Grrl Power #322 – Accent grave mistake
Come on Sydney, you skate on one kinda racist thing, and your next sentence is “Since you’re not white…” She sort of has a point though. In my experience, white people’s name generally don’t mean anything. My name is David, and if you look up David on baby naming sites, they’ll tell you David means king or beloved, but it doesn’t really. There was just a David of note who happened to be a king. No one speaking English stands on the bow of a ship and yells “I’m the David of the world!” In Japanese, Hana means flower. It’s also a common girls name, that or Hanako, which means Flower Child. Aki means Autumn. It’s also a woman’s name, as is Akiko. (Autumn Child) “Ko” means child if you weren’t picking up on that. Akira is a boy’s name that also means “A seminal work that anyone into anime should see if for no other reason as to round out their literacy of the genre. Also it has an amazing soundtrack, and a space scene that has no sound at all cause it’s space and that’s awesome.”
That’s not to say there aren’t any white people with names that actually mean something, (Summer, May, June, Sky(e), etc) but generally they just mean that their parents like that name. Maybe other cultures are the same way, but I get the impression that outside of white American culture, names tend to have a bit more meaning, unless of course your is also that of a famous person from a religious text or literature. That may just be my own Amero-centric perspective. It’s certainly Sydney’s anyway.
Edit: I meant to add this along with the post but I forgot. I gave Xochitl a side cut on a whim because I’ve recently decided it’s basically my favorite hairstyle on a gal. I tend to go for that Suicide Girl look anyway for some reason. It was only after I drew her that it occurred to me that it makes her look a bit Mohican (or at least the Hollywood representation thereof) so at the last minute I decided to add the mini comic to address it. Really, the flexible Uniform Dress Code going on around Arc-SWAT pretty much deserves it’s own full page, so I may yet do that, but in the meantime I didn’t want people to think Xochitl’s appearance was based on my idea of what Aztecs are supposed to look like.
If you’re not familiar with the Boston area accent, Xochitl sounds a lot like Nancy from 30 Rock.
I’m a fan of 4th wall humor, as long as it’s not abused. I think the last time Sydney did it was way back on page 54, so I’m comfortable I’m not overdoing it. I recently started watching Magnum P.I. on Netflix (along with this rewatch podcast) Every episode someone mugs to the camera. Then again, Abed from Community is basically 4th wall incarnate, and I dig that show, so I guess I’m down as long as it’s handled with care.
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Except white names do usually mean something.
David’s also not a white name. It’s Hebrew. And yea, it totally means annointed. In old Hebrew you could totally look at someone, dump a bucket of oil on their head, and tell them they’ve been Davided. The thing is, most of the “English” names are actually not English, but stolen from Hebrew, Nordic, Persian, Latin, Scottish, etc. where they do totally do mean something.
*Real* English names still follow that pattern of meaning something. For example, naming a girl “Crystal” or the last name “Smith” or “Brown” or “Baker” “Walker” or “Taylor” (actually Tailor… many english surnames were made before spelling was standardized) or “Johnson” (yea, son of John is what that one means… the John being a foreign word again… yea, real creative… although I guess John can also mean toilet.)
Yes, they mean something, but most ‘western’ parents don’t look at the meaning when picking a name, they just pick the one that will either embarrass the child the most or the least
Oh yes I fondly remember the days with the rhyming dictionary for my kids–crossing off potential names because they were too easy to rhyme into some evil verse of elementary school hazing. And you have to consider variations on the name too not just the name. Scott –> Scotty rhymes with potty. Oh the joy.
Kids are mean. Giving them any extra reason to single out another child is like throwing chum in the water.
I was wondering why the most popular girl names are Zoe, Chloe, Emily, Sophia etc etc…
Hard to rhyme them.
and you don’t think it’s the for other cultures? plenty of none ‘western’ parents are just as likely to choose names without knowing the meaning behind them
I probably have the most warlike name of anybody I know. My first name is an old Roman name, which refers to Mars, the god of war. And my last name is a weapon (Spears). It’s slightly amusing, since I’m probably one of the nicest people you’ll meet.
I bet Shakespeare had the same problem.
“Will thou next shake your spear at me!”
“I dost not, but I do bite my thumb, at you!”
