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Angelman
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Re: Slavic proper nouns in Heart of Darkness

Tue 27 Jan 2026, 17:54

Ok, "Beg Your Pardon Outpost" is just hilarious! :lol:

Also, languages are fun! :mrgreen:

To be honest, though, I don't think Gaska necessarily changed the character's origins; it was probably more a matter of a non-slavic speaker cobbling together a name they liked. During the feedback phase, I (and probably others) got them to change the spelling of her home town from Kiev to Kyiv to reflect a pro-Ukraine wording, so I don't think they were editing for the Russo-Ukranian war before that (unless "Kiev" was an oversight).

In any case, a trans-woman Drabi would be a great little flair for the character. (It also works as a reference to Lambert who was described as a fully transitioned trans-woman in the source material). Good suggestion! I'm stealing that.

Mostly, though, we can perhaps explain language goofiness in the setting with the UPP 150+ years into our future having experienced some grammar drift, possibly as a result of the space-Russian increasingly mixing with space-Chinese, space-Vietnamese, and others with different noun gendering language norms. (Knowing full well that this is just an RPG and that all bugs are therefore to be treated as quaint features 8-) )

Other language goofiness I can remember off the top of my noggin:
-The Ablassen ("drain") Black Hole is grammatically broken, although I can only remember it being a case mix-up (non-German speaker here, sorry)
-The Operation Deep Shaft from CMOM is hella-sexual and therefore funny ('cause everyone's 14 in their heads)
-The use of "Bolshoi" for a big-badie xeno in CMOM was genius! A good use of the word by itself, a word with wide association with Russia (the Bolshoi Ballet being perhaps the most famous), AND the meaning of the name also cognates with the crew's behind-the-scene nickname for the creature in the original Alien: "Big Chap".

Gods, I appreciate a good reference or language pun!
"And the rain sets in,
it's the Angelman.
I'm deranged".
--David Bowie, I'm Deranged
 
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_ArthurDallas_
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Joined: Wed 04 Mar 2020, 03:22

Re: Slavic proper nouns in Heart of Darkness

Tue 27 Jan 2026, 23:40

Ok, "Beg Your Pardon Outpost" is just hilarious! :lol:

Also, languages are fun! :mrgreen:

To be honest, though, I don't think Gaska necessarily changed the character's origins; it was probably more a matter of a non-slavic speaker cobbling together a name they liked. During the feedback phase, I (and probably others) got them to change the spelling of her home town from Kiev to Kyiv to reflect a pro-Ukraine wording, so I don't think they were editing for the Russo-Ukranian war before that (unless "Kiev" was an oversight).

In any case, a trans-woman Drabi would be a great little flair for the character. (It also works as a reference to Lambert who was described as a fully transitioned trans-woman in the source material). Good suggestion! I'm stealing that.

Mostly, though, we can perhaps explain language goofiness in the setting with the UPP 150+ years into our future having experienced some grammar drift, possibly as a result of the space-Russian increasingly mixing with space-Chinese, space-Vietnamese, and others with different noun gendering language norms. (Knowing full well that this is just an RPG and that all bugs are therefore to be treated as quaint features 8-) )

Other language goofiness I can remember off the top of my noggin:
-The Ablassen ("drain") Black Hole is grammatically broken, although I can only remember it being a case mix-up (non-German speaker here, sorry)
-The Operation Deep Shaft from CMOM is hella-sexual and therefore funny ('cause everyone's 14 in their heads)
-The use of "Bolshoi" for a big-badie xeno in CMOM was genius! A good use of the word by itself, a word with wide association with Russia (the Bolshoi Ballet being perhaps the most famous), AND the meaning of the name also cognates with the crew's behind-the-scene nickname for the creature in the original Alien: "Big Chap".

Gods, I appreciate a good reference or language pun!
...

We miss you, Angelman. You should come see us more often...

Arthur.
Moderator (Free League Alien RPG Forums)
 
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ExileInParadise
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Re: Slavic proper nouns in Heart of Darkness

Fri 30 Jan 2026, 05:50

Cordwainer Smith is famous for using various languages (he read/write/spoke *many* fluently) to flavor his Instrumentality stories.

For example, in the story "Under Old Earth" - a very old lord of the Instrumentality who is near his chosen death date is named Sto Odin which refers to the number one-hundred-one.

Dig into where some of the things you here in the original three Star Wars movies came from ... like the Ewok language from Return of the Jedi.

It does not surprise me at all to find current authors likewise sprinkling in the "exotic" this way.

Now, regarding the ship name ... for Alien, I'd say it likely was meant to translate as "I'm f'ed again" - which is a common sentiment from various traders in Traveller too, especially when the ship mortgage payments come due.

Regarding gender of names - it would not surprise me at all either if this was a semi-intentional nod to some of the Alien script notes from regarding the original characters written with names that were interchangeable by gender.

There were a few hints to a crewperson's sex being "natural" or "elective" (surgically/chemically changed) as well so a masculine name tagged to a non-masculine character isn't too far of a stretch, especially these days.

If its too much of a "I keep noticing this" - I'd just rename the character to whatever else you like that doesn't flag the thought during game play.
We live, as we dream -- alone. ~ Joseph Conrad
 
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_ArthurDallas_
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Joined: Wed 04 Mar 2020, 03:22

Re: Slavic proper nouns in Heart of Darkness

Fri 30 Jan 2026, 17:59

Cordwainer Smith is famous for using various languages (he read/write/spoke *many* fluently) to flavor his Instrumentality stories.

For example, in the story "Under Old Earth" - a very old lord of the Instrumentality who is near his chosen death date is named Sto Odin which refers to the number one-hundred-one.

Dig into where some of the things you here in the original three Star Wars movies came from ... like the Ewok language from Return of the Jedi.

It does not surprise me at all to find current authors likewise sprinkling in the "exotic" this way.

Now, regarding the ship name ... for Alien, I'd say it likely was meant to translate as "I'm f'ed again" - which is a common sentiment from various traders in Traveller too, especially when the ship mortgage payments come due.

Regarding gender of names - it would not surprise me at all either if this was a semi-intentional nod to some of the Alien script notes from regarding the original characters written with names that were interchangeable by gender.

There were a few hints to a crewperson's sex being "natural" or "elective" (surgically/chemically changed) as well so a masculine name tagged to a non-masculine character isn't too far of a stretch, especially these days.

If its too much of a "I keep noticing this" - I'd just rename the character to whatever else you like that doesn't flag the thought during game play.
...

Wow, thank you ExileInParadise for this linguistics course, which I must say demonstrates a deep general knowledge of the field...

Thank you, my friend.

Arthur.
Moderator (Free League Alien RPG Forums)

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