From: A_Tina_Hall@kruemel.org
Michelle Bottorff wrote:
> i was thinking about my spy guy, who won't tell the heroine his name*
> and I figured that she would pretty much have to come up with some
> kind of nickname for him, or my readers will go nuts, right? One
> doesn't need a name to think about a person, but writing or talking
> about them without some kind of handle is waaayyyy more awkward.
Hm. I've come across something similar with my evil overlords who won't
think (or talk amongst themselves using) normal people's names. For them
they're the cheeky thief, the wrinkled gardener, the pretty Farseer, the
messed up guide,... ("Names. Pah, he thought. Might as well name
ants,... ")
> Since she's French, the first thing that occured to me for her to use
> was L'Inconnu, but he isn't French, he's German.. (Burgundian,
> whatever, same part of the world -- different history.) So that gets
> me Der Unbekannte, or something of the sort?
The Unknown (guy)? Sounds odd. The stranger would be der Fremde.
Mind, don't use Fremde alone without 'der', that'd be female - also see
below about Unbekannte - and just 'Fremde' means unknown/far away lands
as well. Male stranger without a 'the' would be Fremder. (Could be used
as addressing him too. Example: "Hey Fremder, what are you doing there?"
she asked, and der Fremde turned to look at her.)
I don't quite understand why you don't use the language the story is
written in. And if she knows he's a spy, just call him the spy.
> As a formal name I have very little problem with Unbekannte, but I'm
> having troubles imagining it as a form of intimate address.
Just Unbekannte is also female. Male would be Unbekannter.
> Although I can imagine her shortening it to Unbe, which apparently
> means "Not-" and then calling him that to his face when she's
> annoyed.
I don't think it works without something actually following the Unbe-.
Would just sound like a perhaps African name to me, like that. (And
Brian explained the bit I missed, that the 'be' isn't part of it.)
> Or.... how about Keiner as something to call him when
> peeved? Apparently it means 'nobody'. That's guaranteed to make him
> flinch, even if it doesn't have the same connotations in German that
> it does in English. The denotations would be enough.
Keiner loses the connection to Unbekannter completely though.
If you want something that works shortened: Niemand = nobody, Nie =
never. (Pronounded Knee.)
> Unless either of those are too modern for something set around 1700?
I have no idea, sorry. :)
Maybe she could just think of him as the gentleman, the thief, the lad,
the pest, Mr Mystery, a pain in the bum,... whatever fits her perception
of him.
> When she isn't mad at him, she would probably come up with some not
> particularly derogatory classical reference to call him by, and I'm
> just not coming up with a good "guy in disguse" classical reference.
Thinking 'the Mask' or 'the Guise', maybe something that would in these
days fit a superhero might work for her.
Other thoughts: Shadow, Bane, Fleet(ing), Mist, Mystery, Faceless,
Cloak. I like Cloak.
> I am clearly going to have to do some pretty heavy background reading
> before I attempt this one. (Which won't be for years -- it's
> currently 5th in the queue, IIRC, and I haven't put the Across a Jade
> Sea sequels in yet.) She would be coming up with classical
> references for everything, so I need to be able to do that too.
Good luck. :)
> *At least one of his genuine given names will probably show up in the
> book, but the heroine (my pov character) will have no way of knowing
> that particular name -- out of the five or six different names he
> uses -- is actually his.
That sounds like fun. :)
--
"I'm officially crazy now. I can do all the funny things I like
without anyone thinking I've gone nuts."
-- Ranes, Magic Earth III: Magi Shans
Excerpts at:
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