The "What's a good name for this?" thread

^Yeah that sounds like a good idea as slang for whatever the general public would call them. Thanks for that.

That gives me more time to think of a more scientific name for when I have to take the story to the actual scientists working the stuff.

Thanks Airof Mystery, it's in a modern setting so it's good to know it doesn't scream 'bad men live here'.

What's a good name for a quaint little college town which has just been the victim of a horrific murder? Its the setting of a psychological thriller (with possible supernatural elements, depending on your interpretation). The story is on the milder end of Mind Screw.

Where is the college town? How rich is the college?

In new york state, pretty middle class.

EDIT: not terribly far from new york city, an hour and a half- two hours away.

edited 7th Jan '11 8:46:21 PM by tilitzd

Hmm. Well, I'd suggest you give the town a name based on a language that immigrants in that part of New York State spoke. Perhaps German or something.

Good idea, I may do that, though it requires a bit of research. I'll probably use a placeholder until the script is done (just because I hate research), but thanks for the advice.

You can do "Miskatronic" for a shoutout to Lovecraft.

Half-Life: Dual Nature, a crossover story of reasonably sized proportions.

Another good idea. There are some elements of the story that are vaguely similar to his, so it would be a decent fit.

I adore ShoutOuts, so Miskatronic or some variation thereof sounds pretty good to me.

Any suggestions for that lens? It's a real sticky spot for me.

I've returned from the depths to continue politely irritating the good people of TV Tropes.(◕‿◕✿)

Hmmm, its powers seem kind of neutral based on what you've said, and all of the ideas you've had for names sound pretty sinister. Maybe the eye of revelation? the eye of truth? I'm terrible at this kind of thing (hence me asking for help in this thread) but maybe something more having to do with revealing the unseen than any kind of malevolence

edited 7th Jan '11 9:52:08 PM by tilitzd

What's a good name for a fighter plane and its successor built by the same company?

I was aiming for something a little punny with the Lion and the Hellion, but after some thought, it seems weird to reference Hell in a culture that explicitly doesn't believe in Hell (according to them, your spirit only lives on if people remember your great deeds)

The first plane is a biplane and the second is a gullwing plane (kind of like a PZL P.11). They're built for shooting dragons out of the sky.

Planes that have already got names are the Morning Star and the Bat, both of those were named for their color schemes. The unnamed planes are either drab green or red or some shade of yellow as their main color.

I'd say something about Georgies but I'm guessing that Saint George doesn't exist either. Maybe invent some dragon slaying folklore?

Looking at TheOtherWiki's list of fighter aircraft, fury, javelin, lancer, all spring out. Or any number of birds, cats and snakes. Another possible pair is some version of Lightning and Thunder.

What about Dragonfly for the biplane and Wasp/Hornet? Looking at Dragonflies they've also got some names like Chaser, Hunter, Darter.

edited 8th Jan '11 12:25:35 AM by Luthen

You must agree, my plan is sheer elegance in its simplicity! My Tumblr

I'm looking for a name for a quaint little coastal town and one for a big city.

Looking for a spunky first name for an 18 year old male orphan. It needs to be something uncommon, but not crazy. He's fairly tall and athletic, with brown hair and eyes. He's very opinionated and snarky. I was thinking something like Adrian, but that might be a little too boring.

Random, but what about Anthony?

Scepticism and doubt lead to study and investigation, and investigation is the beginning of wisdom. - Clarence Darrow

Anthony is also a little boring. I need something...something uncommon and bold. A name that isn't weird, but one that stands out. Like, Kyle. Kyle is a name you hear, but not as often as a name like Nick or Hank. [But no, I'm not using Kyle.]

How about Colin?

Colin...is...perfect actually. Now when I picture him in my head with the name "Colin", everything just sort of clicks. Thanks!

Okay, so I need some sci-fi slang. Basically, I had an idea for a procedure in which people have their brains surgically removed and implanted in an artificially grown body.

So, if anyone has an idea of what people who do this could be called, I'm open to suggestions.

[DATA EXPUNGED] - I would NEVER do that to a kitten! -Dr. █████

Hey tropers, I was wondering what would be a good name for the humanoids in the series I'm writing. The story is centered around a solar system with seven habitable planets, with a different breed of humanoid on each planet, mostly Petting-Zoo People geared towards their respective planets' climates. However, once they discover interstellar travel, they can, and do, interbreed, so they are really the same species. There are no actual humans in the story. I've been calling them humanoids or sometimes mortals (since the story also involves immortals, ie the ones who created this somewhat contrived setup), but humanoid implies there are actual humans to be compared to, and mortal is just kind of ... meh. I might just go and call them humans even though they're not strictly human, but I was wondering if the infinite wisdom of the TV Tropes forum had any better ideas :)

Edit: @Parakus, how about "Transplanters?" Or is that too uncreative?

edited 8th Jan '11 5:22:48 PM by moonfie

I don't see referring to them as humanoids (lowercase) while describing them being a problem. Falls under the Translation Convention. But yeah, as a species name that's not going to really work. Choosing Hominid or like might work, since that gives the sense of human-like but not. Or they could group themselves under some banner to reflect being sentient, Mensi or something.

You could just have them call themselves People and footnote the translation problem if you don't mind playing with the fourth wall.

Rebrainers?

You must agree, my plan is sheer elegance in its simplicity! My Tumblr

Animasians.

edited 8th Jan '11 6:45:22 PM by tendollarlameo

Parakus - Double-born, Reborn, Refet(us)es (if the artificial body is grown from embryo  ^*

rather than, say, an assembled skeletal chassis supporting the organs as they are grown in place]]), Deborts/Un-aborts (same question), Transcogs, Transcrans, Relivers, Bioborg, Zomborg, Homonks/Monks/Muncs/Muncles/Munkers/Monkeys (from homunculus, in both the alchemical sense of "artificial human" and the psychological sense of 'my real "self" is a little man in my head controlling my body')...?

(I kind of like "muncles", myself - especially for old people in young bodies who are trying to use it as a form of life extension, forgetting that their old brain might still be subject to Alzheimer's or senile dementia...)

edited 8th Jan '11 6:53:41 PM by Noaqiyeum

The Revolution Will Not Be Tropeable

Some of those don't really roll off the tongue, but "reborn" is good, I might use that. Refete could work too, seeing as you hit the nail right on the head with your description. The ones that are based off of the word "homunculus" wouldn't make sense unless the reader knew what a homunculus was. It wouldn't be too hard to work in a short paragraph explaining things, though (because "muncle" is indeed an awesome word).

Alright, I think I've got what I need. Thanks, everyone!

[DATA EXPUNGED] - I would NEVER do that to a kitten! -Dr. █████