Talk:Minor Discworld concepts

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This article includes content originally from:

Cable Street Particulars, Necrotelecomnicon, Octarine, Anti-crime, Background magic, Scumble (Discworld), Wow-Wow sauce, Latatian, Klatchian coffee, Battle of Koom Valley.

Please feel free to merge and redirect any other minor discworld articles you see to here, but be sure to include the article they come from, to ensure compatability with GPL. Rho 02:51, 21 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] References

This article has been tagged as not citing any references. However, this is not the case. In most of the sections, at least one book in the series is noted as containing an occurrence of the concept under discussion. Since we are talking about concepts which occur in Discworld, the Discworld books are in fact the only references which could possibly be considered valid. Furthermore, wikipedia articles exist for each of these books, and are linked to when the books are referenced. Perhaps one could go through and add citations (complete with ISBN number, author, title, publisher, etc) to this article for each of the Discworld books that are referenced, but this would be worse than useless: if a new edition comes out (and many of the discworld books have seen more than one printing), it is likely to be noted on the individual pages for the books, but this page would probably be forgotten, and not updated. The only reason that I can see for "adding references" is to add page numbers. If this is what is required, then very well. Someone needs to do it. But I am of the opinion that the page is good enough as it is. If enough editors agree with me, then somebody please remove the tag from the article. The Wilschon 03:55, 15 July 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Latatian

Moved here by The Wilschon 03:57, 15 July 2007 (UTC) from above the table of contents. This seems like a better place for this blurb.

Latatian is also sometimes used by wizards when casting spells or when faced with a sudden situation; e.g., Rincewind's use of "Stercus, stercus, stercus, moriturus sum" when faced once again with mortal peril in Interesting Times

This may be true, but this is not really a very good example, given the context and everything:

>> The girl looked indignant. "Do you not have amazing wizardly powers?"
>> "Oh, yes. Yes! Certainly! But—"
>> "Say something in wizard language!"
>> "Er. Stercus, stercus, stercus, moriturus sum," said Rincewind, his eye on the knife.

[literally: "shit, shit, shit, I'm gonna die"]

>> "‘O excrement, I am about to die?’"
>> "It's... er... a special mantra I say to raise the magical fluxes."

It's doubtful he's being serious. —Muke Tever 23:56, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Health and Safety Officer

Health and Safety Officer??? Are we really going to list everything that exists on the Discworld, rather than just the stuff that is peculiar to it?

What struck me about this one is that it is such a minor Discworld concept that it doesn't even appear in a Discworld novel. Seriously, is it needed? Telsa 16:11, 15 August 2005 (UTC)
The entry in the article is based on a passage from Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch, but I don't think it's sufficiently a "Discworld concept" to justify being on this page. Daibhid C 15:40, 26 August 2006

[edit] Stamps

Stamps are small peices of paper used to confirm the Ankh-Morpork Post Office has been paid for a letter. They were invented by Moist von Lipwig.

[edit] Ships

Ankh-Morporkians use ships to travel to places like Klatch and XXXX.

[edit] Note to anyone intending on splitting off a section

This page has been processed by N-Bot, which, for browsing convenience, changes links to redirects to lists to links to the relevant list sections: e.g. [[Latatian]] is changed to [[Minor Discworld concepts#Latatian|Latatian]].

As a result, anyone who intends to split a section out of this page should be aware that, as of 9 August 2005, the following sections were linked to from the following pages:

~~ N-Bot (t/c) 02:58, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Stealth chess

It's a game played in the Assassin's Guild, and mentioned only (I'm pretty sure) in The Discworld Companion -- basically identical to normal Chess except that it has two extra pieces on each side (the Assassins, of course). Should it it get mentioned anywhere here (and possibly in Chess variant)? --Yar Kramer 17:29, 23 October 2005 (UTC)

It probably deserves mention here (there's a picture of the Asassin peice in The Assassins' Guild Diary, although the rules aren't explained. It's already listed in List of fictional games. I think putting it down as a chess variant should be okay, since it looks playable. --Daibhid C 21:35 1 Nov 2005 (UTC)
Whoops, wait a minute ... --Yar Kramer 00:52, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Axle

It's uses in the city are still being researched by the Artificers' Guildmaster Mr. Pony, but in theory it could revolutionize the heavy industrial and municipial workings of Ankh Morpork. Most notably, the use of indentured Golems would become obsolete as industrial power sources, as many Golems not yet freed by the Golem trust have spent centuries providing power to industrial machinery.

I want to add to this, but can't quite think of the right phrasing.

Basically, what I want to say is that this industrial revolution rather depends on the Axle being replicable, which it probably isn't, and that, if it isn't, the single example will probably be put to use in the municipal sector somewhere. (I have an idea where, given the rest of that conversation, but it's probably bordering on the speculative.)

