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| alternate_history:alternate_terminology [2020/08/15 18:59] – [Comic (book)s] petike | alternate_history:alternate_terminology [2023/08/20 16:03] – [Comic (book)s] petike |
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| **[[Romanitas]]**: "Birota". Nearly the same as the OTL term, but the second half of the word denotes the rotation of the wheels instead of their circular shape. It is also a purely Latin word, reflecting the dominance of the Roman Empire in this timeline. | **[[Romanitas]]**: "Birota". Nearly the same as the OTL term, but the second half of the word denotes the rotation of the wheels instead of their circular shape. It is also a purely Latin word, reflecting the dominance of the Roman Empire in this timeline. |
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| | ===== Bison ===== |
| | //**[[OTL]]**//: From Latin bisōn, bisōnt- (“wild ox”), from Proto-Germanic *wisundaz (“wild ox, aurochs”). Correct term for the North American animal also called buffalo. |
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| | **[[timelines:Chaos]] TL**: "Atlantischer Wisent" (Wisent from [[alternate geographic names|Atlantis]]). |
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| ===== Bit (computing) ===== | ===== Bit (computing) ===== |
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| **The Fox and the Lillies**: "Numulocratism" or "Numulocracy", meaning "money rule". (lit. "coin rule", since //numulus// is Latin for 'coin' and //kratos// is Greek for 'rule'). Coined (pun intended) by French political philosopher Charles Marchand, who was a somewhat more bitter analogue of Karl Marx. His book - the //Das Kapital// analogue - is even called //Numulocratie//. | **The Fox and the Lillies**: "Numulocratism" or "Numulocracy", meaning "money rule". (lit. "coin rule", since //numulus// is Latin for 'coin' and //kratos// is Greek for 'rule'). Coined (pun intended) by French political philosopher Charles Marchand, who was a somewhat more bitter analogue of Karl Marx. His book - the //Das Kapital// analogue - is even called //Numulocratie//. |
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| | ===== Caravan ===== |
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| | **//[[OTL]]//**: "Caravan", the furnished vehicle towed behind a car, etc., and used as a dwelling when stationary. |
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| | **[[timelines:How many Sixes does Adolf Nazi have to Roll]]?**: "Burgwagen", German for "castle-car". Advertised as "Your private castle!" |
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| ===== Cars ===== | ===== Cars ===== |
| **[[timelines:Look to the West]]**: "Quiet war". | **[[timelines:Look to the West]]**: "Quiet war". |
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| **[[timelines:The Sparrow Avengers universe]]**: "The Wary Balance". More rarely "Pax Tetrarca", referring to the four superpowers of the timeline (UK, France, China, Japan). It is not as pronounced (ideologically or otherwise) as the OTL cold war and is more on the level of economic and scientific rivalry than a military one. It largely fades away by the mid-1970s and early 1980s. | **[[timelines:The Sparrow Avengers universe]]**: "The Wary Balance". More rarely "Pax Tetrarca", referring to the four superpowers of the timeline (UK, France, China, Japan). It is not as pronounced (ideologically or otherwise) as the OTL cold war and is more on the level of economic and scientific rivalry than a military one. It largely fades away by the mid-1970s and early 1980s. |
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| | ===== Comic (book)s ===== |
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| | **//[[OTL]]//**: A storytelling medium consisting of drawn panels in sequence accompanied with written annotations and speech. Mainly known as comic //book//s in North America and just comics in Britain, these names being derived from them being associated with humorous or 'comic' content. Because these terms can therefore sound narrow and dismissive, some people prefer the more general term 'sequential art'. There is also an interconnected tradition of Franco-Belgian comics that are known as //bandes dessinées// ("drawn strips") or BDs for short. |
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| | **[[timelines:Fight and Be Right|Fight and Be Right]]**: "Big Macs". In an alternate war between the UK and the Empire of Japan during the 1890s, publishing magnate Alfred Harmsworth took notice of Japanese publications depicting illustrated scenes and dioramas from the war, and tried to copy the approach for British audiences. The concept of a serialised wartime picture-story proved a success and eventually affected the already existing genre of penny dreadfuls. Heavily illustrated, sequential pulp fiction of this sort became known as "Big Macs", based on one of their wartime-themed characters, Hector MacDonald. Some of the later "Big Mac" illustrated adventures become predecessors to the timeline's early comic books. Among various "Big Mac" titles, one is a series of adventures detailing the exploits of the fictional sir Alfred Bruce, a secret crimefighter turned superhero, who utilises the masked persona of "Spring-heeled Jack". |
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| | **[[timelines:Look to the West]]**: "Sequents", singular "a sequent". Nobody is quite sure if this is an abbreviation for 'sequential art' (see above) or a mistaken back-formation from less educated people assuming that 'sequence' was the plural form (i.e. thinking it was //sequents//) and therefore 'a sequent' is the singular. |
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| | **[[timelines:Amerindian Arbalists]]**: "Bandesines" (a "bandesine" is the singular, meaning a single comic strip or single comic book issue). A colloquial contraction of the French term //[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bande_dessin%C3%A9e|bande dessinée]]//, the common French term in OTL as well. |
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| ===== Computer(s) ===== | ===== Computer(s) ===== |
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| **//[[OTL]]//**: The term originally comes from deciding what acts or events to put on in what order at a concert--the "programme" handed out to the audience is a paper indicating the list of acts. By analogy, if a machine requires a list of directions in a given order, this was referred to as a 'programme'. The verb 'to programme' and adjective 'programmable' was used for the programmable looms of the late eighteenth century, which used punch cards for the programme and therefore are the ancestors of computers. Therefore, note that this term is actually much older than people think, and if writing a TL you may not want to change it to something else unless your TL has a POD earlier than the eighteenth century. | **//[[OTL]]//**: The term originally comes from deciding what acts or events to put on in what order at a concert--the "programme" handed out to the audience is a paper indicating the list of acts. By analogy, if a machine requires a list of directions in a given order, this was referred to as a 'programme'. The verb 'to programme' and adjective 'programmable' was used for the programmable looms of the late eighteenth century, which used punch cards for the programme and therefore are the ancestors of computers. Therefore, note that this term is actually much older than people think, and if writing a TL you may not want to change it to something else unless your TL has a POD earlier than the eighteenth century. |
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| | **//NSA//** (Andreas Eschbach AH novel): While TTL still speaks of computer programs, these are often said to be "knitted" ("stricken" in the German original). The reason: Since computers developed early enough that Nazi Germany has the equivalent of Big Data, and [[offtopic:Ada Lovelace]] is better known as the first computer programmer, programming is seen as a typical women's job (at least, in Germany). Typical programming books ITTL are so kitschy it's almost unbearable, with pink covers, flowers, and references to other feminine activities like raising little children, gardening etc. |
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| ===== Cotton gin ===== | ===== Cotton gin ===== |
| **[[timelines:Look to the West]]**: "Cotton-thresher". | **[[timelines:Look to the West]]**: "Cotton-thresher". |
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| ===== Comic (book)s ===== | |
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| **//[[OTL]]//**: A storytelling medium consisting of drawn panels in sequence accompanied with written annotations and speech. Mainly known as comic //book//s in North America and just comics in Britain, these names being derived from them being associated with humorous or 'comic' content. Because these terms can therefore sound narrow and dismissive, some people prefer the more general term 'sequential art'. There is also an interconnected tradition of Franco-Belgian comics that are known as //bandes dessinées// ("drawn strips") or BDs for short. | |
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| **[[timelines:Look to the West]]**: "Sequents", singular "a sequent". Nobody is quite sure if this is an abbreviation for 'sequential art' (see above) or a mistaken back-formation from less educated people assuming that 'sequence' was the plural form (i.e. thinking it was //sequents//) and therefore 'a sequent' is the singular. | |
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| **[[timelines:Amerindian Arbalists]]**: "Bandesines" (a "bandesine" is the singular, meaning a single comic strip or single comic book issue). A colloquial contraction of the French term //[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bande_dessin%C3%A9e|bande dessinée]]//, the common French term in OTL as well. | |
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| ===== Crossbows ===== | ===== Crossbows ===== |
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| **//[[OTL]]//**: The English term for this archery weapon refers to its shape and appearance, as the bow attached to the tiller/stock of the weapon forms a roughly cross-like shape. Many Romance languages use a similar term for the weapon, e.g. //arbalète// in French, //balestra// in Italian, //ballesta// in Spanish, //besta// in Portuguse, and even //aрбале́т (arbalet)// in Russian and Ukrainian. In English itself, an //arbalest// refers to a late-medieval, steel-bowed crossbow, and an //arbalist// is a synonym for "crossbowman". The Romance term originates in Latin. The Romans seemed to have invented the common European "rolling nut" crossbow in late antiquity and their term for it was //arcuballista// (roughly, "bow-thrower", "bow-launcher"). Some Germanic language speaking