Because I'm petty, I'm going to gather you all around and tell you about that time JK Rowling was extremely wrong about something and, by being wrong about it, poisoned Google search results for it for years afterwards and generally made the world ignorant about it
-
Show this thread
-
We all know that the spell names in Harry Potter are bad Because JK Rowling doesn't actually know any Latin and doesn't look it up, even when she was getting million-dollar advances to look it up So you get stuff like "Imperio!" ("To the empire!")
19 replies 70 retweets 1,240 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @arthur_affect
She wasn't, though. She was being paid many-million dollar advances to write entertaining books. If she wants to claim Latin is a corrupted form of the Sorceror's Tongue, similar in some ways but not identical, then she's not a mile from Tolkien's handling of Elvish.
3 replies 0 retweets 11 likes -
Replying to @BofingerDavid
Okay, fine I think her use of "Alohomora", to anyone who actually knows what it means and where it comes from (which is a regrettably small minority), is cringey and awkward as hell I think that that's a generally shitty thing to do to minority cultures from other countries
4 replies 1 retweet 69 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect
The name" Alohomora" is used widely. Sieve out the HP and you're looking at genetics software. Sieve that and you're into horse racing. It's a tough search.
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
Replying to @BofingerDavid
That's BECAUSE OF HARRY POTTER you disingenuous prick THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT
1 reply 1 retweet 29 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect
You seem to assume the worst of people. I thought the existence of non-Malagasy, non-HP uses of the word was interesting and relevant, so I mentioned it. I don't know why you think I'm being disingenuous because I don't know what you think I'm trying to prove.
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
Replying to @BofingerDavid
All of those uses of the word postdate the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1997 and are obviously based on that book's definition of "Alohomora" as "a spell that unlocks doors" That's my whole fucking point, it's what I meant by JKR "poisoning Google"
2 replies 2 retweets 20 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @BofingerDavid
The word has a real meaning in a real life culture, and Rowling is guilty of distorting that meaning and promoting that distortion until anyone who was trying to learn the real meaning would find it very difficult I am arguing this is a tangible harm she has done
1 reply 4 retweets 27 likes
This seems to be something people feel free to quibble with me about because they treat it as "trivia" - "Who cares if she got the Malagasy language wrong? Aren't they all dead, like the Romans, or the Navajo?" You don't seem to get how offensive this is
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.