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On the naming of things
Feb. 1st, 2011 08:14 amI've been inventing interstellar empires in my head again.
You know how if a new planet is called Alpha you know it was first and Beta was second?
Or it could be Terra Nova.
They're the intuitively obvious 'neutral' names, the Greek and Latin sounding names that seem obvious from a British background and presumably USA too cause they use them a lot.
What's the obvious names in India?
Or China?
Or New Zealand?
Because we're not naming them Planet A and B and colony New Land, so it's not as simple as looking up those things in other languages. (And India has a lot of languages. I don't know where to start.)
So what are the names of the first places going to be, when India or China or some other hugely populated part of Earth gets there?
I don't even know where to ask.
You know how if a new planet is called Alpha you know it was first and Beta was second?
Or it could be Terra Nova.
They're the intuitively obvious 'neutral' names, the Greek and Latin sounding names that seem obvious from a British background and presumably USA too cause they use them a lot.
What's the obvious names in India?
Or China?
Or New Zealand?
Because we're not naming them Planet A and B and colony New Land, so it's not as simple as looking up those things in other languages. (And India has a lot of languages. I don't know where to start.)
So what are the names of the first places going to be, when India or China or some other hugely populated part of Earth gets there?
I don't even know where to ask.