Avatar

Curate Your Dreams

@smoke-and-aurora

...and catalogue your memes. I lurk here. Watch me dance on Instagram @k.pxii
momunofu-deactivated20150808

chillin on a Saturday night

Avatar
dadurl

Calm down jojo

Avatar
momunofu

you’re right, I am looking a little stiff here, I should try to relax

Avatar
sparkafterdark

You call that “chillin”?

Everyone knows the best way to relax is with a good book and a warm drink

I dunno, man,

 sometimes I like just relaxing on my laptop

Avatar
witchchad

get on my level boys

Avatar
sparkafterdark

Unfortunately to “get on your level” I’d need a boat trip to the Mariana Trench and a pair of cinderblock shoes.

Avatar

Thats gotta be the sickest burn ive ever read holy fuck

this post appears once every million years

Avatar
sparkafterdark

I kept hoping someone else would one up me and I’d have to escalate even further but nobody has.

I don’t think it’s possible to one up you

One of the ballsiest things Tolkien ever did was write 473k words about some hobbits called frodo, sam, merry, and pippin and then write in the appendices that their names are actually maura, ban, kali, and razal. 

This just in: Eowyn and Eomer’s names actually start with the letter “L.” [source for other nerds

No, they have Westron names and English names.

What you’ve got to understand is that everything Tolkien wrote was him pretending to merely translate ancient documents. He was writing as if the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were actually been written by Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam (or Bilba, Maura, and Ban) and he was just some random contemporary academic translating it all into English for us. 

There are many languages in his books, but generally speaking, everything written in English in the books is a translation of the language “Westron.” Therefore any names that come from Westron, he translated. Names coming from other languages, like Sindarin, he left as they were. Why? IDK. Maybe because the stories are from a hobbit perspective and hobbits speak Westron, so he wanted the Westron parts to sound familiar and the other languages/names to remain foreign? 

“But Mirkwoodest!” you cry, “The word ‘hobbit’ isn’t an English word! And the names Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Peregrin Took, and Meriadoc Brandybuck” all sounds super weird and not like English at all!”

Psych! They are in English! (Or Old English, German, or Norse.) Once again you underestimate what a nerd Tolkien was. Let me break it down: 

In Westron, hobbits are actually called “kuduk,” which means “hole-dweller,” so for an English translation, Tolkien called them “hobbits” which is a modernization of the Old English word “holbytla” which comes from “Hol” (hole) and “Bytla”(builder)

“Maura” is a Westron name which means “Wise.” Weirdly enough, “Frodo” is an actual Proto-Germanic name that actual people used to have and it means the same thing. 

“Banazîr” is Westron for “half-wise, or simple.” In Proto Germanic, the prefix “Sam” means half, and wise is obviously a word we still use. 

“Razanur” means “Traveler” or “Stranger” which is also the meaning of the word “Peregrin(e)” This one is a twofer because  “Razar” means “a small red apple” and in English so does “Pippin.”

“Kalimac” apparently is a meaningless name in Westron, but the shortened form “Kali” means “happy,” so Jirt decided his nickname would be “Merry” and chose the really obscure ancient Celtic name “Meriodoc” to match. 

Jirt chose to leave “Bilba” almost exactly the same in English, but he changed the ending to an “O” because in Westron names ending in “a” are masculine. 

I’m not going to go on and talk about the last names but those all have special meanings too (except Tûk, which is too iconic to change more than the spelling of, apparently). 

The Rohirrim were also Westron speakers first and foremost, so their names are also “translations” into Old English and Proto-Germanic words, i.e. “Eowyn”  is a combination of “Eoh” (horse) and “Wynn” (joy/bliss)

“Rohirrim/Rohan” are Sindarin words, but in the books, they call themselves the “Éothéod” which is an Old English/Norse combo that means “horse people.” Tolkien tells us in the “Peoples of Middle Earth” that the actual Westron for “Éothéod” is Lohtûr, which means that Eowyn and Eomer’s names, which come from the same root word, must also start with the letter L. 

The names of all the elves, dwarves, Dunedain, and men from Gondor are not English translations, since they come from root words other than Westron. 

The takeaway from this is that when a guy whose first real job was researching the history and etymology of words of Germanic origin beginning with the letter “W” writes a book, you can expect this kind of tomfoolery.

Notes: Sorry I said “Razal” instead of “Razar” in my original post I’m a fraud. 

Further Reading: 

Avatar

I’m having a stroke

Avatar
perfectionistdia

Tolkien was the most extra son of a bitch my goodness

This is why C.S. Lewis wanted to punch Tolkien in the face sometimes. 

Avatar
dashas-hideous-laughter

In the great hierarchy of nerds, Tolkien remains at the very top.

No one can top Tolkien.

pretend? pretend to translate????

Avatar
linguisticparadox

He also gave instructions for translators, directing them to translate English-derived names like the hobbits’ but not to translate Elvish/Dwarvish/etc names like Arwen.

