[alexjc38]

Hi all, I recently finished reading Caves of Ice by Sandy Mitchell. The book is set on an ice world called Simia Orichalcae... I'm certain that Simia means Monkey and that the whole name relates to that well-known English saying about cold weather. So Orichalcae must mean Brass in Latin, or does it? I don't have a Latin dictionary and can't find a translation of Orichalcae anywhere on the net. It's beginning to bug me...(
Can anyone tell me what Orichalcae means??
All the best,
Alex

 

[10th Lyran]

Well, I don't know what it means, but often Imperial words are twisted versions of Latin words, so maybe the spelling is just similar to a Latin word.

 

[ze_poodle]

Could just be babble. Babble is pretty common. I'm in favour of babble.

 

[Perturabo]

All I can find is stuff about Moths called Orichalcea, so I'd go with Poodle. Babble seems about right.

 

[ze_poodle]

Ape...moths?

 

[Perturabo]

Linky. I left out simia, because he said he knew what it meant.

Now I wan't a pet Ape-moth.:wub:

 

[Xerxes]

Well, given that the orichalcae moth is the "burnished brass moth", I'd be willing to go with brass monkeys.

 

[10th Lyran]

makes me think of a terrible song by a terrible band.....The one by the Beastie Boys, damn do I hate them...

 

[pinchy]

I'd go with the brass monkeys bit too seeing that orichalcum is a sort of legendary metal, possibly brass. Theres a decent wikipedia article on it ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orichalcum ). I know next to nothing about latin, but don't they change the ending of words depending on what they're talikng about as well?

 

[alexjc38]

Simia Orichalcum

Hello again, just to say many thanks to everyone who replied! I've now seen the wikipedia article on Orichalcum.. An ape-moth would be an interesting creature in SF, with wings, fur & maybe a poisonous bite...(?)

Now reading The Traitor's Hand, these books are good, though I still prefer Dan Abnett's writing..

Thanks again, & all the best,
Alex

 

[Shadowmagus]

Orichalcum was the ALCHEMICAL word for brass. This is why it is not readily found in dictionaries and translations. Alchemy used made-up words that were frequently similar to others, so their secrets would not leak. So yes, the name is a hidden joke, the world was named Brass Monkey.