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Day 12- Identity: What’s in a Name? #write31days 2014

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Term of the day: identity: to recognize oneself and be recognized by others, to be constant in one’s nature.

Thoughts:

Identity theft makes me angry, but more so it scares me that we live in a world where a person’s name (their character and history) means nothing. If someone steals your identity you become a victim twice over. Not only do you have to fight to get your identity back, but you have to fight to prove you are yourself and not someone who steals and lies. I’ll save my rant about the incredibly flawed judicial system of the U.S. for another day, but in a country where you are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, the powers that be haven’t figured out what to do about this issue. If “the computer” says you wrote a bounced check for $1,000, you have to prove you didn’t do it.

As scary as the thoughts sounds to me, I’m almost already for a future where your identity isn’t based on your name and your residence, but your DNA…almost.

Name of the day: Seth.

Breakdown and meaning:

Seth is a much more interesting name once you start researching its origins than one might think just from hearing the sound of it. It’s not a very strong or bold name and, unfortunately, many people in modern Western Civilization think of it as a name reserved for humble, meek, smart, and small people.

With origins in Hebrew, Israeli, and Egyptian the derivatives of this name can be applied to a man or a woman. The meanings of this name that like best are: “appointed” and “substitute”. In my Eternal Curse Series, the character of Seth represents aspects of both these meanings. Though he is a minor character in the overall scheme of the story, his impact is great and the story would not hold together without him.

Well, that’s it for Day 12. See you tomorrow.

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Go back to the beginning to see all the posts in this series.

Outside of my own personal search throughout the years, basic meanings and definitions of the terms used here can be found at the following websites:http://www.meaning-of-names.com/, Google search http://en.wikipedia.org/, and http://dictionary.reference.com/.

Learn more here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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31days

Day 11- Nicknames: What’s in a Name? #write31days 2014

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Term of the day: nicknames: an addition or substitution for a proper name given with either affection or ridicule.

Thoughts:

Not necessarily the same as pet names because pet names are only given with affection.

Pet names have come into their own in the last century. There was once a time when a man named John would commonly go by Jack, but everyone knew his real name was John. This is not the case anymore. Jack, Mike, Bill, and Bob no longer need to be attached to John, Michael, William, or Robert. Nicknames, however, are another matter.

Unless you are a famous entertainer or an infamous personality, you reserve nicknames for intimate relations, unless there’s some bashing going down. A prime example of this, of course, are rappers. Not only do they use nicknames or “stage names”, their stage names have nicknames; and don’t get me started on aliases. Take rapper Marshall Mathers for instance. You may know him as Eminem, but then again he’s also been known to go by Slim Shady. There’s no point in trying to make any sense of it. If you get hip-hop culture, even if you don’t get this, you at least accept it.

But what about some more traditional nicknames; they must come from somewhere. You don’t have to think too hard about the origins of names like, Slugger or Green Thumb. People given these names are likely good at hitting things and growing things. But as endearing as some nicknames can be, they can also be hurtful. Sometimes calling a big guy Tiny isn’t very funny to him; and how about Four Eyes? I think we’ve all heard that one. No need to elaborate further.

In the best cases of nicknames, or more accurately labeled pet names, the name is simply a shorter version of the proper name that exudes intimacy and affection.

Name of the day: Annabelle.

Breakdown and meaning:

The English version of this name comes from the Latin Amabel. The more common, Annabel, was popularized by Edgar Allan Poe in his poem Annabel Lee. Also with Gaelic and French origins this name means: grace and beauty or joy.

In my Eternal Curse Series this name is given to a character who lives and shows incredible grace. Annabelle, referred to as Nanabelle (Nice nickname eh?), by the younger version of another character plays the role of a mother figure.

Well, that’s it for Day 11. See you tomorrow.

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Go back to the beginning to see all the posts in this series.

Outside of my own personal search throughout the years, basic meanings and definitions of the terms used here can be found at the following websites:http://www.meaning-of-names.com/, Google search http://en.wikipedia.org/, and http://dictionary.reference.com/.

Learn more here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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31days

Day 10- Alias: What’s in a Name? #write31days 2014

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Term of the day: alias: false name meant to conceal one’s identity.

Thoughts:

This definition sounds a bit sinister, but at its core, an alias is meant to be somewhat secretive. Special/secret agents use aliases to hide their true identity, not because they don’t want people to know who they are, but because they want to protect the life and or families they have when they’re not working. Unfortunately this goes both ways. Many people do use aliases to carry out misdeeds or to elude the authorities. Sometimes, however, alias are simply practical. When you “wear many hats” you are often given titles to account for each job you do; alias can serve a similar purpose. (Titles will be discussed another day.)

For authors, the sacred pen name, replaces the alias. Authors use pens name for many reasons, both sinister and not. However, the most practical reason to use a pen name is to distinguish differences in the works of one author. Maybe author Sara P. Frosten has written children’s books her whole life, but when she decides to dabble in YA fiction she uses the name S. Prim, Frost so as not to confuse or lose any of her fans. That seems pretty practical to me.

Name of the day: Esset.

Breakdown and meaning:

Esset is a name I made up, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a meaning for it. Since I speak English, my focus when coming up with the name was on English influences and origins. However, it seems as though “esset” is some form of conjugation for the German word “essen”, of which I have no understanding or meaning.

Luckily when I came up with this name I hadn’t done all my research and was blissfully ignorant of the German connection. Esset is an almost non-existent character in my Eternal Curse Series, but her impact is strong and vital to the story. I wanted the name of this character to reflect her great worth. In my search to define “something of value or worth” the word “asset” gleamed across my computer. As with many names derived from everyday words, I substituted an ‘e’ for the ‘a’ and had the name I so desired.

Well, that’s it for Day 10. See you tomorrow.

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Go back to the beginning to see all the posts in this series.

Outside of my own personal search throughout the years, basic meanings and definitions of the terms used here can be found at the following websites:http://www.meaning-of-names.com/, Google search http://en.wikipedia.org/, and  http://dictionary.reference.com/.

Learn more here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords