tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post9000461090757711478..comments2024-03-27T23:55:17.673-07:00Comments on Flogging Babel: A Scam That Looks Like A Contest/A Contest That Tastes Like A ScamMichael Swanwickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-80096379776493130422010-02-08T01:30:02.434-08:002010-02-08T01:30:02.434-08:00> And just to prove my point: My first
> no...> And just to prove my point: My first <br />> novel was titled In the Drift.<br />> Bill Gibson's was titled Neuromancer. <br />> Guess which one is considered a classic today?<br /><br />Well yes - but Neuromancer, while considered a 'classic', only sold a few hundred copies. Gibson didn't break out of the literary-sf ghetto until he wrote 'The Log of the Mustang Sally'.<br /><br />Or so I am told.HANNAH'S DADhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05877455489975811860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-65735872577458863822010-02-07T14:56:41.185-08:002010-02-07T14:56:41.185-08:00What about:
Nulling
NullingsWhat about:<br />Nulling<br />Nullingsguntharrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15994863060321946150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-83416354615665197372010-02-07T14:33:18.418-08:002010-02-07T14:33:18.418-08:00Sounds a little bit like gambling...Sounds a little bit like gambling...Matthew Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06954050440829792514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-82608834651200518872010-02-07T12:24:27.986-08:002010-02-07T12:24:27.986-08:00Yes, honestly, we do. The sad thing is that we ha...Yes, honestly, we do. The sad thing is that we have to come up with those words (or titles) in order for the story or novel to work, and the better they are, the better the particular work will do. So it's actually real and necessary work.<br /><br />And just to prove my point: My first novel was titled <b>In the Drift</b>. Bill Gibson's was titled <b>Neuromancer</b>. Guess which one is considered a classic today?<br /><br />[Okay, okay, I hastily admit, there were other reasons as well. But that ultra-cool title didn't hurt.]Michael Swanwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-48173921076115430282010-02-06T23:21:16.038-08:002010-02-06T23:21:16.038-08:00Nonnies (anonymous, no-ones, no-bodies)
Automen (s...Nonnies (anonymous, no-ones, no-bodies)<br />Automen (sounds too Dr Who...)<br />Nobs<br />Onoffs (on-offs)<br /><br />This is fun. Do writers spend most of their days sitting around trying to come up with names and telling themselves it is actual work?Matthew Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06954050440829792514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-10382644747010477302010-02-06T10:07:55.701-08:002010-02-06T10:07:55.701-08:00Again, I think that "normal" folks would...Again, I think that "normal" folks would shorten/slangify such a word. Dolly or dollies (or even, Dalis, bringing in a ref to the melty type world...).Anonymous Boshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07838660733376754284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-34194136867991880562010-02-06T07:37:27.095-08:002010-02-06T07:37:27.095-08:00amygdalic one who has a diminished or modified amy...<b>amygdalic</b> one who has a diminished or modified amygdala.<br /><br />From http://www.sci.uidaho.edu/med532/amygdala.htm<br /><br /><i>"amygdala (uh mig' dull uh)<br /><br />It is a set of subcortical nuclei that is important for perceiving in others and having in oneself emotional or affective behaviors and feelings (e.g. fear, anger). It is, therefore, a component of the limbic system.<br /><br />The amygdala is both large and just beneath the surface of the front, medial part of the temporal lobe where it causes the bulge on the surface called the uncus. <br /><br />It got its name from its shape - like an 'almond'."</i>Joe Stillmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04967010101974872521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-58594715355068773032010-02-03T15:43:59.805-08:002010-02-03T15:43:59.805-08:00Call 'em "arties" then.
