ATL meanings for OTL terms

I have a lot...:eek:

Ambassador:
The leader of a client state or a puppet state; a politician who is clearly subservient to someone more powerful. In medieval times, ambassadors were formally tied to their King through contracts. Sometimes, politicians who are considered weak are pejoratively called "ambassadors" by their opponents, even though they do not meet the literal definition of the word.

Constitution: Morality or integrity. Someone with strong constitution is someone who makes wise, honest decisions.

Election: The coronation of an absolute monarch, especially when that monarch claims their power is divine in nature. People who claim divine power often refer to themselves as "Elected." As a result, in modern slang, "Elected" has become a sarcastic insult directed at overly pompous or narcissistic individuals.

Socialism: A verbal custom or habit, typically meant to show respect. For example, "How are you doing?" and "Fine, thank you." might be considered socialisms rather than a genuine question and answer.

Corruption: A political ideology that emphasizes individual human rights and flexibility of cultural norms rather than rigid adherence to dogma. The word was originally used as a pejorative term by conservative religious leaders who scorned reformers as "corrupt," meaning "dirty and impure" because they contradicted the rigid or "pure" traditions. However, the word has turned around into a mark of pride by advocates of civil liberties, who identify with Corruption as a means of overcoming oppressive traditions.

President: An informal leader of a committee, usually chosen on the spur of the moment when the committee meets.

Conservatism: A philosophy that emphasizes the importance of the non-human environment of animals, plants, etc. Conservatives see the role of humans as protectors of wildlife, not masters of it.

Liberal: A pejorative term describing wealthy people, especially those who are born into prosperity and live a sheltered life. In pre-modern times, "liberal" literally meant "free," and described people who were not slaves, and thus, part of a privileged group of people.

Nation: A collective term for a group of organisms which have specific genes that prevent them from mating with other organisms outside the group to produce healthy, fertile offspring. For example, Homo sapiens refers to the nation of people, and Panthera leo refers to the nation of lions.
 
Does that include the wildly successful "Let's pretend we're walking trees" tactic used against King Macbeth of Scotland? :p

Of course - that trick to hide his reserves allowed Shakespeare to pull a devastating flank attack at the Battle of Dunsinane (sp?) Hill.
 
Chinese: relating to porcelain
Middleman: A Male Chinese Person
Malaysian: Filipino
Easter: Austrian
Gundam: the act of bombarding dams and water reservoirs on enemy territory, defined as a war crime under Chacabuco Convention
Villain: someone who follow the simple lifestyle of the countryside, an honest person
Army: The Armed Forces
Marine: Navy
Reform: Revolution
Revolution: Restoration
Civilian: Someone who behave civilly, a gentleman.
 
Internet: set of fishing nets set in inland bodies of waters such as rivers and lakes

Going medieval: becoming very learned person

Federation: hiring foreigners for your army (from Roman foederati)

Radioactive: person involved with radio broadcasts, usualy speaker or DJ

Raghead: performing oral sex on woman when she is menstruating (also woman receiving oral sex when she is mentruating)

Admiral: person who admires something or somebody

Vice-admiral: person who admires acts or things others consider vice
 
Argentina - An unattainable ideal (OTL utopia)


From Castillian, meaning "Land of Silver"


A fountain of youth is an argentina. It sounds nice, but doesn't exist.
 

Grey Wolf

Donor
I like how this is an inversion of the usual discussion - that is clever!

Usually we discuss what something would be known as in a different world

Now we take a word from our world and give it a meaning from a different world

---------------

Hoover could be a builder of dams or a man who works to save the unfortunate

cash machine could be a soul song to the tune of sex machine

tank could be an alternative word for submarine

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 

Deleted member 6086

Electric: related to amber. A person involved in its production is an electrician.

Pathetic: imbued with pathos and emotion. (the original meaning of the word, quite common in the past. In this ATL this remains its most common meaning)
 
Revolutionary - Someone who wants to bring things "full circle" and return to the original state of the regime

Reactionary - Someone who is reacting to past actions of the government and opposing them, presumably

Capitalist/Capitalism - Naturally, after the publication of Karl Marx's seminal work Das Kapital followers of his brand of socialism became known as this.

Burger King - A semi-transliteration from German to describe a constitutional monarchy, as in, a king who bases their rule on the middle class.

Utilitarian - Someone who only eats things that are healthy/useful to their body

Vegetarian - Right-wing Italian political movement (ATL fascism) founded in the early 1900s that would spread around the world with infamous results. The name was chosen from it's root Vegetus meaning vigor.

Egalitarian - Originally Egelidarian, the word's spelling change slightly over it's time but it has of course retained it's meaning of "people from cold climates".
 
Geek: A derogatory term for people with obvious physical or mental deformities, owing to its origins in turn-of-the-century circus freakshows.
 

Driftless

Donor
Existentialism - A fundamental belief that God exists in some form

Crudite - Cleanup crew members, particularly for large kitchens

Paleolithic - light cream colored limestone, particularly favored for facades on Midwestern US Churches.

Popsicle - A powerful motorcycle built by the Harley Davidson company, with a distinctive loud pop to it's engine rhythm.

