Kevin's Watch

But of course linden is used as a medicine. Linden-tea is good for common cold, cough etc.

I'd picked up on "hilum" for Hile Troy (I was thinking of the root of the spleen, its medical definition, but didn't know about the "eye" of a seed--way cool!) I wonder if the Troy part is an allusion to the German treu
(pronounced troy, unless I misparse it)--"true". "True root" would make sense given the sincerity of his intentions--Belief as opposed to Unbelief.

bump for UMID

Durris wrote:A friend who is a visual artist (and serious F/SF fan including SRD) makes me wash my mouth out with voure whenever I slip and say something about an author's or artist's "intention". Her theory is that conscious intentions have very little to do with what is actually conveyed; the work knows what it is doing, and the artist isn't in control of the process.

Well, Mr. Donaldson did say that he is very conscious of meaning when he writes a name, so I don't think you'd be wrong to talk about intent here...I'm not gonna re-type what I wrote in another thread...but there's a piece of an interview in a thread (linked to below) that I posted a reply in where he mentions just that. (Now I read this thread though, I think I should have posted all that here instead)
kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3290

That was a very interesting quote from the interview. Next time I'm on Amazon, I will have to search for that book. And thank you for posting it.

*grin* you're welcome...I hope you enjoy the book if you get it

Regarding intent, I don't think it's at all out of line to understand what the author/painter/composer/etc had in mind while creating whatever it is. It could make us think of it in a way we wouldn't have on our own, and that can't be a bad thing. And knowing the creator's intent isn't likely to stop me from finding my own meanings anyway.

I chatted with Joy recently about this. There's a great episode of Northern Exposure where Chris wrote a Master's Thesis titled Casey at the Bat - an AntiFiliopietistic Metaphor for America's Role in Post-Cold-War-GeoPolitics. Two professors show up to test him for his degree, and they argue. One thinks the author's intent is all that matters, the other thinks that only by completely disregarding the author's intent can the work's full meaning come out. Chris has a dream that he's at war, leading the Transcendental 45th Regiment, which includes such soldiers as Van Gogh, Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Beethoven, Emerson, Fuller, and Thoreau. Great stuff!

Which reminds me of the Monty Python ballgame script that's in another thread here at the Watch, but never mind that.

Re: unintentional meanings: There is an old story about how the folks at Chevrolet couldn't figure out why their car model called the Nova wasn't selling in Puerto Rico (or it might have been another Spanish-speaking country). But why would anybody buy a car whose name is no va (it doesn't go)?

The Hindu words are very interesting...I'm in a Hinduism class now, so I flinch everytime I see the words "attaining moksha"...I'm going to have to read around for a good explanation of why these good words, moksha, samadhi, etc, defining liberation and nirvana in Hinduism, got used to name RAVERS by a guy who lived in India for awhile...as for yajna, the simplest definition of that word that we have had is "sacrifice", or renunciation in the sense of sacrificing...also, Foul's "Creche" comes from portuguese for birthplace or cradle...there's a verb in portuguese, crechar or somesuch (it's been awhile since intro to anthropology) and then a noun derived from it and then a fantasy place derived from that...I love language

and as Donaldson lived in India it isnt surprising that he would use such Hindu words and derivations ..

aliantha wrote:Which reminds me of the Monty Python ballgame script that's in another thread here at the Watch, but never mind that.

Re: unintentional meanings: There is an old story about how the folks at Chevrolet couldn't figure out why their car model called the Nova wasn't selling in Puerto Rico (or it might have been another Spanish-speaking country). But why would anybody buy a car whose name is no va (it doesn't go)?

LOL

love the MP soccer game sketch!!

bump for those in the names discussion