The PPC Posting Board - Latest posts

I no longer completely remember all the thought that went into choosing it (it's been two years, after all), but my song associations with this screen name are:

Lomir alle zingen a zemerl, 'let's all sing a little song', and a longer bit from a different song which runs as follows:

Hobn mir a nigndl [...] zingen mir es, zingen mir es, klingt es azoy sheyn..., 'we have a little tune [...] we sing it, we sing it, it sounds so beautiful' (there's more, about how the tune has been sung through generations, in good times and bad, and, basically, the entire family sang it as younglings...and on into a chorus about singing it, though I can't remember a word here and a word there, hence the lack of writing it out).

But really, having my screen name read as 'let's sing' is pretty awesome.

~Z

PS: lasst uns singen--I think all of that exists in Yiddish, but isn't used in that way. Lasst looks like a conjugated form of what, in Yiddish, is lozen, to 'let'; uns is only used as undzer, I think, 'our'. Actually, lomir, 'let us', from earlier might come from 'lozen'? I'm not quite sure right now. Anyway, 'let's sing' in Yiddish would be 'lomir zingen'; the closest I can get to lasst uns singen is probably 'lozt mir zingen'? My brain now wants to say 'lozt undz zingen' is a thing, but I'm not sure if it is or I've just looked at the German for too long! At any rate, that's closer to a fragment of a sentence that amounts to '[please] allow us to sing' (bitte, Reb Nokhem, lozt undz zingen!--'please, Mr Nokhem (Nakhum, in Hebrew--first name), let us sing!') rather than 'c'mon, everyone, let's sing this song!'

Kheshbon Ploni Randomali, חשבון פלוני רנדומלי? Literally, 'the account of an unknown, random person'? This does make for a male-coded name, though--you could also go for Kheshbon Ben Adam Randomali, חשבון בן אדם רנדומלי, or Kheshbon Ben Enosh Randomali, חשבון בן אנוש רנדומלי 'the account of a random human being'? Technically the terms 'ben enosh' and 'ben adam' are masculine, but they're also understood to be general terms for 'human being'. What can I say--Hebrew is a bi-gendered language. I think there are workarounds being thought up here and there, and there are a number of words which can be either masculine or feminine, ('wind' is one of them, though it mostly takes the feminine), but overall, it's one or the other.

~Z

Iximaz becomes איקסימז--only the pronunciation changes (to eeks-see-mahz). A bit like Xes and Os--'iks-igul'. I guess the first part translates to X, and if I search the rest...X, the musical note si, and either the abbreviation for an even number or the river Meuse? Fittingly nonsensical.

~Z

See, Hebrew has two words each for 'sun' and 'moon'. One each is common use, and one each is literary.

In the commonly used terms, you could be Shemesh v'Yareyakh, שמש וירח.

In the literary, you'd be Khamah u'Levanah, חמה ולבנה.

We could also combine these to get Shemesh v'Levanah, שמש ולבנה, or Khamah v'Yareyakh, חמה וירח, but that seems kind of odd--like saying 'daybreak and mud', or 'countenance and cold', or something. I think you're best off choosing either the literary or the general.

~Z

Impressively quick--Snowblaze is Sheleg Lohet, שלג לוהט--'Blazing Snow! That sounds awesome. Something about the word 'lohet', I think--it's one of those words that makes me happy to hear, possibly because it's kind of fun to say and brings to mind poetry and campfires and so on.

~Z

Thank you very much for the translation: 'aurora' does get me something in the dictionary, but 'dawn' is a much simpler starting place given, well, my screen name used to be DawnFire and I named my Plort character in Hebrew translation (not to mention Agent Dawn McKenna, whose birth name turned out to be in Hebrew as well).

Here we go: Aurora Morningstar in Hebrew should be...Shakhar Kokhav-HaBoker, שחר כוכב הבוקר. In a less literal translation, since it seems 'morning star' is a searchable phrase--well, that gives 'Kokhav HaShakhar', כוכב השחר or 'Ayelet HaShakhar', אילת השחר as the translation of 'morning star', so...that might actually be problematic, given that's literally something like 'star of dawn'. You can't be 'Dawn Dawn-Star'! It's kind of nice, but sounds silly!

If I go back to 'aurora', I get HaNetz HaKhamah, something like 'the moment of sunrise'. Pleasant, but I think this will end up too long--'HaNetz HaKhamah Kokhav HaShakhar', הנץ החמה כוכב השחר? That's a mouthful, and it sounds kind of nonsensical, like I've put two phrases together at random.

Shakhar Kokhav HaBoker, שחר כוכב הבוקר may actually be the best option. Kokhav HaBoker was given as a less popular option for 'morning star'; might as well go for it, unless you want to drop the first Shakhar (dawn) altogether and just be Morningstar. This one also, pleasantly, looks like a description--'Dawn, the Morning Star'. Shakhar is also in use as a name for both men and women (unlike Ayelet, which is pretty firmly a female name right now. It has a feminine ending, which helps).

~Z

...is to combine 'doctor' and 'literature' and get Sifrofeh, ספרופא or Sifrutfeh, ספרותפה or something? Hrm. 'Doctor' is 'rofeh', רופא, and literature is 'sifrut', ספרות. I think Sifrofeh works best--it looks like a combination of either 'literature' and 'doctor' or 'book' and 'doctor' (the root s.f.r. makes sifrut, but also sefer, book), and is also less clunky. Maybe you're a book doctor!

Ironically, Arabic apparently uses 'duktor' or 'doktor' (not completely sure if it's actually adapted to a U or if that's just the accent of whoever recorded that bit for Duolingo). Hebrew does also have 'doktor', but it's connected to PhDs rather than medicine.

~Z

...it listed as having a Hebrew origin, so...who knows? Either way, it's a nice name, whether or not it's yours (and I'm sure if yours is different, it's also nice). :)

~Z

Hey all.

So for those who don’t frequent the Discord: I have long suffered in a toxic household with controlling parents, a temperamental and confrontational brother and especially my emotionally abusive stepfather.

The only thing keeping me in this house now is money. My income by itself isn’t enough for me to move out with the other payments I have, such as my car and cell phone.

I’ve had enough of it. I set up a campaign on GoFundMe, because I can’t live here much longer. The campaign’s currently for $1,500 USD (because I don’t really know how much I need), and every little bit helps.

I greatly appreciate any assistance you’re willing to offer me. Thank you for your time.

...the word 'hitztayen' can be used for both 'excel' and 'shine' (in the sense of shining talent or the like). This gives us Ish-Mitztayen, איש מצטין, 'excelling/shining man, man who excels/shines'. For a feminine form, we can do Isha-Mitztayenet, אישה מצטינית, though that changes the original meaning a bit.

Mind you, you don't technically need 'man' or 'woman' in there! Because Hebrew is a gendered language, words like 'creator' are never neutral--Makes-Things' translated name is actually '[male] creator [of] things'. So you could be Mitztayen, מצטין (literally '[male] exceller/shiner', less literally '[man who] excels/shines'), or, more likely, Mitztayenet, מצטינת, the feminine form, since this is supposed to be a feminine name.

~Z

And I am flattered. XD I figured at least you could figure it out just from that context.

Oh dear Lord. I refuse to translate Scapegrace as 'Bat-Bli'ya'al.' (Belial in the anglicization, though it seems to have taken on a new meaning in Christianity?) It does mean that, but it's, uh, also the general term (Biblical) for pretty much any wicked person or evildoer. Ouch. (According to this article in Mosaic, 'bli'ya'al' was taken to be a noun by Jews and a name by Christians--who decided it was either another term for Satan or the name of someone connected to him. Ooookay. Yeah. I'm not translating your name as this).

Which means I need to find something that more closely matches the actual definition of the word 'scapegrace' (Merriam-Webster says 'incorrigible rascal', whatever it is Google's throwing up--Oxford?--goes for 'a mischievous or wayward person'). I've tried other dictionaries: 'scapegrace' there gets me things like the translation of 'scapegoat', and 'schlemiel', which is more along the lines of someone who is unlucky or incompetent.

I'm going to go with Mardanit Kundasit, מרדנית קונדסית, Mischievous Rebel. There aren't very many terms for 'rascal' (one is used for a villain in films, apparently), though 'kundas' as a noun does show up as one (another is 'Pirkhakh', meaning, apparently, 'whippersnapper' :D). This might be a bit closer to 'prankster' than it should be, but it's definitely much better than going, 'hey, wanna be a scapegoat or an extremely wicked person?' So let's stick with that. It's also making me think of the Chameleon Circuit song "Teenage Rebel", which is nice (about the Doctor, if you haven't heard it).

Wobbles is very simply Mitnodedet, מתנודדת ('one who wobbles/is wobbling', feminine form). I rather like that, actually.

The Notary is...HaNotarionit, הנוטריונית apparently. Not too bad!

~Z

I have this hunch that 'skater' in Hebrew is...'skater', with a pronunciation more like 'skay-tehr'. Let's find out!

Okay. I stand corrected! 'Skater' is in use as-is, but 'Makhlik' is also pretty popular and seems to be the main term! This makes you...

HaMakhlik HaKhadash, המחליק החדש--The New Skater! Congrats :)

(hah-mahkh-leek hah-khah-dahsh for pronunciation).

