my headcanon, that's not his real name. The books were written after the facts, so I imagine the writers wanted him to be remembered only as a Sauron henchman, erasing him from history.
-
While I made the same association when first reading the books, I'll point out that the name Saruman is one the humans gave him. His Quenya name, Curumo, has little to do with Sauron, nor with the latter's original name Mairon before he revealed his allegiance to Melkor and the elves dubbed him Sauron (Quenya) and Gorthaur (Sindarin). There is a connection between them, but it isn't by name. They were both originally Maiar of Aulë, both ambitious and cunning, both desiring order. But where Sauron thought siding with Melkor would get him the means to impose his noble order, Saruman stuck with the Valar and was eventually sent to protect the newly awakened elves from Melkor. Still, that shared ambition for order eventually made allies of them, while their respective cunning saw each scheming against the other. If Gandalf and those meddling mortals hadn't gotten in the way, the final stage of the War of the Ring would have been a struggle between these two former colleagues. Depending on where the Ring ended up, that might have been an interesting struggle, the two most cunning Maiar going head to head, but I think it's for the best we never found out how that would have gone.
-
While I made the same association when first reading the books, I'll point out that the name Saruman is one the humans gave him. His Quenya name, Curumo, has little to do with Sauron, nor with the latter's original name Mairon before he revealed his allegiance to Melkor and the elves dubbed him Sauron (Quenya) and Gorthaur (Sindarin). There is a connection between them, but it isn't by name. They were both originally Maiar of Aulë, both ambitious and cunning, both desiring order. But where Sauron thought siding with Melkor would get him the means to impose his noble order, Saruman stuck with the Valar and was eventually sent to protect the newly awakened elves from Melkor. Still, that shared ambition for order eventually made allies of them, while their respective cunning saw each scheming against the other. If Gandalf and those meddling mortals hadn't gotten in the way, the final stage of the War of the Ring would have been a struggle between these two former colleagues. Depending on where the Ring ended up, that might have been an interesting struggle, the two most cunning Maiar going head to head, but I think it's for the best we never found out how that would have gone.
-
Nice. Yup, I learned about the Tiffany Problem from Grey as well, but picked up the tidbit about Natalie from being married to one.
-
There are a bunch of obvious ones for last names. Smith, Tailor, Carpenter, Fletcher, etc from when urban families tended to keep the same profession. Also, last names that end in "son" like Johnson, Thompson, Ragnarson. It's just shorthand for "son of John". Not sure if Ragnarson is a name that has survived to today, but it was the name that made me realize that connection when reading a fiction based on the execution of Ragnar and the subsequent Viking invasion of England by his sons. They were Ragnarsons but he was Ragnar Lodbrok (which just means he was hairy, if he even was a single person and not an amalgramation of a bunch of big Viking names).
-
This post did not contain any content.It's kinda funny with anime and manga. They use Japanese names for a bunch of stuff like special martial arts techniques or special moves. Not knowing Japanese, the names sound cool and mysterious. Learning the actual translations, Treebeard is pretty par for the course. Like from Naruto, Sasuke uses the Copy Wheel Eye (sharingan), Hinyata uses the White Eye (biyakugon), and Naruto's big move is Spiral Sphere (rasengan). Copy Wheel Eye's upgraded version is called Kalidoscope Copy Wheel Eye. They aren't horrible names, but they feel less cool. Though it would be funny if Saitama has special moves that are just other languages saying "normal punch" or "serious punch". "Hip bump with moderate vigor" or something.