So, any suggestions on making that encyclopedic? --Daibhid C 21:35 1 Nov 2005 (UTC)

"This industrial revolution rather depends on the Axle being replacable, though this is unlikely. If not, the single example will likely be put to use in the municipal sector" ... Uh, what's the idea you had? --Yar Kramer 22:18, 1 November 2005 (UTC)
Thanks. I was obviously closer than I thought I was 8-).
My idea, which ISTR has been discussed on afp, is that it's been made clear that the dwarf tunnels under Ankh-Morpork are safe, cover the city, are lined in tracks for mining-carts and the property of the city. Add to that the fact that the basic mine-sign (The Long Dark) is a circle with a horizontal line through it, and all you need is a power-source to solve A-M's traffic problem... --Daibhid C 23:00 1 Nov 2005 (UTC)
The cynical part of me says that it wouldn't actually solve it, just bury part of it (so to speak). It's also saying "Hey, is this supposed to parody the fact that in a lot of fantasy novels/games/movies/whatever, the ancient civilizations are always excessively advanced, but 'present times' are way more backwards with nary a trace of the 'advancedness'?" --Yar Kramer 15:27, 2 November 2005 (UTC)
The cynical part of me says "Yeah, probably" to both 8-). (It also asks the rest of me if I can come up with any city in which the traffic problem has been solved by an underground railway. Or by any other means.) --Daibhid C 16:08 2 Nov 2005 (UTC)
Surely, rather than replicating the device, they need only to house it somewhere safe (the Armoury, perhaps) and run drivechains to anything they want it to power? It does have infinite torque, after all... Shouldn't we say this?
As an aside, the Axles are the first time PTerry has broken the Law of Conservation of Energy (well, obviously broken it). Tyrhinis 21:57, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Quantum

Would it be a good idea to put up a section on the Discworld version of quantum here? --Yar Kramer 04:27, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

I think it would be an excellent idea - the concept is sufficiently different from the real world version to need explication. Lokicarbis 07:34, 4 November 2005 (UTC)
Okay, it's up! ... I think it needs some cleaning up a bit, though ... anyone have any suggestions? --Yar Kramer 05:49, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

Should Kingons and Queons go in this section? When you use Kingons for instantaneous information transfer, it's definately quantum entanglement. Stuart Morrow 22:09, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Question on Deja Fu

All I can remember from Thief of Time about Deja fu is that it's a secret martial art known only by Lu-Tze. Is there a source for the suggestion that it does all the stuff in the article? (I wouldn't doubt it, because I tend to skim, but I'm sure I would have noticed that much text somewhere). Confusing Manifestation 17:21, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

It's described a bit more thoroughly in The Discworld Companion, but ... actually, come to think of it, it isn't really described that way either. (Or maybe I'm thinking of the Lu-Tze article in TDC, I forget.) --Yar Kramer 21:32, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Necrotelecomnicon in Sandman

The article mentions that it's mentioned in The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, but I can't remember any references to Paginarum Fulvarum or Necrotelecomnicon in Sandman. It's understandable, though, since the series is so big (in the sense of the 75-issue series seeming to take up more philosophical space than, say, 300 issues of a superhero-fluff comic book series) — could anyone point me to exactly which issue either of them is mentioned in? —Yar Kramer 15:00, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

..but why is necrotelicomnicon spelled wrong? There are many references to "tele' on the net, but not in the books.

[edit] Deja Fu and Ramtop Monasteries

Shouldn't these be merged with "History Monks"? Serendipodous 15:17, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Trousers of Time -- possible section?

Was this name (for free will) introduced by Terry, or something that already existed and he just used because it's funny? Which was the first novel to have it? I'm thinking Jingo, where Sam Vimes has to choose to go or stay and picks up the "wrong" Dis-Organiser, but I could be (and probably am) wrong... if we make a section of it, it might also be worth mentioning how another of the novels referred to the intertia of history ("Kill the dictator?...") and that only at very specific points in time can you make a huge change to the future. Dave-ros 11:22, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Size of cubes

The article states that Cubes are "six inches across". I'm pretty sure that Thud! clearly states that size varies considerably, but I'm not in a position to verify this right now. The section on Axles also appears to apply the specifics of the one seen in Thud! to the concept in general. -Ahruman -Ahruman 09:55, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wandering Shops


"An equally interesting conundrum is - who did they pawn it to?"

I don't understand, wouldn't they have pawned it to the shop that it was bought from? How is this interesting? 81.107.155.142 14:56, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

If I remember correctly (don't have Soul Music on hand atm), the preceding line is something along the lines of "Even the conch shell was only number twelve[?]. Who pawned the guitar?" It's interesting (to the characters) because they don't know the shop can move through time and space, and so it can't have been there for ever, surely... WikiReaderer 11:40, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Slood

In my edition of Eric, The Creator talks about "leaving out all the fingles", not slood. Gordonjcp 23:44, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Mine too. Why do you bring it up though? It's not mentioned in the article either way... WikiReaderer 11:44, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dimwell Arrhythmic Rhyming Slang

In cockney rhyming slang, "syrup" or "syrup of figs" means wig. Rhymes, see? So it's likely that "prunes" came from this, via narrativium, which can probably be said of most DARS terms? 90.192.153.30 03:24, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, in the long dark reaches of the night I came to a similar conclusion myself, though I didn't know that "syrup" was established Cockney. Could "cup-and-plate" be an adaptation of "cup-and-spoon" = "loony"? I must have a look at the Cockney rhyming slang article - I didn't get round to it when I was working on DARS yesterday.--King Hildebrand 12:48, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

I'm sure there are more than two occurrences of DARS in the book, but turned up only these two when I checked. Can anyone please add some more? Any suggestions for adapted Cockney would be interesting. I suppose we could always ask the great man himself? Dear Mr Pratchett - if you happen to be monitoring this page, we would love a comment from you on the origins of DARS. Many thanks! --King Hildebrand 13:03, 31 January 2007 (UTC)