Airship - a water craft driven by wind force on cloth sails

Mastodon - the top boss of the mafia
 
Byzantine - referring to a system of government where power is centralized in the head of state and is recognized as the head of the state religion. (for bonus irony, think the Vatican OTL)

Ottoman - referring to a particular weaving pattern popular in its namesake empire.
 
Classicism - A system of government in which free citizens elect the heads (or, rarely, a single head) of state.

Imperialism - A system of government led by a single ruler by virtue of military authority, either formally or informally, contrasted with dominance, where a group of military leaders or generals rule jointly.

Principlism - A constitutional structure in which the head(s) of state does not receive legal immunity from their actions in office, contrasted with dictatorialism, in which they receive absolute legal immunity for the same. Classicist states tend toward principlism, while imperialist states tend toward dictatorialism.

Communism - A system of government where governing authority is devolved mostly or exclusively to local governments, contrasted with socialism, in which governing authority is mostly or exclusively held by the national government.
 

Driftless

Donor
Inquisition - A gentle philosophical process involving three or more participants, where the goal is to sift through complex problems and winnow away the chaff to get to a central truth.

Convoy - a massed assembly of religious leaders

Omnivore - a student of Philosophy - the consumer of all things

Constipation - musical form where rhythms are unexpected, or seemingly off-beat.
 
Mobile Telegram - What we call a text message OTL
Motel - Colloquial term for the above
Neo-Confederate - Someone who wants to restore the Articles of Confederation
Chavismo - Support of the ideas of Cesar Chavez
Realist - A monarchist
Orientalism - The belief that westerners should copy the ways of the civilized Asians so that the latter will respect them as civilized people
Agnostic - An uneducated person
Antipope - A leader of the Orthodox Church, or a Protestant church
Green Party - Informal name for the main right-wing party in a given country, from the color green being associated with right-wing politics in contrast with red communism/socialism.
 
A few from my own timelines:


The Fox and the Lillies

Lysenkoism, a.k.a. Tsarism - radical nationalist political and cultural philosophy spearheaded by Muscovian general Andrei "The World Burner" Lysenko and his inner circle of ideologues. Among its tenets are the unification of squabbling Russian polities and regional identities into a single large empire and nation, and pseudoscientific assertions about the "moral and racial supremacy of the Muscovite breed above all others". Due to its bad historical reputation, the names of the ideology are often used as an insult (often considered a cliché ad hominem) : "What are you, some sort of damned lysenkoist ?!", "That's tsarist !" (The clichéd use of the word is referenced in the so-called "Bondars' Law", coined by Latvian humorist Anrijs Bondars.)

Australia - the mountainous, glaciated continent surrounded by the southern seas of Earth, its central parts being the location for the South Pole. The current term is derived from an older name for the landmass, Terra Australis.

Rotator - a type of handgun with a cylindrical, sectioned bullet chamber that rotates to an unfired bullet once dispensing of the previous one.

Purging - the act of industrially processing crude oil into a purified, purged substance, closer to usability as an effective fuel.


Sparrow Avengers universe

Rubble - in addition to the original maning of the word, denotes a style of modern popular music loosely descended from Hooligan and 1930s-1950s modern folk ballads. Famous for anti-authoritarian and often anti-establishment lyrics.

Debris
- a style of modern popular music, often considered "a much cheerier cousin of Rubble". It is more closely related to Snap and the original Hook & Hoodlum style. Famous for its comedic songs, often novelty pieces.

Goth - style of modern popular music, descended from Rubble, Hook & Hoodlum and Hooligan. Often lyrically and visually themed around historical, military, cultural and romantic topics. Also a term for a follower of the style (both in terms of music and fashion).

Hooligan - in addition to the original meaning of the word, Hooligan also denotes a style of modern popular music that originated as a branch of the Hook & Hoodlum style. Also a term for a follower of the style (both in terms of music and fashion).

Pop Music - a style of modern popular music that combines a blend of orchestral and electronic compositions with ambient sound samples of religious chanting (the first works of the genre used samples of Russian Orthodox and Ukrainian Orthodox chants, hence the name).

Drone - in addition to the original meaning of the word, denotes a style of modern popular music that is created entirely via electronic means, including the increasing use of editing and sampling via computers.

Cruncher - someone who dabbles in tampering with computer systems and computer networks, either for security-testing or nefarious purposes.

Goblins and Tricksters - in addition to the original terms, these can mean unintended or intentional malfunctions and technical problems with computer systems and computer networks.

SUV - acronym for "simulated universe", a life-like, computer-generated space or environment.

:D ;)
 
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McDonalds-name of a famous, long lasting Highlander Dynasty
East Germany- Prussia, Bohemia, and Austria
Antarctica- English name of the primary French colony in South America
 
Methodist: Someone who believes in following rigid procedures and rules when conducting experiments.

Banana Republic: A country known for copious amounts of retail stores.
 
Christian: a derogatory name for a believer in a hopeless political cause. Originating in Tarentum, it was based on the belief that Seleucid King Antiochos X Christos would invade Megale Hellas to place the pretender Phillip I on the throne, when those that rebelled were slaughtered when Neoptolemos V retook the city.

Catholic: A Neo-Atomist sect that believed even the gods are bound by the laws of the Atoms, based from Academy of Roma in the Latium province of Megale Hellas.

Neapolitan Pizza: a variation of the Pita bread of Athens usually stuffed with local Neapolitan fish meat balls.
 
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