This gif is outrageous

 ■ The so-called “blood explosion” which punctuates the conclusion of Akira Kurosawa’s 1962 movie Sanjuro remains one of the most memorable and influential special effects in film history. Production designer Yoshiro Muraki would later recall this scene was filmed in a single take. No such effect had ever been attempted before, as movies of the time rarely showed violence with graphic detail. Filled with uncertainty, Muraki worried the blood spray he’d rigged up wouldn’t impress Kurosawa, so he added an extra 30 pounds of pressure to the fluid pump. At the moment the pump was activated, the additional pressure caused the compressor hose attached to actor Tatsuya Nakadai to blow a coupling which created a slight, unintentional delay before the fake blood began to spray, and caused a much larger gush of fluid than planned. It sprayed so powerfully Nakadai claimed it almost lifted him off the ground. His heart sinking, as he believed the delay and over-pressure had ruined the effect, Muraki nervously glanced at director Akira Kurosawa, but Kurosawa only nodded in approval.

Avatar
trilllizard420

“oh god i fucked this up”

“yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOO”

And to think this is so iconic that “two dudes clash, there’s a beat, then one dies incredibly violently” is just a must-have for action in anime

Avatar

Its crazy to think that this iconic visual that has been so ubiquitous in pop culture for so long despite that the source material barely being known by people all came from actors staying in character thru an FX malfunction.

Avatar

hobbit sayings that I’m inventing for my own devious purposes

‘washes their neighbours’ windows’ - a person who is too nosy. took origin (pretty much Always hypocritical) 

‘starts their 4 o'clock tea at noon’ - a person who is overly cautious. took origin

‘they’d take their pony into the bar’ - a person who is very oblivious to what is going around them. origin unclear. common in buckland 

‘can’t find the nose on a pig’ - when someone is very drunk. started with the proudfeet 

‘swims like a baggins’ - can’t swim. took origin. obsolete for obvious reasons 

‘goody two hats, soon to be none’ - a person who is so annoyingly ‘good’ that they make you want to trash them. took origin

‘their head is a hat rack’ - someone can’t think. origins in buckland. became wildly popular through use in gondor and is still in use to this day 

‘harder than finding your child at a birthday party’ - a task is difficult. origins in buckland 

‘can’t tell a bird from a butterfly’ - a person who is very foolish and naive. origins unclear. most common in south farthing 

‘eyes like a spinning wheel’ - someone who is greedy for other people’s things. origin under dispute. 

‘kissed by a fairy’ - a person who is insane. hobbiton origin. used extensively 

it always sucks in romances when characters aren't active participants in their own relationship or attraction. when it's always "why do i feel this way" and they can't name a single reason they like the love interest i'm like idk man i think you should get out of there maybe.

at some point if you're going too hard on the Genuine Confusion and the character having no clue why they're doing anything they're doing or why they even like the other party it's like. I think you were cursed by a wizard. or an author, which is something similar. it becomes something akin to The Narrative Has Mandated That This is A Love Story and Therefore I Must Be In Love rather than like. a convincing romance between parties who care about each other

Obviously Velma sucks but if we do ever make a more adult Scooby Doo I want a semi realistic period piece from the late 60s where the Scooby Gang are draft dodgers and hippies that just happen to stumble into the crime fighting business because there is just a fresh stream of con artists when you’re drifting town to town in a van.

Freddie and Daphne start it all. Instead of showing up at boot camp when drafted, Fred Jones got the van he bought with his summer job and ran off. Daphne, his girlfriend (who frankly has the least strong feelings about Vietnam but for gods sake are they not taking Freddie there) runs along to be supportive and to get away from her strict, stuffy family.

Velma catches wind of Fred and Daphne’s plan a few days before it happens. They invite her along but she has to consider it. A staunch feminist and the brightest girl in school, she has the most to lose if she leaves. However, she grows embittered by the fact she’s never gonna get into her dream college since it doesn’t admit women, and decides to go along. Besides, if Fred and Daphne leave without her, there won’t be anyone like minded in their hometown for Velma to be friends with.

Shaggy wasn’t originally part of the group, but they find him and Scooby hitchhiking and pick him up. The gang learn he has similar circumstances to Fred for running away from home, being a conscientious objector who ran off when they tried to put him in a non combative position instead. He opposed even this as it still meant he would be part of the war machine. He comes bearing plenty of 8 track tapes and some real good pot, so he’s welcomed along happily.

Along the way they become friends and use their combined skills to solve cases of supposed hauntings. Every single one is shown to be some kind of capitalist fraud.

Avatar

That’s exactly what’s going on, and the folks at the top still think they’re being lenient to their workers.

Think Americans are becoming too apathetic, uncaring, disengaging, etc.?  It’s because we’re literally too worn out to do anything else.  The current work culture tries to monopolize the energy we spend on any given day.  If your whole life doesn’t revolve around your job, then you aren’t working hard enough in the eyes of the corporation and you’re getting a lecture about it by HR because you’re a slacker.

Heck, our schools are doing the same thing to our current generation of kids in preparation for even more demanding work schedules when they become adults.

At this rate, America will literally work itself to death.

Avatar

Scalpers: There is a low supply and high demand for PS5s right now. I will buy up a bunch of them at market price just to resell at my new inflated price for personal profit

Average Person: Dude, you’re scum. This should be illegal

Scalpers: There is a low supply and high need for affordable housing right now. I will buy up a bunch of houses at their affordable price just to charge people my new inflated monthly price to live in them, without actually owning them. For personal profit.

Average Person: You may not like it, but this is a valid business practice and a necessary part of adult life. This is our free market at work, and-