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Furry Naming Project (Furry defintions Project)
15 years ago
When the lion speaks, he roars cause that is what they do...
Some times you are in a community so long that you don't see the problems that have developed. I don't know that it is always the case for everyone but I think it must have happened to me. It happened cause furry authors (me included) have been wrong!
The problem is one of language. We in America are blessed with many good languages. he Primary one that we use is English. But we also have Spanish, French and Japanese and Chinese all spoken in some areas and numbers. But I hope I am forgiven if I keep trying my hand primarily at English. That is the language I speak and write in best. (Though Editorial and grammar types may disagree with any claim i make to using the language properly.) The problem is that of how we define things.
If I say that I am a lion. I am have failed to use the language properly.
In the community there is a part of that sentence that is presumed and thus failed the most important part of language - clarity. I clearly am not a lion. I am not stupid. I am typing this journal and an not laying around waiting to get the drop on some other animal so I can use my (non-existent) claws to kill and eat them in a bloody display of unrestrained hunger.
The part that is missing is the word "Furry". Now that may not actually be enough really. If you think about it furry is a meta so it needs more definition but that is the very least that I should have added to that sentence to make it make sense, And this is the failure that most authors do. Now mind you artists and fans all do the same thing so we have a fuzzy understanding of the statement but we don't need to do that. We can make sense so that others can understand.
It makes it clear to the reader that you are talking about a type of furry and not an animal. We all understand that if it is in context of a larger body of information that you don't have to say much to game complete metal imagery of the entities involved. If it is a Lion King Story then the lions and everyone else will have those forms. If you say do a StarFox fan fiction then say a fox or falcon, then you understand the size and most details of the persons involved. But if it is a random short story then you say a poodle, then what does the person really know about them. Maybe that is fine if you don't care but I personally like my readers to understand what I have in mind and what to expect I am saying about when I say that the Poodle kicked at the tree. That they looked like as they deliver the motion. What position are they in if say the next sentence has a fish hitting them. with a fin. Just how does that work.
So how do we do that. We do it the way the revolutionary war Americans did in the civil war period. We make a dictionary of terms and then hold ourselves to that standard. it is not so hard to think about.And we have the tools to get it done. Everything form basic terms and Wikis to make it all work out right.
I wonder if anyone would want it.
The problem is one of language. We in America are blessed with many good languages. he Primary one that we use is English. But we also have Spanish, French and Japanese and Chinese all spoken in some areas and numbers. But I hope I am forgiven if I keep trying my hand primarily at English. That is the language I speak and write in best. (Though Editorial and grammar types may disagree with any claim i make to using the language properly.) The problem is that of how we define things.
If I say that I am a lion. I am have failed to use the language properly.
In the community there is a part of that sentence that is presumed and thus failed the most important part of language - clarity. I clearly am not a lion. I am not stupid. I am typing this journal and an not laying around waiting to get the drop on some other animal so I can use my (non-existent) claws to kill and eat them in a bloody display of unrestrained hunger.
The part that is missing is the word "Furry". Now that may not actually be enough really. If you think about it furry is a meta so it needs more definition but that is the very least that I should have added to that sentence to make it make sense, And this is the failure that most authors do. Now mind you artists and fans all do the same thing so we have a fuzzy understanding of the statement but we don't need to do that. We can make sense so that others can understand.
It makes it clear to the reader that you are talking about a type of furry and not an animal. We all understand that if it is in context of a larger body of information that you don't have to say much to game complete metal imagery of the entities involved. If it is a Lion King Story then the lions and everyone else will have those forms. If you say do a StarFox fan fiction then say a fox or falcon, then you understand the size and most details of the persons involved. But if it is a random short story then you say a poodle, then what does the person really know about them. Maybe that is fine if you don't care but I personally like my readers to understand what I have in mind and what to expect I am saying about when I say that the Poodle kicked at the tree. That they looked like as they deliver the motion. What position are they in if say the next sentence has a fish hitting them. with a fin. Just how does that work.
So how do we do that. We do it the way the revolutionary war Americans did in the civil war period. We make a dictionary of terms and then hold ourselves to that standard. it is not so hard to think about.And we have the tools to get it done. Everything form basic terms and Wikis to make it all work out right.
I wonder if anyone would want it.
