posted
I've just discovered that there's an actual word for a phenomenon I've long observed (and there should definitely be a word for this phenomenon too).
Charactonym: a name of a fictional character that suggests a distinctive trait of that character
I'd previously called this 'o-name-matopoeia' (but only in private, you'll be glad to hear).
There are certain fictional characters that you just have to hear their name and they jump into your head fully-formed - you instantly get a picture of what they look like and how their character will behave without any further elaboration. This can be achieved through sneaking an actual description into their name (Squire Allworthy, Dudley Dooright, Cuthbert Cringeworthy), or through naming them with an appropriate noun/verb/adjective (e.g., Sir Toby Belch, Mr. Bumble) or simply through the sound of the word or the association of the name (Old Fezziwig, Ebeneezer Scrooge), which are my favourite sort.
Dickens's books are full of them, as are the Harry Potter books (e.g., Severus Snape, Neville Longbottom, Argus Filch, Professors Flitwick, Dumbledore). The Coens are pretty good at this too (Wash Hogwallop, Professor Goldthwaite Higginson Dorr, Barton Fink, Sidney J. Mussburger).
Anyone think of any further examples of charactonyms from books, films, TV, comics, etc?
-------------------- Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. Posts: 2372 | From: Scotland | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
Charlotte Macleod is good for this. Peter Shandy, Heidi Hayhoe, Cronkite Swope, Guthrie Fingal, Catriona McBogle just to name a few.
-------------------- We are all equal, be it before the eyes of God, or for our own sake. We are all worthy of the same fundamental rights, freedoms, and, protections. Mindless hatred is unjustifiable. -Squoval Posts: 320 | From: Pennsylvania | Registered: Oct 2005
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"Promise to forget this fellow--to illiterate him from your memory."
"He is the very pineapple of politeness."
"She is as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile."
And from the same play we have characters such as Lydia Languish and Jack Absolute. The term I learned was "tag name", btw.
-------------------- "No hard feelin's and HOPpy New Year!"--Walt Kelly Hear what you're missing: ARTC podcasts! http://artcpodcast.org/ Posts: 7581 | From: Gainesville, Georgia | Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
What is the name for characters whose names are antonyms for their character? Horatio Hornblower springs to mind as an example of this.
-------------------- IIRC, it wasn't the shoe bomber's loud prayers that sparked the takedown by the other passengers; it was that he was trying to light his shoe on fire. Very, very different. Canuckistan Posts: 3694 | From: Arizona | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Snidely Whiplash is certainly a classic here!
-------------------- See, if I tell you about it, it won't be a mystery. It'll just be a fact, an ugly, moist fact, squatting on your brain like an octopus. And you don't want an octopus squatting on your brain, do you, son? -- Stan Smith, American Dad Posts: 980 | From: Virginia | Registered: Dec 2005
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-------------------- Silence should never under any circumstances be construed as agreement. A lot of the time, it's simply a reflection that someone just said something so stupid that no response could possibly do it justice. - Ramblin' Dave Posts: 8528 | From: Nottingham, England | Registered: Feb 2000
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Mr. Gradgrind in Dicken's "Hard Times." Dickens was particularly good at this sort of thing.
-------------------- "The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart."--Iris Murdoch Posts: 3307 | From: Charleston, WV | Registered: Oct 2002
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-------------------- When there isn't anything else worth analyzing, we examine our collective navel. I found thirty-six cents in change in mine the other day. Let no one say that there is no profit in philosophy. -- Silas Sparkhammer Posts: 10141 | From: Toronto, Ontario | Registered: Apr 2000
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posted
But he named himself that. He was born Woodrow Wilson Smith son of Maureen Smith and Brian Smith.
Gen "Geek for knowing that off the top of my head" Yus
-------------------- IIRC, it wasn't the shoe bomber's loud prayers that sparked the takedown by the other passengers; it was that he was trying to light his shoe on fire. Very, very different. Canuckistan Posts: 3694 | From: Arizona | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
He named himself that at his author's behest. Still counts in my book.
Nonny
-------------------- When there isn't anything else worth analyzing, we examine our collective navel. I found thirty-six cents in change in mine the other day. Let no one say that there is no profit in philosophy. -- Silas Sparkhammer Posts: 10141 | From: Toronto, Ontario | Registered: Apr 2000
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-------------------- "You can't play Electro-magnetic Golf according to the rules of Centrifugal Bumble Puppy." -Mustapha Mond, "Brave New World" Posts: 679 | From: New York | Registered: Oct 2001
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