Alternate Terminology Page

[Thande]

I had an idea... see page here: http://wiki.alternatehistory.com/dok...te_terminology

A lot of TLs and stories feature alternate names for technologies and inventions, so I thought it would be interesting to group them together and try to give background/etymologies for the OTL names, as that helps people to come up with their own by following the logic.

[Susano]

Horst? Cars are are Horsts in DoD?
...bwahahahaha

As foir Radio, Funk IS the German term for it (Theres also the German word Radio, but it only refers radio broadcasting, and receivers for radio broadcasting, analogous how television can also refer to both), which maybe should be mentioned. Also, it doesnt directly mean spak, but is derived from it. That is, Funke means spark.

As for tanks in LTTW, Im pretty sure the French and Germans term would eventually in common language be contracted. Probably, as IOTL, to the "armour(ed)" part, meaning that as in IOTL it probably would hence be "Panzer" in German (just as one also says armours for tanks now and then in English, I think...).

[othyrsyde]

This is a great idea.

I had an alternate name for nihilism is my TL; added it to the terminology.

[Thande]

Originally Posted by Susano

As for tanks in LTTW, Im pretty sure the French and Germans term would eventually in common language be contracted. Probably, as IOTL, to the "armour(ed)" part, meaning that as in IOTL it probably would hence be "Panzer" in German (just as one also says armours for tanks now and then in English, I think...).

In English it's "armour", always without the article and usually in the plural - which is mostly an Americanism.

You're probably right about the contractions - in German it would indeed probably go to "panzer" (boringly OTL as it is, but still) and in French, I don't know, "un blind"? (cue jokes about French tank drivers going the wrong way).

[Boto von Ageduch]

"Funk" derives from "funken", which - before the advent of radio technology - was a rare variant of "funkeln", 'to flash'.

As to "Panzerkanone", this could as well be contracted to "Pankan", satisfying the desire particularly prevalent in the military for both abbreviations and stupid pans, sorry, puns ...

[MrP]

I've added Chimneys and Enfumeurs from PlC.

[Thande]

Originally Posted by MrP

I've added Chimneys and Enfumeurs from PlC.

Oh, thanks P, I'd forgotten you'd neologised therein.

[Boto von Ageduch]

That page is an excellent idea.
It lets me enjoy some candies from TLs I did not have to patience to read in full ..

[Thande]

I'm glad people are contributing to this. I've added some ones on important chemical elements.

[LordInsane]

Originally Posted by Thande

I'm glad people are contributing to this. I've added some ones on important chemical elements.

Hm... I'd have thought Elluftium would have come from 'eldluft' rather than 'eld luft'...

[Thande]

Originally Posted by LordInsane

Hm... I'd have thought Elluftium would have come from 'eldluft' rather than 'eld luft'...

Was that an existing portmanteau in Swedish or did Scheele invent it?

[LordInsane]

Originally Posted by Thande

Was that an existing portmanteau in Swedish or did Scheele invent it?

Er, I can't speak for Scheele, but so far as I know, 'eld' doesn't work as an adjective unless it is combined with the word it is an adjective to.
Swedish wikipedia gives it as 'eldluft', as well, but I can't speak for how reliable that is.

[Susano]

Originally Posted by LordInsane

Er, I can't speak for Scheele, but so far as I know, 'eld' doesn't work as an adjective unless it is combined with the word it is an adjective to.

Seeing how Swedish follows the same rules, roughly, as German - if eld is fire, then its a noun, period, and not an adjective. An artifical adjective can be made by adding the right suffix, I guess, but that doesnt seem to have been done here. Instead, eldluft would then be a combination of two nouns, as can be done in German, too. And well, in English, too, they just kee the space between the two words. But German doesnt, and it would seem Swedish doesnt ether, which would make eldluft correct.

[LordInsane]

Originally Posted by Susano

Seeing how Swedish follows the same rules, roughly, as German - if eld is fire, then its a noun, period, and not an adjective. An artifical adjective can be made by adding the right suffix, I guess, but that doesnt seem to have been done here. Instead, eldluft would then be a combination of two nouns, as can be done in German, too. And well, in English, too, they just kee the space between the two words. But German doesnt, and it would seem Swedish doesnt ether, which would make eldluft correct.

You'd seem to be right, although... Scheele used 'Feuer Luft' (he wrote it in German) in the only book he wrote in OTL.

[Thande]

Originally Posted by LordInsane

You'd seem to be right, although... Scheele used 'Feuer Luft' (he wrote it in German) in the only book he wrote in OTL.

Huh, well I didn't know that when I wrote that part of LTTW; I couldn't find any references to Scheele's actual words, just the English translations.

Still - POD in 1727 baby, it's the golden goose that keeps on giving!

EDIT: Hang on, he wrote the whole book in German? I've read in multiple sources that the reason why his works were ignored was because he only wrote it in Swedish...

[LordInsane]

Originally Posted by Thande

Huh, well I didn't know that when I wrote that part of LTTW; I couldn't find any references to Scheele's actual words, just the English translations.

Still - POD in 1727 baby, it's the golden goose that keeps on giving!

EDIT: Hang on, he wrote the whole book in German? I've read in multiple sources that the reason why his works were ignored was because he only wrote it in Swedish...

Apparently, yes (still, I suspect the Swedes would call it 'eldluft'- eld luft would make it seem to much as if there is a word missing in there). It is consistently refered to as Chemische Abhandlung von der Luft und dem Feuer, at least, and Project Runeberg's (a Swedish project to create electronic editions of classic Nordic literature) edition is in German all the way through- and given the photos accompaning it, it would seem that if it wasn't written in German, then at least it was translated into German quite quickly.
Of course, that was the book. His other works might well have been in Swedish.

[Petike]

I've added a few terms from Tony Jones' TLs (like Clive-less World, etc.), if you don't mind...

[Archangel Michael]

I'm adding a few things from the A Brother to Dragons universe.

[Thande]

Thanks for the contributions guys.

[Atom]

The most interesting are when two different ATLs have the same terminology. Like Terramici in both Chaos and Decades of Darkness, or Corona in LTTW or tTG.