~Z

...(although, if it's what I think it is, it's been one of my favorites for years)...so, instead, have another option that doesn't begin with S!

You could just take Yafah, יפה, the feminine form of 'pretty, but, well...eh. It's nice enough, but very simple and used all the time in conversation. It does seem to be in use as a name, so I don't want to insult it (especially since I suspect I'd like it in context), but I like to look for more unusual words.

Instead, why not go for Na'ah, נאה? The dictionary gives it in the male form, Na'eh, which is why it's translating it as 'handsome' as well as 'pleasant' and 'good-looking'; 'beautiful' fits right in there. Personally, I kind of want to translate it as 'lovely', although the dictionary disagrees and gives me a bunch of other words for that. Either way, it's a nice word (and not the same root as Noa--that's נעה, which I believe has to do with movement (and is not the same as Noah, if anyone's wondering--in Hebrew that's No'akh, נח! Completely different, and probably means 'rest, repose', according to behindthename.com's translation).

~Z

Jay is simple--Orvani, spelled עורבני. That's what the dictionary gives me, anyway.

Acacia also has a direct translation: Shita, שיטה. Emphasis is likely on the final syllable, and that's -ee, not -ih (shee-ta)

Makes-Things...Oseh-Dvarim, עושה דברים? Maybe Yotzer-Dvarim, יוצר-דברים--that changes it from simply 'maker [of] things' to 'creator' or 'producer' ([of] things).

Mysterious Somebody could just be Mishehu Mistori (מישהו מסתורי)...but I prefer Ploni Mistori, פלוני מסתורי. 'Ploni' is the term for, as the dictionary says, 'so-and-so', or an unidentified person (in the masculine form here). So for a pronunciation guide we have ploh-nee mee-stoh-ree.

And now we get to Boarders!

I'm, uh, going to go out of order and do the easier names first :D

Neshomeh: so this could be viewed as cheating...but behold! 'Neshomeh' is actually Yiddish, by which I mean it's the Yiddishized pronunciation of the Hebrew word for soul: Neshamah, נשמה. Funnily enough, Neshamah is actually a popular name--see Neshama Carlebach, daughter of the famous Shlomo Carlebach. There's also Nefesh, נפש, but it's not as pretty a word and is used in names of organizations more than as people's names. It's the word used in phrases like 'good for the soul', whereas Neshamah is more poetic (and spiritual, arguably).

Phobos could be Pakhad, פחד, the common term for fear...but there are fancier words! I'm partial to Eymah, אימה, which the dictionary says is 'terror, fear' or '(poetic) awe, reverence'. There's also Yir'ah, יראה ('fear, terror, dread'), but that's often used in a religious context as well ('piety, God-fearingness'), so that's what it brings to mind for me. Let's go with Eymah.

And now we go more complex. Okay.

Elcalion: Okev HaKokhav HaBahir, עוקב הכוכב הבהיר, is a pleasant literal translation, but I think we can get something nicer. There's a famous quote about the Biblical Aaron, which describes him as a lover of peace and a pursuer of peace--'ohev shalom v'rodef shalom', אוהב שלום ורודף שלום. If I put that together with another word (can't find an alternate word for 'star', which is interesting--I'd vaguely thought there might be one, probably because 'sun' and 'moon' have two), we get...this: Rodef HaKokhav HaZoher, רודף הכוכב הזוהר--Pursuer of the Radiant Star (or the Brilliant Star, depending how you translate the word 'zoher').

Huinesoron: 'Eagle' is...good G-d, it's apparently Ay'it, עיט. I don't think I've ever seen that before. Why's that? Because, as the helpful dictionary note explains, a lot of people made a mistake and wrote about eagles using the term Nesher, נשר, which is actually a vulture. I knew Nesher wasn't the real term for an eagle, but I'm still very unfamiliar with Ay'it. In a very simple translation, you could be Ay'it HaTzel (עיט הצל) or Nesher HaTzel; now, that sounds nice enough, but it isn't very poetic. Unfortunately, there's only so poetic I can go here, which seems a shame; even so, by slipping into plural, we can get Ay'it HaTzlalim, עיט הצללים--Eagle of the Shadows. I tried 'shadowy', but that didn't get me anywhere nice-sounding that didn't have a different meaning (such as foggy or dusky. 'Shadowy' in direct translation is apparently...'full of shadows'. Yup.)

Phew. Easier than I thought! With, true to form, more and more commentary as I continued. Do let me know if pronunciation of anything isn't clear.

~Z

Even if the word doesn't exist in canon, you can coin one using existing vocabulary. It's like Minecraft's Creative Mode times four!

I’ll bring the candles!

May the mini Balrogs bring you a multitude of snacks!

Elcalion, festive