D'vorahDavida
Yetzirah

Alphabet Soup in Space
Tue Feb 17 2004

I now have 8 pages of scribbled possible names for my planet.

I am beginning to question the meaning of Life the Universe and Everything.

I have been to several random name generators on the internet and looked into Latin names in my flower and tree guides. I have poured over esoteric Hebrew texts and combined prefixes and suffixes like a mad linguistic scientist in a dank and moldy laboratory. Creating un- pronounceable gobbledygook that has my head throbbing and my spirits sagging.

In case you have never used a random name generator, here are some examples of what you will get:

Avivu
Odulen
Akkeren
Rysad
Malthora
Nagela
Mazera
Zahphul
Nabur
Oralia
Ryhin
Rubeas
Nuvir
Orissi
Reismal

…..Ad nauseum, infanitum, et gagissimo.

(And those were the GOOD ones.)

The closest I have come to actually liking one was this:
Hriana….. Which I made up on my own. Then I made the mistake of doing a Google search and found out it is a Spanish word for “burning desire”. Now I’m not sure I like that as the name of my planet.

Now, if I was doing a comedy SF story, any number of words would do.
I could make them up all day long…….thusly:

Zweebe
Gork
Zububb
Nitzwhack
Blubknob
Crackzog
Whizsnit
And the scintillating, Zargok.

I figure all goofy SF names have a Z, G, or K in them. Don’t ask my why, I’m not a linguist. I’m a regular, run of the mill, psychotic searching for a plausible name for an earnest planet of wonderful balance and harmony.

And believe me, Zargok ain’t it.

Sigh.

I feel like I have been locked into the tower room like the girl in the story ….. was it Rumplestiltskin ? Who was supposed to spin straw into gold, only all I have to do is come out of the tower with a name.

But I draw the line at handing over my firstborn to any short, sly eyed shysters, I don’t care WHAT planet they are from.

No, not even the Gwatleebs from Sagkranoz could make me part with my oldest child.

(Somebody get the straightjacket, I’ll distract her with the alphabet…)

Look Cupcake, see the nice pretty letters? Let’s make words with them…

Noooooooooooo !




8 Comments
  • From:
    RealmOfRachel (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Feb 17 2004
    I love you. Planet naming is harder than it looks, I'll give you a clue the answer to the life universe and everything is 42!

    I liked Reismal personally, and the name of my mothership has finally been revealed as CRACKZOG! I laughed all the way through this don't make me nominate you again for entry of the week, then you won't be able to reclusive and eccentric like the best writers.

    Hugs
    Rach xxx
  • From:
    Dustbunny3 (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Feb 17 2004
    Keep it simple
    EBAY
    (Eric-Ben-Andy-Yetzirah)
    Best site in the universe
    Dustbunny3
  • From:
    Yarngirl (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Feb 17 2004
    EBAY - what a crackup!

    I personally liked, well, now I don't remember and I've read over the list a couple of times. I do like Hriana, and of course I haven't read your story and don't know, but 'burning desire' wouldn't be a bad name for a planet if there was some sort of quest. Or a historical reason for naming the planet thusly. You'd never have to explain why for the name, or the real meaning, just elude mysteriously to it.

    Julie
  • From:
    Sashibeak (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Feb 17 2004
    I like Nabur............ wow! Isn't it fun! I think you should name it Crackzog though really! Ha ha! Worra great name!

    I'm on my second glass of wine, so I am feeling very creative......... something about a Sangoivese does that to me! Hmm, let me think now..............

    How about........

    Oh my god! A tiny spider has just spun it's way down in front of my keyboard...that's lucky!.... you could call it Arachna or Arakna!

    Or, how about.........

    1. Zephyrna
    2. Ozziddian
    3. Krakana
    4. Rithprott
    5. Humus (my favourite Greek spread!)
    6. Leviathan
    7. Karyma
    8. Mynuth
    9. Tantera
    10. Quannalya

    There you go............. ask me to do that when I am sober and it is nigh on impossible. Red wine opens my mind somehow and strange words spew forth like they were my native language!

    Do let us know what you decide upon! EDo we get to read your novel too?

    Big hugz,

    Sash ~^~
  • From:
    Salamander (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Feb 17 2004
    So what if it has meaning in Spanish? Tweak the spelling so you get a homonym (did I spell that right?) and keep it for the beauty of the sound. A single sound can mean many different things, within a single language or between many languages. Who is to say the origin of your planet's name?
  • From:
    Bookworm (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Feb 17 2004
    Try this one - before you go to bed tonight write down in a notebook something like *what is the name of my planet?* Go to sleep and try not to think about it. In the morning you'll probably wake up with a word or a scene in mind. Work with that and you'll have the name of your planet. ;-)
  • From:
    Parett (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Feb 17 2004
    I wish I had about 10% of your creative brain content.

    Love ya, cupcake!
  • From:
    LifeOFLouise (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Feb 18 2004
    Tehehe, dunno but the aliens that inhabit my brain live on planet crackpot I think!