My Manifesto

Roberto Calas, fantasy author, father, fiance, artist, pilot, juggler, and ocassional hit-man, discusses writing, eBooks, fantasy, marketing and spiders.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Of Satyrs and Salets

Okay, something that bothers me fierce but could just be a touch of OCD. You're reading a story, a fantasy story, set in a medieval-England style make-believe world. One of the characters mentions a satyr. Or someone "falls to the earth." Or a siegemaster is bringing trebuchets to bear on a castle.

Do you see where I'm headed?

A satyr is a Greek word for a creature of decidedly Greek nature. How can someone "fall to the earth" if the make-believe world isn't called earth. Trebuchets and salet helmets, both French, don't bother me as much, but I ran out of examples, even though I know there are ten thousand examples that I can't remember right now because my muse is angry at me for saying I would make her my slave. ((breathe)).

The point is, does it bother you when an author uses a word that is alien to the world that they have created? I know, it's a little picky. Like I said, I ride the OCD Express when I write. But still. At least use the word Faun instead of Satyr. I think faun is more European.


"Je voudrais un casque du salet, s'il vous plait"

I know fantasy stories involve an understood translation of some sort, but shouldn't the translation be consistent? Am I the only one who is bothered by this? And what's the deal with dentistry? Isn't it time for a revolutionary development in dental technology? Something to replace the old drill-a-hole-in-your-teeth regime? Christ's sake, what's it been, like two hundred years? It's like a race for last place against the internal combustion engine.

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