Thats not exactly man of mystery levels of obfuscation there, Mr Spears. You might as well just say your name since 1 minute googling roman names will bring it up…
Hah. My first name is “Marcus”. I prefer to go by the nickname “Mark”, however (which means the same thing, obviously.)
Err, no.
David does not mean “annointed”.
It may have descended from “beloved”, specifically “beloved by god”, as you don’t get to become a king just because.
God has to like you first.
For those unfamiliar with the story of David, he was a simple musician who was annointed king of Israel after Shaul(who wasn’t very fond of the idea, as his son Jonathan was supposed to inherit him).
Funny thing about David and Jonathan;
They were so, so, so gay for each other, as written in David’s Lament of Shaul and Jonathan.
When translated word for word, it goes something like this:
“I grieve for you my brother Jonathan, your company was a pleasure, and your love greater then the love of a woman.”
Sorta loses it’s meaning outside the original Hebrew, but yeah, basically it says:
“My lover, I’m sorry you died. I will remember you always.”
Actually Hebrew had at least 4 (that I know of) words for love, each meaning a different kind of love. AFAIK the love he is talking about in the original Hebrew text is brotherly love not erotic love.
Actually, John is also Hebrew; it means “God’s gracious gift”. Yeah, not pretentious at all…
I had seen the name before, then I remembered:
https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61wIwASUqrL._SL1000_.jpg
Delicious corn chips.
Is page 319 the last page you colored?
If so, Keiths coloring is a tad harsh, things seem a bit flatter recently, less 3 D. My comments are meant as constructive.
I can paint a wall white, as long as someone else mixed the paint first, but as it is drying, and too late, I can at least realized what my mistake was.
If you are referring to panel one and two, blame that on Sydney’s Balls being in SoChi’s face
You can find DaveB‘s comment about the shading in this thread.
Once tomorrow’s comic goes up, you can come back to this page and refresh your browser cache, to see if Dave had the time to do any tweaks.
Each artist does have their own styles, and I hope the fact that we find the difference disconcerting is not too disheartening. I actually like shadow heavy art styles. I used the same myself back when I used to paint my models, for tabletop roleplaying. It is just that it is different, subtly harsher look, to what we are used to, so does stand out.
Am I being Murican if I think that the Boston accent is too similar to the Australian accent?
As an Australian, I don’t perceive any resemblance whatsoever..
Oddly enough, given that Sydney is struggling with it, I have absolutely no problem with that accent, despite being a foreigner. Not, ‘oh I can piece it together’ but ‘what is the problem?’ Which probably explains why I am terrible at placing accents to somewhere specific. To me it is just ‘an American accent’.
Just like all the accents portrayed in this scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2Z5lK7lptw
That said though, the dark haired girl’s accent, at the beginning? That I absolutely love. Enough that I looked it up, and managed to narrow it down to a state. And then when checking out accents for that state, found that there were three distinctively different ones within it.
At which point I lost the will to research further. So it remains just ‘an American accent’ to me.
But, should I bump into an American girl using it, she should beware. Because, rather like the Voice, from Dune, she will be exerting a powerful effect on her listener. The hidden vocalisation being “marry me”.
At least I know what my name means. But it was definitely NOT why I was named it.
Name:Cameron
Origin: Scpttish/Gaelic
Meaning: “Crooked Nose” Originally a surname added onto someones name, it became a common and popular name later on for all genders. Highlands clan name derived from the facial feature (Gaelic “cam sròn”). Also possibly means “crooked stream” or “crooked hill”. Nickname of an especially valorous ancestor that became the surname of one of the oldest clans in Scotland. There were also Camerons in the Lowlands, linked with Cambernon in Normandy.
But for me I was named after Ferris Bueler’s Day Off…
I found out what Cameron means on Star Trek Voyager. It was one of the names the holographic doctor rejected.
I’m pretty sure that no matter what culture you’re in, I’m pretty sure they are bored with their own names and look on at other cultures and say ‘those names have meaning’.
… Or “sound kinda kewl”, maybe.
Probably. I’m pretty sure that my parents didnt know what my name meant, and it’s not a ‘white person’s name’ either. They probably just liked the name. :)
Akira is also an epic and awesome anime that was the very first of its kind when it came out. I have a few books on baby names, I find them sometimes useful when I write and I’m having problems coming up with names. I also found that sometimes the meaning of the name can be brought into the story adding a little more to it. Names have power and that can be used as well to give a story even more meaning.