Accented (b...Call 'em "arties" then.<br /><br />Accented (boston?) version of "autistic" then shortenedAnonymous Boshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07838660733376754284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-44193368905704607742010-02-03T08:05:36.355-08:002010-02-03T08:05:36.355-08:00I could not agree more: an autistic
person's b...I could not agree more: an autistic<br />person's brain is not" wired" to decipher the outside world and relate to others. I always say in French:" ce n'est pas qu'ils ne veulent pas mais ne peuvent pas" to stress their inability.<br />Besides when the psychiatrist Eugene Bleuler first coined the word in 1910, he described schizophrenia...<br />Sometimes I dream that someone would write a story about how autistic people are the only ones who can understand and interact with aliens landing on earth thus contributing to save human kind from a lot of serious troubles...after all their way of perceiving things and thinking is so different thatextraterrestrials could bond with them.<br />I suppose it is the positive thinking of a mother!<br />They are more or less trapped in their own minds. So finding a word is very tricky indeed but challenging.genovefahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12767772107421659411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-90340542672495568942010-02-03T07:01:25.232-08:002010-02-03T07:01:25.232-08:00You're absolutely right, Joe. I had this same...You're absolutely right, Joe. I had this same conversation with my son Sean just last night. And after he'd spelled out all the ways that "autistic " worked -- most specifically, the implied cruelty of what had been done to them -- he ended by saying, "But of course you can't use it."<br /><br />All this trouble over a single word! It really brings out what a mysterious art fiction is.Michael Swanwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-39765326290097376142010-02-02T20:42:32.464-08:002010-02-02T20:42:32.464-08:00It seems to me that Autistic is such a pithy word ...It seems to me that <i>Autistic</i> is such a pithy word that any substitution is going to require some sort of exposition. <i>Autistic</i> implies that the person is that way involuntarily (possibly just another product of the Winooski gene mills, but there's no need to point that out.) The reference to the "Indentures of 100 Autistics" might imply otherwise, but I can't shake the feeling that the person is not that way by choice.<br /><br />The substitute neologism is elusive because you can't pack all the same connotations into another word.<br /><br />This is a tough one.Joe Stillmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04967010101974872521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-22047959340440062272010-02-02T19:52:31.008-08:002010-02-02T19:52:31.008-08:00God knows, I appreciate every drop of blood you gu...God knows, I appreciate every drop of blood you guys have put into this. Some of the suggestions are brilliant, some are not, and a number would be great in another context. (I'm thinking of the Italianate terms here, which would be quite useful if Darger and Surplus had an adventure in Venice -- as, of course, someday they must.)<br /><br />The bad news is that I haven't decided on a winner yet. The good news is that I will soon. <br /><br />That's a serious promise.Michael Swanwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-69846578187700472442010-02-01T07:44:37.249-08:002010-02-01T07:44:37.249-08:00Are we barking up the right tree yet?Are we barking up the right tree yet?Joe Stillmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04967010101974872521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-51852698172800886092010-02-01T07:18:42.671-08:002010-02-01T07:18:42.671-08:00rintin
gromet
factoto
fidomestique
fidociaryrintin<br />gromet<br />factoto<br />fidomestique<br />fidociaryJoe Stillmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04967010101974872521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-47221028392193380572010-01-31T11:24:55.640-08:002010-01-31T11:24:55.640-08:00"There are many advantages in puppets. They n..."There are many advantages in puppets. They never argue. They have no crude views about art. They have no private lives". Oscar Wilde<br /><br />In that spirit, here are two specialized puppets for your consideration:<br /><br />Bunraku<br />Marottebrucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10962396533930123817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-17038861142905009822010-01-31T10:27:20.085-08:002010-01-31T10:27:20.085-08:00Has anyone suggested "puppets."Has anyone suggested "puppets."gghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00257391877175337352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-72583061802690072352010-01-31T10:26:28.962-08:002010-01-31T10:26:28.962-08:00You could call them "empties."
or "...You could call them "empties."<br />or "Voids."<br /><br />or "Devoids."gghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00257391877175337352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-64794777522120674762010-01-31T01:50:21.914-08:002010-01-31T01:50:21.914-08:00Oh, and it appears Alison beat me to the concept a...Oh, and it appears Alison beat me to the concept anyway.Weaverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07830321864877780066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-42520753738116477482010-01-31T01:08:26.206-08:002010-01-31T01:08:26.206-08:00troissinges
Not sure why the neologism should end...troissinges<br /><br />Not sure why the neologism should end up French, but this was the best of the Babelfished translations of "three monkeys" that came up, though the Italian is OK - "trescimmie".Weaverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07830321864877780066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-44588055725029403162010-01-30T11:38:41.276-08:002010-01-30T11:38:41.276-08:00What about nimrod?What about nimrod?Nathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12070607987221126447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-63632036063430313582010-01-30T08:05:22.356-08:002010-01-30T08:05:22.356-08:00miltons
"They also serve who only stand and ...miltons<br /><br />"They also serve who only stand and wait"<br />On His Blindness (1655)<br /><br />http://www.bartleby.com/4/313.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-82842293132009050922010-01-30T00:11:18.516-08:002010-01-30T00:11:18.516-08:00Arties
Archibalds (they all have the same name whi...Arties<br />Archibalds (they all have the same name which is nice and dehumanizing)Matthew Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06954050440829792514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-63960268210492603582010-01-29T23:33:49.103-08:002010-01-29T23:33:49.103-08:00Why not the voidservants or the hollowhusks? Somet...Why not the voidservants or the hollowhusks? Something like the French neologism" creuxvides"genovefahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12767772107421659411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-52294225810712601612010-01-29T20:18:30.826-08:002010-01-29T20:18:30.826-08:00I like wallflowers as wellI like wallflowers as wellLukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04472034452330089928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-74913538234988020172010-01-29T18:05:14.592-08:002010-01-29T18:05:14.592-08:00I keep circling the idea of them being empty emoti...I keep circling the idea of them being empty emotionally. Perhaps VESSEL? Which also leads me to think of the medieval term VASSAL. Would a combination of the terms express the idea, VESSAL or VASSEL? <br /><br />Also - <br />STIFF<br />DRUDGE <br />and I loved the idea of thrall- Good one Pat J.Nathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12070607987221126447noreply@blogger.com