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Pet Peeves Regarding Terminology


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39 minutes ago, Elena said:

 

What's the difference? I learnt the word coffin too for funerary things. Casket (or rather casquette) would be a certain cap official uniforms have - a pilot's, a police officer's...

 

A "Coffin" is a burial box that's specifically anthropoidal in shape: Ie a sarcophagus (coffin made out of stone and sealed shut) or the traditional "dracula" coffin (usually made out of pine or whatever the major tree type of the area was). The widest portion of the coffin is at the shoulders, and it narrows (by different lengths obviously) at the head space and the foot space. (coffin%20traditional%20wreath%20mould%20lid%20and%20side.png)  

 

A "Casket" is a burial box that is specifically rectangular in shape, made out of either wood or metal. I've since learned that caskets are mostly an American Continent "thing" (as well as embalming), but these are the containers that are currently portrayed in a lot in modern american-made film and shows. Interestingly enough, in conjunction with a casket being term for a particular cap, the lid area above the portion of viewable inside is called a "Cap Panel".  (yhst-82291751648032_2136_7782480

 

Chronologically (and designly) speaking, it puts "Coffin" at an interesting half-way point between a sarcophagus and a casket. 

Edited by CovertSphinx
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The point is that we have the same word for both things you are showing. It's just a difference of price, with what you call casket being more elegant. But as word in English, in the stories, we learn coffin.

 

(We have embalming too).

Edited by Elena
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On 11/10/2017 at 3:32 PM, Elena said:

The point is that we have the same word for both things you are showing. It's just a difference of price, with what you call casket being more elegant. But as word in English, in the stories, we learn coffin.

 

(We have embalming too).

 

A casket and a coffin may serve the same purpose but they are NOT the same thing.

 

Also, by "thing" I merely meant "popular", just for clarification. I know you guys over the pond have both, but reportedly extremely less popular than it is here. We don't actually HAVE traditional coffins in many places - aside from the ones that adhere to the rules of the local Jewish cemeteries.

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On 10/21/2017 at 3:55 PM, Elena said:

I don't like (not hate, but neither use) the term "player" either. It's writer or member. And if it would be after my wishes, instead of RPGs/ roleplaying I'd call it simply "collaborative/ interactive writing". Because this is what it is, and it would help more with people understanding. I wouldn't be asked again to see how my ships battle one another (many thought it was a videogame, not a story), neither think about bedroom games instead, or play pretend.

 

Elena,

 

I loved seeing this! We still use the term RPG but I am starting to refer to it as a roleplaying group rather than a roleplaying game. At one of my three sites, we refer to the overall stories as chronicles. The individual segments are chapters and the posts are scenes. For us, posting is answering tags because we write joint scenes more than solo narratives.

 

Long ago, I started thinking of this type of roleplaying as collaborative fan fiction. Once I moved away from the major fandoms into creating semi-original groups or based-on groups, I began using the term collaborative writing group. I also prefer using the term writer over player. This is taking longer to switch over to because of how ingrained the terminology is.

 

No matter our preferences on terminology, having fun is the most important aspect of it all!

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Someone somewhere went to sleep and dreamed us all alive.
Dreams get pushed around a lot, and I doubt if we'll survive.
We won't get to wake up, dreams were born to disappear.
And I'm pretty sure that none of us are here.
~ None of Us Here by Jim Stafford ~

 

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RPG-Initiative

*your one-stop RPG resource site!

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Sunny: I like "player" because it emphasizes that it is a game, you know?  It's something fun.  I get that it's not for everyone, though.  My pet peeve is wolfspeak - stuff like "brute" or "fae" for male and female, or "harks" for ears, things like that.  It kind of complicates things unnecessarily, and uses words incorrectly, IMO.

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'souls | no wc | character-driven | werecanines | open & active since 2001!
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I never knew that there was a difference between a coffin and a casket.  Mind = blown.

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11 hours ago, soulsrpg said:

Sunny: I like "player" because it emphasizes that it is a game, you know?  It's something fun.  I get that it's not for everyone, though.  My pet peeve is wolfspeak - stuff like "brute" or "fae" for male and female, or "harks" for ears, things like that.  It kind of complicates things unnecessarily, and uses words incorrectly, IMO.

 

For me it is not a game, it is a STORY we are writing together. If I say a game, it highlights flimsiness, "I am not playing with you anymore, I take my toys and go away". "It's a game, why do you want to be realistic/ to have consequences/ etc?"

 

And in this context, player can have a negative conotation - "he is playing you and he'll vanish". Member and writer denotes seriousity/ community and a shared goal. 

Edited by Elena
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Yes, and I think those who are games have dice or something else. Some are simply an interactive story, and the GAME part has no point.

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26 minutes ago, Elena said:

Yes, and I think those who are games have dice or something else. Some are simply an interactive story, and the GAME part has no point.

 

Not everyone thinks like that though, Elena. Many of us don't think of it beyond being a game we play for entertainment purposes. It's not an encompassing story for me (many of my characters have their own stories that have nothing to do with another's story) or for others, it's a game we play to pass the time as a hobby. Not to sound rude or even offend (yes I know how that sounds xD), but I feel like you're trying to force how you view it onto other people. It might just be a misinterpretation on my part or things lost in translation, but its how I feel. It's best to accept that not everyone views it the same way. Much love and continued fun. 

 

 

Now on to the topic at hand. 

 

Terminology.. Not technically terminology but incomprehensible names that I can't pronounce without help from google. Or leaving the letter symbols on letters, like the squiggly line above the "n" in a Spanish name, when you register the name on a forum it makes tagging extremely difficult. I have no idea what those letter things are called xD. 

Edited by jenneral_jennson
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It is a hobby for me, but simply not a game. Not all the hobbies are games :). Writing is creative, but I think it is an art and a hobby, not a game. 

 

I am not trying to force it on other people, I am just saying what I like and what I do not like, and I hope to find more people who think like me. 

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On 11/18/2017 at 1:51 PM, Elena said:

It is a hobby for me, but simply not a game. Not all the hobbies are games :). Writing is creative, but I think it is an art and a hobby, not a game. 

 

I am not trying to force it on other people, I am just saying what I like and what I do not like, and I hope to find more people who think like me. 

 

I agree with you about collab writing being the main focus of my characters and plots. On the site I am working on, players are called authors. Still though, there are a lot of rpgs in this community that use game mechanics to enhance their scenarios. I enjoy both styles of roleplay sites, personally.

 

This is 100% hp fandom specific, but I'm sure there are other case throughout where people use terms that aren't supposed to be used in polite conversation all willy nilly. I cringe anytime I see the word mudblood on a Harry Potter site, especially when used casually. It is supposed to be a hideous slur, not a common tease between first years.

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On 11/18/2017 at 10:04 AM, Elena said:

Yes, and I think those who are games have dice or something else. Some are simply an interactive story, and the GAME part has no point.

 

Actually somebody explained it to me this way many years ago. So although I use the term RPG, it really should just be RP. I, personally, like your thoughts on it being a collaborative story. However, because different RPers view RP with different levels of important/priority and different expectations, I don't think one could broadly state that we are all writing collaborative stories. That's much more specific and implies more of a craft than a lighthearted hobby.

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@Uaithne, I see it a collaborative story and a hobby in the same time. How lighthearted or darker, it depends on the subject of each story/ setting. :)

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Yes, @Rune, it's the writer. And it annoys me too.

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