A way with worlds: 39 - Technology and Terminology

Know the different social roles, backgrounds, and personal inclinations that may affect terminology in your world. A wizard may refer to his spells by a complex old language, a scientist may insist on proper terminology for chemicals, an engineer may mix salty language with long strings of description.

A character may also handle context and immediate situations differently. Thus a scientist may well use long scientific terms constantly - much to the annoyance of others. Someone may use slang terms inappropriately, confusing people used to more formal references.

TIME:
Terminology changes. Grab one of the handy slang dictionaries available at bookstores or online, and you may be amazed what words used to mean and what phrases vanished. "Hilary" used to be a man's name. The term "mook" has held several meanings in American culture over the past few decades.

People are also very efficient creatures. We don't want to refer to something as an ignited-explosive-driven-projectile - we want to call it a gun (Besides, who would want to work at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Ignited-Explosive-Driven-Projectiles?). We like to have concise words, and over time we'll create them as needed.

In creating terms in your stories, ask yourself how terms may have changed over time - or be preserved. A tradition-bound culture may use archaic references, a culture with a lot of immigration may adapt a rainbow of foreign words quickly.

A good question to ask yourself when looking over the technology of your world is to ask:

• How old is it - If technology has been around a long time, people probably have casual ways to refer to it. If its new, there may be very few terms - and those may be quite technical.
• How important is preserving the original name - If it's vital for some reason that a technology be referred to very specifically, words for it may not have changed or changed much. On the other hand if it doesn't matter, terms may change quickly - "Darn it Junior, in my day we called it the Flaming Sphere Spell, not the f-ball! What kind of wizard are you?"
• How easy was the original name to use - It's kind of hard to improve on simple terms like "wheel" no matter how much time has passed.
• What other factors build up over time - A variety of factors may affect language over time - influence of other languages, ignorance, reforms, etc. The longer something has been around, the more chance the terms for it may change from the original.

SUMMARY:
Technology terminology isn't something simple or something to obscure. It's a vital part of your world and the writing you will do. Take time to get terms appropriate for your world and your stories. It's worth it.

Oh, and as for the Technobabble generator? It's here at my generator's page. I'm not sure if it was a good idea to invent something to make more technobabble, but it was thought provoking . . .

A Way with Worlds is hosted at:

• fanfiction.net

• lit.org

• sffworld.com

• Woman-to-Woman

The complete works are archived at the Way With Worlds archive.
A German translation is in the works at Christian Spliess's Page