Found in Translation - Part Three

[more2live4]

This is to discuss Found in Translation - Part 3: What's in a Name? by Robbie Fischer.

Three well written and informative editorials. It always helps to know what people in different countries mean when they use colloquialisms.

Just one note. Sirius is actually a trinary star. The two main stars are in turn orbited by a faint third star that was only discovered in the 1930's. Other than this well done.

[kerri]

I love this editorial. The funny thing is, Ive never had trouble with the English slang, but I was taken with JKR's imagination when it came to names. My favorite names in the series are Sirius Black and Severus Snape.

I never knew their was a real Severus....hmm, kinda makes you think why she named him after a tyrant king. Great editorial, and thanks!

How about pictures of the different owls, I've always been curious about the animals and pets in the books. Like Draco's eagle owl.

[Mundungus Fletc]

Septimius Severus was not much of a tyrant compared to other Roman Emperors - he was known to be sympathetic to Christians and did not persecute them personally. Interestingly he died at York.

[another_pleb]

An interesting article. However, what you wrote about humbugs is incorrect. Humbugs are famous for their black and white striped appearance.

Hydrangeas are famous for their differing colour depending on if they are planted on acid, (pink petals) or alkali soil (blue petals).

Apart from that, very good.

[loona]

I just read both part 2 and 3 ... just wanted to say thanks again!!!

[julieann]

very very good

only dumbledore had a scar of the london underground, not a birthmark.

this was very helpful to someone who's never gone farther than canada, and therfore not to savvy with all the brittish slang. thanks!

[SandyT]

All three editorials were excellent and extremly helpful! Thanks for the pictures.

As an add-on. A narcissa (daffodil) is also poisonous. Gophers who will rip through a garden, from underground, and eat the bulbs of tulips and such, won't touch a daffodil, because they are poisonous.


Again, excellent work!

[T_Brightwater]

Very good! I lived in England for two and a half years, and even I wasn't sure what "spotted dick" was.

Hermione does have a mythological namesake, also - she was the daughter of Menelaus and Helen of Troy.

Sirius's uncle Alphard is also named for a star - I think it's in one of the Dippers. And Merope is one of the Pleiades; according to some versions of the story, she's the faint star that you could only see if you had very good eyesight, because she, a demigoddess, had married a mortal. Not only does this sound rather like Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle, but the star name makes me wonder if her mother was a Black. (cf. Draco Malfoy, who has a constellation name and whose mother was a Black.)

There are several saints named Severus, including Severus of Antioch, who, interestingly enough, is a saint in the Oriental Orthodox churches (Coptic, etc.) but considered a heretic in the Eastern (Greek, Russian, Byzantine, etc.) Orthodox churches.

And would you believe there was a Saint Nymphodora? She and her two sisters were healers and virgin martyrs. Their feast day is September 10.

[lafemmenissa]

Fantastic! I really enjoy reading about name origins to see what they might infer about a particular character's personality.
Also, very impressive posts above! Very intellegent group we've got reading these books.

best,
la femme

[embememu]

That was the best one yet! i loved the section with flowers and stars because even though i'm English I don't know too much about flowers and stars. The picture of the narcissus looks really like a daffodil. i assume they are the same... i'm a nitwit.

[FishEByrd]

I don't know if a narcissus and a daffodil are exactly the same, but I believe the Jonquil is similar if not identical to the narcissus.

[abbeyroad]

I knew most of the flowers, a few of the stars, and a few names from mythology, but the names I didn't know were intriguing. The map of the London Underground certainly changed my mental picture of Dubledore's scar! Thanks once again for these great editorials.

[ruse]

These were very enjoyable...thank you for the time you put into this. I think Horace has the heart of a poet!!! His name fits.

[T_Brightwater]

Narcissus is the name of the genus which contains daffodils, jonquils, and narcissi; I've heard all of those common names used interchangeably. One species of Narcissus is N. jonquilla.

[frizzle]

Re: eating kippered fish for breakfast: Haven't you ever eaten bagels and lox? Lox is just another form of salted smoked fish. Salting and smoking were methods of preserving food before refridgeration.

Re: Jumper. In the U.S., it is a sleeveless dress which you wear over a blouse. In the U.K., it is a sweater.

Very clever, useful editorials. Thanks!

[Chas]

A great series of editorials. Thanks!

Technically, the Andromeda galaxy is called the Galaxy in Andromeda (or the Nebula in Andromeda if you are old enough). To the naked eye it looks like a fuzzy star (unless you live in Chicago where any sort of stars is a rarity ), which happens to be in the constellation Andromeda.

[riazul]

I read all 3 parts and I must say they were very well written not to mention informative.. Helped me in picturing certain things which I had previously been unable to.. However I'd like to add one bit of info.. I don't know if anyone has already mentioned this but 'Padma' means 'Lotus' in Sanskrit and is also another name for a goddess in Hindu Mythology.

[FishEByrd]

Originally Posted by frizzle

Re: eating kippered fish for breakfast: Haven't you ever eaten bagels and lox? Lox is just another form of salted smoked fish. Salting and smoking were methods of preserving food before refridgeration.

Re: Jumper. In the U.S., it is a sleeveless dress which you wear over a blouse. In the U.K., it is a sweater.

Very clever, useful editorials. Thanks!

Somehow, lox was never around at home for breakfast use. It's not the sort of thing my family does. Whenever I had lox it was always either a lunchtime or a late-night run to a Jewish deli.

[Linda_Carrig]

Brilliant!
Just one thing: in England, they don't say. "What's for dessert?", they say "What's for pudd?", which is a short form of the word "pudding".
I've never had kippers myself but I do eat a lot of fish; fresh, pickled, salted or canned (like tuna or sardines). Folks, be sure to eat some kind of fish now and then--it's good for you and tasty too.