Silly RL names

Discussing all things Ravenloft
User avatar
Gonzoron of the FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 7598
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
Gender: Male
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

cure wrote:
Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:I don't think we want to discuss it on a family board.
It nice to have a family horror board . . . with good values . . . like those of the Addams . . .
Or the Mansons... Or the Bates family... Or the family from The Hills Have Eyes :)
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
User avatar
Nevermorrow
Criminal Mastermind
Criminal Mastermind
Posts: 111
Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 5:57 am

Post by Nevermorrow »

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:Well, it's not exactly what you're looking for, but for silly RL names, you can't beat Tew Yssup from I Strahd II: The War Against Azalin.
So.... you're saying that if I have the Gentleman Caller go by the name Drah Sinep, my players might notice? Darn.
NeoTiamat wrote:Tepest = Tempest
Darkon = Dark
Falkovnia = Falcon (this is likely IC-intentional, dunno)
Dementlieu = Demented
Lamordia = Mord = Dead
Chateaufaux = False Castle
Hazlan = Hazard
Forlorn = Forlorn, this one IC-intentional
Keening = Keening, also IC-intentional
Arak = Arachnid
Great list! I definitely want to change Darkon and Arak. I don't really like Dementlieu either, depsite the explanation for the origin of the name given in the Gaz.
The Whistler wrote: And...um...I *am* running that game starting 4 days from now, so this is kind of weighing heavily on me right now. SpiritCaller, I'm definitely doing the Wittgenstein/Mordenheim swap (awesome research with the name's significance BTW), but I'm still looking for convincing-sounding substitutes for Lamordia and Dementlieu...so I guess add me to the list of people who are curious to see what others have come up with. :)
Thak you. As to name replacements, I'm working on it. Maybe you could use something simple like Belle Terre ("beautiful land") for Dementlieu?
Lucien Doomdark wrote:Those of you planning to swap out Mordenheim with Wittgenstein.

Don't play with anybody with any knowledge of 20th Century philosophers.
Otherwise, the whole exercise becomes some sort of hideous meta-pun.
:?
Well, crap. :oops: I didn't know about him. I'm going to have to do some more research, it seems.
lostboy wrote:Is it just me, or does anyone else think Ankhtepot's name is a little, well, stupid sounding?

It might translate and be a meatphor or something but I had to rename him when we played ToD, as the published name just caused my players to have giigling fits every time it got mentioned.

"Hang on the awesome BBEG Pharoah is called something Tea-pot?!!?"
You're in luck. While I was going through the board looking for exactly this sort of stuff, I found this suggested name change and wrote it down in my notes: Ankhefenra. Supposedly this is a genuine Egyptian name.
Formerly known as SpiritCaller.
User avatar
Drinnik Shoehorn
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 1801
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 6:28 pm
Location: Tiptree, Home of Jam

Post by Drinnik Shoehorn »

From the Kargatane's review page:
Broken down into the ancient Egyptian -er- Akiri words "ankh," "tep," and "ut," a possible translation for Ankhtepot's name is "Life Upon the Sarcophagus." Breaking Senmet's name into "sen" and "met," we come to the rough translation of "Second-most Damned." It could also mean "Equally dead." The ellipse around each group of hieroglyphics marks them as the name of an important individual.
"Blood once flowed, a choice was made
Travel by night the smallest one bade" The Ballad of the Taverners.
The Galen Saga: 2000-2005
User avatar
Gonzoron of the FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 7598
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
Gender: Male
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

SpiritCaller wrote:Thak you. As to name replacements, I'm working on it. Maybe you could use something simple like Belle Terre ("beautiful land") for Dementlieu?
Terre Belle, no? Doesn't the adjective come after the noun in French (surely some of our Canadian members will be by shortly to correct us further. Terre Belle doesn't sound right to me, either. And also kinda sounds like Tinkerbell's sister. ;) )
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
User avatar
Igor the Henchman
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 795
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 6:50 pm

Post by Igor the Henchman »

Gonzoron, that rule is generally correct, but some adjectives, like "belle", are exceptions.

"Belleterre" would be gramatically better as a geographical name IMO. Sounds about right to a french ear, too.
Last edited by Igor the Henchman on Wed May 06, 2009 4:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Nevermorrow
Criminal Mastermind
Criminal Mastermind
Posts: 111
Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 5:57 am

Post by Nevermorrow »

Drinnik Shoehorn wrote:From the Kargatane's review page:
Broken down into the ancient Egyptian -er- Akiri words "ankh," "tep," and "ut," a possible translation for Ankhtepot's name is "Life Upon the Sarcophagus." Breaking Senmet's name into "sen" and "met," we come to the rough translation of "Second-most Damned." It could also mean "Equally dead." The ellipse around each group of hieroglyphics marks them as the name of an important individual.
Hmmm, that sounds like it would have been his name after he arose from the dead.

As to the French, I don't know.
Formerly known as SpiritCaller.
jules
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 263
Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 4:20 pm

Post by jules »

From robin hood:men in tights:latrine
Lucien Doomdark
Conspirator
Conspirator
Posts: 37
Joined: Fri Oct 10, 2008 4:12 pm
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

Post by Lucien Doomdark »

SpiritCaller wrote:
Lucien Doomdark wrote:Those of you planning to swap out Mordenheim with Wittgenstein.

Don't play with anybody with any knowledge of 20th Century philosophers.
Otherwise, the whole exercise becomes some sort of hideous meta-pun.
:?
Well, crap. :oops: I didn't know about him. I'm going to have to do some more research, it seems.
He's hardly a household name so I wouldn't worry. Extremely dense but the stuff about 'language games', given the current thread and roleplaying in general, tickled me.
Tykus
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 242
Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2007 6:14 pm

Post by Tykus »

What?! With the movie out this week, no one has mentioned the famous ship Sunset Empires? For those of you familiar with the ship, take a close look at the crew and aside from the "m" the name is a decent anagram.
Hindsight is, after all, caused by a lack of foresight.

Death rates exceeded 100% in some towns.

Charles V spent most of his reign aging.

This was beginning of Empire, when Europeans felt the need to reach out and smack someone
User avatar
Gonzoron of the FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 7598
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
Gender: Male
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Tykus wrote:What?! With the movie out this week, no one has mentioned the famous ship Sunset Empires? For those of you familiar with the ship, take a close look at the crew and aside from the "m" the name is a decent anagram.
Oh my gosh, you just blew my mind... Never noticed that before, and I even used the ship in my game! I guess the second r became an m, somehow. Nice catch!
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
User avatar
Rotipher of the FoS
Thieving Crow
Thieving Crow
Posts: 4683
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2003 4:18 pm

Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

SpiritCaller wrote:
Broken down into the ancient Egyptian -er- Akiri words "ankh," "tep," and "ut," a possible translation for Ankhtepot's name is "Life Upon the Sarcophagus." Breaking Senmet's name into "sen" and "met," we come to the rough translation of "Second-most Damned." It could also mean "Equally dead." The ellipse around each group of hieroglyphics marks them as the name of an important individual.
Hmmm, that sounds like it would have been his name after he arose from the dead.
Well, the IRL royals of ancient Egypt changed their names rather often, both for political reasons and to mark significant life-changing events. It could be that Har'Akir's lord had one name as a prince, took a new "throne name" when he became king, and then acquired yet another name -- more of a title really, like calling Soth the Black Rose -- when he returned from the grave.
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
User avatar
Ail
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 3429
Joined: Wed Dec 03, 2003 7:33 am
Location: Egham, UK

Post by Ail »

Igor the Henchman wrote:Gonzoron, that rule is generally correct, but some adjectives, like "belle", are exceptions.

"Belleterre" would be gramatically better as a geographical name IMO. Sounds about right to a french ear, too.
For example, in Rennes, France, there's a place called Beaulieu: "Beautiful Place". And it really is.

Alex
Zumba d'Oxossi (A Stitch in Souragne)
Brother Eustace (The Devil's Dreams)
Robert de Moureaux (A New Barovia)
User avatar
InVinoVeritas
Criminal Mastermind
Criminal Mastermind
Posts: 100
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2006 12:03 am

Post by InVinoVeritas »

Tykus wrote:What?! With the movie out this week, no one has mentioned the famous ship Sunset Empires? For those of you familiar with the ship, take a close look at the crew and aside from the "m" the name is a decent anagram.
I'm afraid I don't know the ship or the movie referred to...?
User avatar
NeoTiamat
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 4119
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:00 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Post by NeoTiamat »

I likewise plead ignorance. (Sunset Epires?)
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
User avatar
Nathan of the FoS
Fiendish Enforcer
Fiendish Enforcer
Posts: 5246
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 3:39 pm
Location: San Francisco CA

Post by Nathan of the FoS »

USS Enterprise.
[b]FEAR JUSTICE.[/b] :elena:
Post Reply