Language Help by AnthonyT

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Language Help

POSTED BY: ANTHONYT
UPDATED: Monday, February 20, 2012 16:49
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Friday, February 17, 2012 11:32 AM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

I am writing some speculative fiction, and am trying to find new names for gravity control devices. I'm going for more retro-sounding names, before 'antigravity' or 'artificial gravity' became the standard. I'm half-settled on Gravity Affector but can't decide if it should be Gravity Effector instead. I always confuse my use of Affect or Effect.

Can any language experts help?

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner

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Friday, February 17, 2012 11:40 AM

BYTEMITE

An affect is an emotional response or act, or personal belongings, however as a verb it means to make a change in. Effected would be bring about or accomplish.

"Alternator?"

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Friday, February 17, 2012 11:55 AM

HKCAVALIER

I'd start with the as yet undiscovered particle, the graviton, which would surely be instrumental in any anti-grav gadgetry. So, graviton emitter, graviton forge, graviton receptor, graviton duplicator (called a grav-dup for short). Just do a little fanciful reverse engineering and see where the word you're looking for would come from.

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

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Friday, February 17, 2012 12:07 PM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

Gravity Nullifier
Negative Gravity Inducer
Gravity Reversal Wave/Beam/Vibration
Repellant Force Generator
Anti-attractive Coating/Plating/Grid
Directional Graviton De-Coupler

Mix & Match the above.

e.g. Negative Gravity Force Generator.

Then there's always the non-descriptive names.

The VanDerTris Effect
The Smithers/Burns Device

"Keep the Shiny side up"

ETA: How could I froget "Field"

Axial Attraction/Repulsion Field

...and "Force"

Inertia Transitioning Accelerative Force

Then there's just nonsense words.

Intersticterator
Aurapfremikochristolator
The Froget

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Friday, February 17, 2012 4:45 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/affect-versus-effect.aspx

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Saturday, February 18, 2012 4:03 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

Can you describe the thing's purpose or how it fits into your story - I mean apart from the obvious fun of levitating a cow.
Levitron
Zero-G Field Inducer
Detracto Beam
Spacial Rectifier
Proto Scatter Gun

Geezer - just what did you do in DC again? Are the star ships almost built? Can we mention your name to get ahead in the line?

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Saturday, February 18, 2012 4:32 AM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello all,

Thank you for your numerous and often entertaining suggestions.

In reviewing Affect versus Effect, I must conclude that Effector is probably the more correct usage (though it's still not entirely clear!)

I appreciate everyone's help.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner

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Saturday, February 18, 2012 4:32 AM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

Quote:
Originally posted by pizmobeach:
Geezer - just what did you do in DC again? Are the star ships almost built? Can we mention your name to get ahead in the line?

I wish.

First book I remember reading is "A Princess of Mars", at about age 7 or 8 (in the mid -late '50s). I've read a lot of 'Golden Age' super-science fiction by folks like "Doc" Smith, Asimov, Heinlein, Chandler, deCamp, del Ray, etc. ever since I could hold a book, and re-read them today.

How can I not be able to come up with names for anti-grav/Null-G/the Ray of Repulsion, etc?

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Sunday, February 19, 2012 7:44 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

We just watched a movie of Princess of Mars, modernized and no doubt totally altered, haven't read the original though my dad did when he was young. The movie stunk, but, like Niki, I have to admit I enjoy really badly made and altogether stupid scifi/fantasy films, you know like the scifi channel's made for TV movies.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Monday, February 20, 2012 4:14 AM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Quote:
Originally posted by RionaEire:
We just watched a movie of Princess of Mars, modernized and no doubt totally altered, haven't read the original though my dad did when he was young. The movie stunk, but, like Niki, I have to admit I enjoy really badly made and altogether stupid scifi/fantasy films, you know like the scifi channel's made for TV movies.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

Hello,

You saw John Carter?

