Alternate Names for Various Items
In Alternate History, there are often different names for certain devices. This is both logical in many instances, and also creates a constant reminder that the place in the story is different—a flavor if you will. Call a tank a barrel, and you know you’re in TL 191 right away. I started a list for my 1920’s A/H Roleplaying campaign, and perhaps this list will be useful for other writers and gamers.
I’m just starting my list of viable, reasonable names for alternate history tech. I’d appreciate any extra names for machines. (not ones derived from names, unless it’s a name of an OTL person—names are easy enough to come up with.)
Any that I have a source for, I’m noting where it came from. Others are either my
OTL Tank:
Barrel: Turtledove
Landship: One of the names the British considered calling Tanks
Landcruiser: Also Turtledove
Charts: From my A/H RPG campaign, Anglicized, easy to say version of “Char,” the French OTL term; the French invented them in this timeline.
OTL Sonar
Subfinder: My A/H RPG Campaign
OTL Radar
Y-Ranging: Turtledove, from Wireless Ranging
Big Eye (slang)
Súil (Irish for Eye) In this timeline, the Irish Department of Obscure, Obsolete, and Overlooked Technologies dug out some pre Great War research, and developed it. When other nations discover it, the Irish name might stick, though likely written without the accent mark. From my A/H RPG Campaign.
OTL Gatling Gun
Rotary cannon
Spinner
OTL Modern Gatling Gun:
Electro-Gat: From my A/H RPG Campaign. (In OTL, Dr. Gatling electrified his gun, but it was only an experiment. In this timeline, it was dug out in 1919 by The Department of Obscure, Obsolete, and Overlooked Technologies. It’s much more effective without black powder. So far, only one nation has them.