+1
Reminds me of the Romulans in Star Trek. Names are words of power… what word makes you respond faster than hearing your own name being called? According to them, it’s dangerous to name anything or anybody for an entire virtue. That’s why the Enterprise gets in trouble so often, and why the first Intrepid got destroyed by that giant space amoeba. “Name something after the spirit of fearlessness, and it forgets how to fear. Even worse when the entire crew is Vulcan.”
I love Sydney’s reaction. A Boston accent is always disconcerting, even when its coming out the mouth of an Irishman.
Is “Aztec” an ethnicity in real life?
There is blurring between culture and ethnicity. Partly because genes do not respect national boundaries and cultures can draw influence from many sources and themselves can influence others. Using labels such as ‘ethnic group’, ‘race’ or naming a particular nation or cultural group tends to make us think of things as being discreet, but they are not.
Depending on which bits of my ethnicity and cultural heritage I choose to pick I could describe myself as Celt, British, Cornish English, Norman, Irish, Saxon and reputedly even a bit of Indian. Whilst most of those populations are Caucasian, not all are, and they have genetic input from all over the place.
For instance one of Genghis Khan’s offspring came to Europe and was a particularly fertile guy. So it turns out that a genetic marker that can be uniquely traced as having originated with the Mongols got spread widely throughout Western Europe. And that was long enough ago that there are an awful lot of his descendants mixed into the population. Just as one example.
The 4-6% Neanderthal DNA that all non-African ethnic groups share is another.
It is almost unheard of for an entire ethnic or cultural group to be completely wiped out. That can only happen if they cannot interbreed, or live in complete isolation (be it physically or socially) and then suffer some calamity.
So, in answer to your question there certainly will be people who carry the genes of the Aztecs. And, doubtless, there will be aspects of Aztec culture which have survived, to some degree or another. Although persecution by Christian authorities, and the various changes they enforced on the religion and culture of the indigenous peoples, will have had a great impact on that.
As to whether enough groups remained as a cohesive unit to preserve both culture and distinctive genetic heritage, that would take someone with more local knowledge to say. But there are 1.5 million Nahuatl speakers still alive today. I certainly would not find grounds to contest it if any of them chose to identify themselves as being Aztec. They have the genes (diluted or not), and they have preserved their language, at the very least.
And one of them grew up in Boston.
Popeil Pocket Fisherman? What kind of an Aztec-Boston name is that?
Meaningful English names: “Why would you change your name to Latrine?” … “It used to be ShitOuse!”
Christopher Lillicrap may not agree.
For some reason, I kept hearing an American Southern accent instead of Bostonian. Maybe I just don’t run into enough people with Bostonian accents to recognize it… despite spending 4+ years in the city for school…
I live and grew up just outside of Boston, and people ask me to say various things all the time.
I’ve never met anyone who speaks with that kind of accent though, ever. Only on TV or weird parodies.
You forgot that you broke the 4th wall not too long ago, when Halo told Harem that a shirtless Hiro had set up her GPS #307 https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1682
Whoops, yup. Ok, 3 out of 300 still seems alright.
I can’t understand her words.
Amelie means active, engaged or affecting, which I didn’t know explicitly when I decided on it, but you might say it’s the feeling I was going for. Etymology isn’t just for people of color, Syd. . .
You’ve got to remember that white people names generally have linguistic history. European society is heavily influenced by a) the Roman Empire, where people spoke Latin, and b) the Bible, which was written mostly in Hebrew and Greek (depending on which part you’re looking at) originally and primarily deals with people who spoke Hebrew. In most cases, your name existed as a name in some form before whatever language you speak existed in any form (unless you’re something like a Hope or a Prudence).
Whereas many non-European cultures do not have a strong historical influences in a different language. That only happens if you have a culture with a non-logographic written language that produces a large amount of written works that are worth saving, and then the area remains sufficiently stable that the written works worth saving aren’t mostly or completely lost before the language changes enough by evolution or invasion for the original works to be generally unintelligible, and during that time the old works need to be maintained in their original language rather than being translated as the language changes. Europe had the right conditions, as did India, but most places didn’t have sufficient cultural continuity over long periods of time and/or didn’t have non-logographic writing that would allow old documents to remain in a non-translated state.