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner

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Monday, February 20, 2012 5:14 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

Quote:
Originally posted by Geezer:

First book I remember reading is "A Princess of Mars", at about age 7 or 8 (in the mid -late '50s). I've read a lot of 'Golden Age' super-science fiction by folks like "Doc" Smith, Asimov, Heinlein, Chandler, deCamp, del Ray, etc. ever since I could hold a book, and re-read them today.

How can I not be able to come up with names for anti-grav/Null-G/the Ray of Repulsion, etc?

I read the Carter series in h-school, loved them. I'm afraid as Rionare seems to confirm, that the movie is rather poor. I had such high expectations - my bad. It's Disney after all, and probably not being made for my demographic. I thought LOTR had kind of shown the way for grittier and still family friendly fantasy - bugger.

Did you ever read The Complete Enchanter?
http://www.amazon.com/Compleat-Enchanter-Magical-Misadventures-Harold/
dp/0345246381/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1329750456&sr=8-3

Similar to Carter - 2 modern day people find themselves in the past/fantasy environments:

"One rarely thinks about this, but there actually was terrific heroic fantasy being written before Tolkien published the Lord of the Rings, and L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt were at the forefront of such efforts. These magical misadventures of Harold Shea, psychologist turned multiverse knight/magician/hero are thoroughly entertaining and amazingly detailed. The Complete Enchanter consists of the two novellas The Roaring Trumpet and The Mathematics of Magic (published together as The Incomplete Enchanter) and a follow-up novel The Castle of Iron. Sorting out the different versions of these books can be somewhat confusing, but basically this set consists of the original trilogy of "books" recounting the adventures of Harold Shea. Shea is a smallish man who continually takes on affectations such as unusual modes of dress in an effort to lift his spirits out of the mundane environment of his life. When his boss comes up with a logical theory for traveling among different universes, Shea takes the initiative and put the theory to the test. Aiming for mediaeval Ireland, Shea actually finds himself in a bitterly cold environment where he meets up with Thor and the three other principal gods of Norse myth. Deciding to pass himself off as a magician, he soon finds himself involved in preparations for a final world-ending battle between the Norse gods and a group of malicious giants. In many ways this is my favorite Shea story because it is here that he finds, to his own amazement, that he can handle a sword with some degree of skill (as long as it has a sharp point at the end) and can actually perform some feats of magic."

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Monday, February 20, 2012 5:26 AM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello Pizmo,

You saw John Carter?

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner

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Monday, February 20, 2012 5:35 AM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_of_Mars

Hello,

This is why I keep asking. Asylum films, the makers of 'megashark versus giant octopuss' and 'snakes on a train' made their version of Princess of Mars a couple years ago, and I want to be sure it is not this to which people are referring when they say they've seen the film.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner

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Monday, February 20, 2012 7:54 AM

HKCAVALIER

No, she saw the Anthony Sabato Jr. version. It is known.

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

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Monday, February 20, 2012 2:56 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

Correct, Anthony Sabato Jr. So the new movie called John Carter is the same story? My dad and I were wondering about that.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Monday, February 20, 2012 2:58 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Quote:
Originally posted by RionaEire:
Correct, Anthony Sabato Jr. So the new movie called John Carter is the same story? My dad and I were wondering about that.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

Hello,

It is based on the same story, but done with real actors and money, and hopefully a better eye towards the source material.

Comes out next month, but there have been some advanced screenings, so I wondered.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner

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Monday, February 20, 2012 3:10 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

&

Hello,

This is my favorite trailer for John Carter. There is a newer one, but not a better one in my opinion.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner

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Monday, February 20, 2012 4:49 PM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:

&

Hello,

This is my favorite trailer for John Carter. There is a newer one, but not a better one in my opinion.

--Anthony

I am really hoping...I mean really, really hoping, that they don't screw this one up like they did with Starship Troopers.

I realize that "A Princess of Mars" was written over 100 years ago as what we'd consider today pulp fiction, and that it reflects a culture and mindset that's as alien to the modern day as medieval times...but I grew up reading about John Carter, and Tarzan, and the other Burroughs heros, and would hate to see them turn into cartoons.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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