Discworld & Terry Pratchett Wiki - User contributions [en]

Ice Giants

2019-03-18T20:59:05Z

Rinscewind:

The '''Ice Giants''' are giant snowmen who speak with a Scandinavian accent, and have been imprisoned under the Disc's hub by the [[God|gods]]. They ride out in [[Sourcery]], on glaciers. They also may owe the gods the return of a borrowed lawnmower. It is possible that they are a form of troll, since water trolls are known.

==Annotation==

The reference is to Jotunheim*, the cold and frozen homeland of the Giants in Nordic myth. On the Ragnarok, the Giants will seek to extend their domain of ice and gloom over lands previously held by the Gods.
(*Dubbed ''Sniffleheim'' by the [[Dean]] after he'd been at the sherry)

[[Category:Supernatural entities]]
[[de:Eisriesen]]
{{stub}}

Talk:Shatta

2019-02-25T14:52:29Z

Rinscewind:

Then there's the 1978 Rolling Stones' hit ''Shattered''..."shmatta, shmatta, shmatta, I can't give it away on Seventh Avenue"...--[[User:Old Dickens|Old Dickens]] 15:11, 3 October 2009 (UTC)

''schmatter'' also being the Yiddish for ''clothing'': isn't there a Golem tailor at the Opera house, a friend of Mr Pump's, called Schmatter? (He does Moist von Lipwig's tailoring)--[[User:AgProv|AgProv]] 09:40, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

schmatta is literally "rag" or a "whore" in several slavic languages, as well as "rag" in yidysh

There is a middle eastern hot sauce, made with jalepenos, called 'shatta'.

Also, a vague reference to a middle eastern geologist popped up on a quick google search, but he was only referenced in a footnote about Egyptian geological fault lines. Couldn't find more about the person.

Bu-Bubble

2019-02-24T21:12:50Z

Rinscewind:

Apparently a fashion and style magazine in [[Ankh-Morpork]], publisher unknown. May have a lot in common with Roundworld froth-mags such as "Hello!", "Heat", et c. Seen in {{UA}}, it devotes an inside section to [[Dwarf]] female style, indicating that the revolution begun by [[Cheery Littlebottom]] still rolls on.
Often features 'lifestyle profiles' on various social and fashion icons, with questions such as 'do you wax?' and 'what is your favorite spoon?'

Interestingly enough, in a mood of hysteria following the fire that destroyed the [[Ankh-Morpork Times]] press in Gleam Street, [[William de Worde]] and [[Sacharissa Cripslock]] are discussing ideas to maximise revenue from the printing presses and come up with ideas for glossy magazines. Sacharissa muses

"Ring, yes. Now that's another thing. There are all the dwarfs in the city. We could produce a magazine for them. I mean... what's the modern dwarf wearing this season?" ({{TT}}, page 269)

We are told in {{CAM}} that this is indeed published on the same presses that produce the Times, although publishership is attributed to [[Gunilla Goodmountain]] and not to William and Sacharissa. then again, Gunilla, Wiliam and Sacharissa are all part of the same team.

[[Category:Discworld publications]]

==Annotation==

In Latin, 'bubo' translates to 'cry like a bittern (bird that booms/roars like an ox during mating)'. As Pratchett was quite clever in his use of portmanteaus, the word also resonates with the word 'bitter', which is a state of being regularly associated with relationships in such magazines, etc. A heron-like bird, 'bittern' comes from Latin <i>butionem</i> "bittern" + taurus "bull" (see steer (n.)); according to Pliny, so called because of its booming voice, but this seems fanciful. Modern form from 1510s.' ('bittern' etymology is from etymonline.com)

Possibly from Bu-bo, or bubonic pustule. Which is - more-or-less - a fair approximation of said froth-mags...

'Me and my spoon' is a feature in the British satirical magazine Private Eye, satirising trivial interviews with questions such as 'What is your favourite Spoon', 'Has anything amusing ever happened to you in connection with a spoon', etc.

Here's a really interesting one. Think in Quirmian for a moment and listen to the sound made by ''Bu-Bubble''. It has been suggested that if interpreted in Quirmian, the name of the publication comes out as ''Beau, Beaux, Belle'' - a repetition of the word for ''lovely'', ''beautiful'' in various iterations. OK, so it might have to be "Bo.." and not "Bu-" to really work, but look at how many women's beauty and style magazines on Roundworld have French names - ''Marie-Claire'', ''Vogue'', ''Mode''.....