[warning incoming pet-pieve mini-rant]
One thing that always annoyed me about mashup names in world-building:
If the animals that are used as parts (squirrel, fox, woodchuck, bat, etc) don't exist, or are vastly more rare than the named hybrid, why are they used as naming origins?
In the classical DnD the owlbear exits, but so do owls and bears. And the former is far less populous than the laters (or if it isn't, your campaign is in all kinds of trouble). So having something named "owl-bear" conveys meaningful information: it is part owl and part bear. Without knowledge of the parts, the whole makes no sense.
I don't remember seeing any squirrels in AtlA. Granted this may have been a animation limitation, but the sheer number of animals that the characters name in that snipit point to one of three things:
1) squirrels are a populous animal in AtlA, and the naming makes sense in 'verse. And therefor the characters shouldn't be surprised at it's existence.
2) squirrels are not populous animals in AtlA, and the characters are appropriately weirded out. But the naming makes no sense, because 'squirrel' as a naming root conveys little information.
3) these names are created to convey information to the reader, and would mean nothing to the characters saying them.
Any of the above reasons is writing that rubs me the wrong way, and the scene could be tweaked in minor ways to still convey the same sense of humor without the above flaws.
alright, sorry for posting a derailing rant, but pet-pieves demand to be flogged.
If people would rather I move this into a different thread, I've no problem with that, as it is rather off topic.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy
One thing that always annoyed me about mashup names in world-building:
If the animals that are used as parts (squirrel, fox, woodchuck, bat, etc) don't exist, or are vastly more rare than the named hybrid, why are they used as naming origins?
In the classical DnD the owlbear exits, but so do owls and bears. And the former is far less populous than the laters (or if it isn't, your campaign is in all kinds of trouble). So having something named "owl-bear" conveys meaningful information: it is part owl and part bear. Without knowledge of the parts, the whole makes no sense.
I don't remember seeing any squirrels in AtlA. Granted this may have been a animation limitation, but the sheer number of animals that the characters name in that snipit point to one of three things:
1) squirrels are a populous animal in AtlA, and the naming makes sense in 'verse. And therefor the characters shouldn't be surprised at it's existence.
2) squirrels are not populous animals in AtlA, and the characters are appropriately weirded out. But the naming makes no sense, because 'squirrel' as a naming root conveys little information.
3) these names are created to convey information to the reader, and would mean nothing to the characters saying them.
Any of the above reasons is writing that rubs me the wrong way, and the scene could be tweaked in minor ways to still convey the same sense of humor without the above flaws.
alright, sorry for posting a derailing rant, but pet-pieves demand to be flogged.
If people would rather I move this into a different thread, I've no problem with that, as it is rather off topic.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy