The Wonderful World of Words

Sometimes, while browsing NationStates in the dark, wasted hours of my existence, I notice things which are really quite funny, cool, interesting, or just plain weird.

Today, let me comment on nation names.

I'm being needlessly fussy I know, but I like nation names to be simplish, memorable, and to have a nice sound to them. Sirocco, for instance, immediately took my fancy because as a word, it sounds and looks great! I don't like names with numbers and dashes (like Jeremy534 or -Yugoslavia- and that kind of thing) or Caps Lock (I admit I was mildly irritated by the fact that one of Lancre's old delegates was called DTAS LAND) or lack of capital letters where they should go. I was annoyed when my forum monicker was turned into 'sirocco' by Jolt.

Why do i get annoyed? I don't know, but I'm glad it doesn't upset me too much or I wouldn't be able to bear editing issues! I just like words to look nice and correct, and not be pointless, uninteresting or jarring to the mind. I remember noticing a nation called Jjuulliiaann once and I couldn't help but hiss between my teeth! Why the doubling of the letters? He could have had The Julianlands, or Julian City, or even Julianville. But instead he plumped for this horrendous monstrosity of a word, a word which should have no place within decent conversation! Early schooling in correcting my terrible handwriting has imprinted my brain with the desire to see words that look nice and I have decided to call it aesthetologophilia! Spread it around and get me a mention in the dictionary!

It's the same with regions too. There are several regions which are basically huge strings of zeroes or zeds. Why? What's the point? Yes, people will notice it immediately and perhaps even join, but when you get right down to it you're stuck with a region which has a really crap name. The main reason I called my region Lancre was because I liked the sound of the word, and not because I'm a fan of Terry Pratchett!

Trying to remember nation names I've seen and liked is tricky, but the nation of 'Woodburn' is very memorable for me... and I recently noticed a nation called 'Goam' and I liked that one too because it has a lovely chthonic, swampy ring to it. I'll never forget the classic nation 'Righteous Lefties' either!

So, in conclusion, am I a pedant? Yes, I think I am, I always have a horrible dark moment when I realise I've left a typo in an issue somewhere. Am I a raving pedant? Well... let's just say I always wear latex gloves before rummaging in the issue list...!