nations share a similar term for a crossbow, e.g. //Armbrust// in German and //Armbrost// in Swedish (the name referring to propping the crossbow against one's breast and holding it at arm's length while shooting). Some Germanic languages are exceptions to this, Dutch using //kruisbog// (similar to English) and Icelandic using //lásbogi// ("lockbow"), which seems to be an older Scandinavian term for the weapon (referring to its mechanical trigger, i.e. lock). Western Slavic languages refer to a crossbow with similar names, e.g. //kusza// (Polish), //kuše// (Czech) or //kuša// (Slovak), or by the more archaic term //samostriel//, //samostrel// ("self-shooter"), with similar terms also existing in south and east Slavic languages (e.g. Russian //самострел//). Hungarian coined its term based on this Slavic linguistic influence, a crossbow being a //számszeríj// (roughly "tool-bow", "mechanical bow", "self-shooting bow"). | **//[[OTL]]//**: The English term for this archery weapon refers to its shape and appearance, as the bow attached to the tiller (stock) of the weapon forms a roughly cross-like shape. Many Romance languages use a similar term for the weapon, e.g. //arbalète// in French, //balestra// in Italian, //ballesta// in Spanish, //besta// in Portuguse, and even //aрбале́т (arbalet)// in Russian and Ukrainian. In English itself, an //arbalest// refers to a late-medieval, steel-bowed crossbow, and an //arbalist// is a synonym for "crossbowman". The Romance term originates in Latin. The Romans seemed to have invented the common European "rolling nut" crossbow in late antiquity and their term for it was //arcuballista// (roughly, "bow-thrower", "bow-launcher"). Some Germanic language speaking nations share a similar term for a crossbow, e.g. //Armbrust// in German and //Armbrost// in Swedish (the name referring to propping the crossbow against one's breast and holding it at arm's length while shooting). Some Celtic and Germanic languages are exceptions to this, Welsh using //bwa croes// and Dutch using //kruisbog// (similar to English), while Icelandic uses //lásbogi// ("lockbow"), which seems to be an older Scandinavian term for the weapon (referring to its mechanical trigger, i.e. lock). Western Slavic languages refer to a crossbow with similar names, e.g. //kusza// (Polish), //kuše// (Czech) or //kuša// (Slovak), or by the more archaic term //samostriel//, //samostrel// ("self-shooter"), with similar terms also existing in south and east Slavic languages (e.g. Russian //самострел//). Hungarian coined its term based on this Slavic linguistic influence, a crossbow being a //számszeríj// (roughly "tool-bow", "mechanical bow", "self-shooting bow"). |
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| **[[timelines:Amerindian Arbalists]]**: "Tillerbow" or "Trunkbow" are the two commonest variations on the general Native American term for an independently invented New World crossbow, the terms translated loosely and used in a variety of Native American languages. Depending on the two crossbow lock styles known in the Americas, crossbows are also called "thumb-bows" (if the trigger is a small, thumb-sized wooden lever at the top) or "peg-bows" (if the trigger is a bottom-mounted lever that pushes a wooden peg upward). The simple term "wall-bow" is used for more oversized native crossbows reserved for siege defence, functionally identical to similar large but portable wall crossbows seen in older European and Chinese history. | **[[timelines:Amerindian Arbalists]]**: "Tillerbow" or "Trunkbow" are the two commonest variations on the general Native American term for an independently invented New World crossbow, the terms translated loosely and used in a variety of Native American languages. Depending on the two crossbow lock styles known in the Americas, crossbows are also called "thumb-bows" (if the trigger is a small, thumb-sized wooden lever at the top) or "peg-bows" (if the trigger is a bottom-mounted lever that pushes a wooden peg upward). The simple term "wall-bow" is used for more oversized native crossbows reserved for siege defence, functionally identical to similar large but portable wall crossbows seen in older European and Chinese history. |
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| **[[timelines:The Sparrow Avengers universe]]**: "Gaslamp", evoking the night time urban sceneries typical of the genre. In OTL, "gaslamp" was used as part of the rare genre moniker, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslamp_fantasy|"gaslamp fantasy"]]. Initially coined in the 1990s as an alternative label to "steampunk", it quickly became narrower in meaning, as its focus is more on urban fantasy and horror works with steampunk or noir elements and atmosphere. In the Sparrow Avengers ATL, there never was any "noir" genre/style label, so gaslamp has a primary association with noir-style works (literary, cinematic, etc.). As the writers and other creatives of later decades began to experiment with mixing gaslamp tropes with fantasy tropes, the ATL also developed its own equivalent to OTL gaslamp fantasy or noir-influenced science fiction. | **[[timelines:The Sparrow Avengers universe]]**: "Gaslamp", evoking the night time urban sceneries typical of the genre. In OTL, "gaslamp" was used as part of the rare genre moniker, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslamp_fantasy|"gaslamp fantasy"]]. Initially coined in the 1990s as an alternative label to "steampunk", it quickly became narrower in meaning, as its focus is more on urban fantasy and horror works with steampunk or noir elements and atmosphere. In the Sparrow Avengers ATL, there never was any "noir" genre/style label, so gaslamp has a primary association with noir-style works (literary, cinematic, etc.). As the writers and other creatives of later decades began to experiment with mixing gaslamp tropes with fantasy tropes, the ATL also developed its own equivalent to OTL gaslamp fantasy or noir-influenced science fiction. |
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| | ===== Finlandization ===== |
| | **//[[OTL]]//**: The process by which a smaller or less powerful sovereign state comes to abide by a more powerful neighbor's foreign policy rules, while retaining its independence. Referring ti Finland |
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| | **[[timelines:How many Sixes does Adolf Nazi have to Roll]]?**: "Sweding", since ITTL neutral Sweden is seen in a similar danger to be assimilated by the Nazi Reich. |
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| ===== Gaia hypothesis ===== | ===== Gaia hypothesis ===== |
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| **//[[OTL]]//**: Coined during the Renaissance by Italian painter Giorgio Vasari and later by French philosopher and scholar Francois Rabelais. Both of them believed the architectural style popular prior to the emergence of the Renaissance one was of German or Germanic origin, specifically, an invention of the ancient Goths. Hence their preference for calling it "Gothic style". Of note is that this was considered a pejorative term, with the Goths representing "Rome-sacking barbarians" from the point of view of Renaissance philosophers. | **//[[OTL]]//**: Coined during the Renaissance by Italian painter Giorgio Vasari and later by French philosopher and scholar Francois Rabelais. Both of them believed the architectural style popular prior to the emergence of the Renaissance one was of German or Germanic origin, specifically, an invention of the ancient Goths. Hence their preference for calling it "Gothic style". Of note is that this was considered a pejorative term, with the Goths representing "Rome-sacking barbarians" from the point of view of Renaissance philosophers. |
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| | **[[timelines:basileus_interference|basileus' Interference TL]]**: "Norman". |
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| **The Fox and the Lillies**: "Cistercic". Named after the Cistercian order of monks, who both in OTL and this timeline were instrumental in the construction of the first Gothic cathedrals and the popularization of their architectural style in other parts of Europe. Coined by a certain Parisian university scholar. | **The Fox and the Lillies**: "Cistercic". Named after the Cistercian order of monks, who both in OTL and this timeline were instrumental in the construction of the first Gothic cathedrals and the popularization of their architectural style in other parts of Europe. Coined by a certain Parisian university scholar. |
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| **[[timelines:Ad Astra Per Aspera]]**: "Macroserv". It is used strictly for military purposes and lacks a civilian version. | **[[timelines:Ad Astra Per Aspera]]**: "Macroserv". It is used strictly for military purposes and lacks a civilian version. |
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| | **[[timelines:Amerindian Arbalists]]**: "OrbisMesh". From the Latin //orbis// ("world") and mesh, i.e. World-Mesh. |
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| **[[timelines:Chaos]]**: "Weltsystem". //Welt// is German for 'world' and "system" refers to the computer networks. (See above) | **[[timelines:Chaos]]**: "Weltsystem". //Welt// is German for 'world' and "system" refers to the computer networks. (See above) |
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| **Non-AH:** //Firefly// calls its equivalent computer network "The Cortex". | **Non-AH:** //Firefly// calls its equivalent computer network "The Cortex". |
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| | **[[timelines:the sparrow avengers universe|The Sparrow Avengers universe]]**: "Glonet". A contraction of the originally Dutch terms //globale// ("global") and //netwerk// ("network"), i.e. //Globale Netwerk//, also translated into English as "Global Network". Along with the British, the Dutch were among the main computer development pioneers of this timeline, especially of computer networking research in the decades following the timeline's second world war. |
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| **[[timelines:TL-191 After the End|TL-191: After the End]]**: "ComboNet", since computers are known as "combines". | **[[timelines:TL-191 After the End|TL-191: After the End]]**: "ComboNet", since computers are known as "combines". |
| **[[timelines:Look to the West]]**: "Legion Syndrome", named after the Biblical story of the man possessed by the spirits of many demons who had them exorcised by Jesus Christ. | **[[timelines:Look to the West]]**: "Legion Syndrome", named after the Biblical story of the man possessed by the spirits of many demons who had them exorcised by Jesus Christ. |
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| | ===== Multiverse ===== |
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| | **//[[OTL]]//**: A term that originated as a portmanteau (contracted word), created from combining "multiple" and "universe". The theoretical notion of a "multiverse" is, in essence, the idea of the existence of many myriad to possibly infinite universes, possibly infinite realities that had branched out to various points. The idea of a multiverse can occur fairly frequently in alternate history fiction (and any other fiction dealing with alternate worlds, alternate timelines, branching histories or realities), especially if the premise or theme of a work of fiction utilises and explores several different alternate timelines or alternate worlds. |
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| | **Non-AH**: The Ronay people and their descendants, the D'ni people, from the //Myst// science-fantasy adventure game series by Cyan Worlds, refer to the multiverse by the poetic term [[https://dni.fandom.com/wiki/Great_Tree_of_Possibilities|"Great Tree of Possibilities"]]. This is a straightforward nod at the idea of the multiverse as an ever-branching tree, with smaller shoots branching off pre-existing shoots, sometimes withering away, replaced by others, etc. |
| ===== Neutrino ===== | ===== Neutrino ===== |
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| **//[[OTL]]//**: As with nuclear weapons below, comes from the fact that the reaction involves splitting atomic //nuclei//. Earlier on (from 1920s speculation up to the 1950s and 60s reality) it was more commonly termed 'atomic power', and the phrase 'splitting the atom' was often used. | **//[[OTL]]//**: As with nuclear weapons below, comes from the fact that the reaction involves splitting atomic //nuclei//. Earlier on (from 1920s speculation up to the 1950s and 60s reality) it was more commonly termed 'atomic power', and the phrase 'splitting the atom' was often used. |
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| | **[[timelines:Amerindian Arbalists]]**: "Kernel energy" and "kernel power". |
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| **[[timelines:Look to the West]]**: Nuclear reactors are referred to as "Paradox engines", based on one classically educated scientist's quip that "splitting the atom" is an oxymoron or paradox as the word "atom" means "indivisible". LTTW also uses 'carytic' as an adjective equivalent to 'nuclear' (from karyos, the Greek word for 'nut', which is used in OTL to mean nucleus in another sense when classifying cells as eukaryotic or prokaryotic). | **[[timelines:Look to the West]]**: Nuclear reactors are referred to as "Paradox engines", based on one classically educated scientist's quip that "splitting the atom" is an oxymoron or paradox as the word "atom" means "indivisible". LTTW also uses 'carytic' as an adjective equivalent to 'nuclear' (from karyos, the Greek word for 'nut', which is used in OTL to mean nucleus in another sense when classifying cells as eukaryotic or prokaryotic). |
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| **[[timelines:A Brother to Dragons]]**: "Atomics". | **[[timelines:A Brother to Dragons]]**: "Atomics". |
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| | **[[timelines:Amerindian Arbalists]]**: "Kernel bombs". |
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| **Down in the Bottomlands**: "Starbomb". From the fact that nuclear reactions also happen in stars. | **Down in the Bottomlands**: "Starbomb". From the fact that nuclear reactions also happen in stars. |
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| **[[timelines:Look to the West]]**: "Linear history". | **[[timelines:Look to the West]]**: "Linear history". |
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| | ===== T-shirt ===== |
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| | **//[[OTL]]//**: A term coined in the 1920s for these shirts because of their shape. |
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| | **[[timelines:How many Sixes does Adolf Nazi have to Roll]]?**: "Itaka-Hemden", with "Itaka" a (Nazi) German acronym for "italienischer Kamerad" (Italian comrade) as a generic term for Italians which can be derogatory or not. The post-WW2 Germans used this term for the cheap, colorful (albeit monochrome) shirts produced in fascist Italy from Egyptian cotton. |
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| ===== Typewriter ===== | ===== Typewriter ===== |
| **[[resources:Etymology|Useful Resources about Alternate Etymology]]** - A collection of links to sites dealing with etymology. Useful if you're trying to create your own plausible alternate terms. | **[[resources:Etymology|Useful Resources about Alternate Etymology]]** - A collection of links to sites dealing with etymology. Useful if you're trying to create your own plausible alternate terms. |
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| **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=284346|Official Alternate Terminology Advice Thread]]** - Master advice thread for anyone having problems coming up with alternate terminology for his timeline. Feel free to ask for advice in this thread. | **[[timelines:Glossary (Look to the West)]]** |
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| | **[[https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=284346|Official Alternate Terminology Advice Thread]]** - Master advice thread for anyone having problems coming up with alternate terminology for his timeline. Feel free to ask for advice in this thread. |
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