Overly Long Name: Difference between revisions

Line 1:

{{quote|''"Salacia Deloresista Amanita Trigestatra Zeldana Malifee..." He paused, turned over several pages, and said, "I think we can skip some of these, but they end 'von Humpeding'."''

|''[[~~Discworld/Thud|~~Thud]]''}}

|''[[Thud]]''}}

In the broadest sense, whenever a character has more than the usual (in the Anglosphere) first, middle, and last name, they are in possession of an '''Overly Long Name'''. Also included are people who have the right number of names, but one or more of them is absurdly long, for example Ulla Inga Hansen-Bensen-Janson-Tallen-Hallen-Svaden-Swanson in the remake of ''[[The Producers]]''. (This is actually ''just'' her first name. They "[[Take Our Word for It|don't have the time]]" to hear her last name.)

Line 144:

* In [[Enid Blyton]]'s ''The Magic Faraway Tree'', Old Wathisname goes to a fortune-teller to ask her to learn the secret of his True Name (Koolamoolitoomarellipowkairollo, or at least, that's how it's pronounced). He tells the others to always request for his true-name, but by the end of the story forgets, because [[Status Quo Is God]].

* There are several examples from [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'':

** "Sally" von Humpeding from ''[[~~Discworld/Thud|~~Thud]]''. Like other [[Discworld]] vampires, Margolotta von Überwald has four pages in the ''Almanack de Gothic'' (which parodies the ''Almanac de Gotha'' in the same way that ''Twurp's Peerage'' parodies ''Burke's Peerage''). The vampire in ''[[~~Discworld/Monstrous Regiment|~~Monstrous Regiment]]'' has to turn over the page while writing down his name to join the army ("but you can just call me Maledict"). It's mentioned in another book that vampires in general tend to acquire very long names "as a means of passing the time."

** "Sally" von Humpeding from ''[[Thud]]''. Like other [[Discworld]] vampires, Margolotta von Überwald has four pages in the ''Almanack de Gothic'' (which parodies the ''Almanac de Gotha'' in the same way that ''Twurp's Peerage'' parodies ''Burke's Peerage''). The vampire in ''[[Monstrous Regiment]]'' has to turn over the page while writing down his name to join the army ("but you can just call me Maledict"). It's mentioned in another book that vampires in general tend to acquire very long names "as a means of passing the time."

*** Apparently this habit carries over even to the ones who've sworn off Uberwaldean naming conventions, as the VP of the Temperance League's Ankh-Morpork mission (according to the relevant [[All There in the Manual|Discworld Diary]]) is named Ms. Jane Mary Betty Pamela Ann Peggy von Jones.

** ''[[~~Discworld/Monstrous Regiment|~~Monstrous Regiment]]'' also introduces the nation of Borogravia, which is governed from an old castle at PrinceMarmadukePiotreAlbertHansJosephBernhardtWilhelmsberg. Presumably all of that except the "berg" is the Overly Long Name of the prince whom the place was named after.

** ''[[Monstrous Regiment]]'' also introduces the nation of Borogravia, which is governed from an old castle at PrinceMarmadukePiotreAlbertHansJosephBernhardtWilhelmsberg. Presumably all of that except the "berg" is the Overly Long Name of the prince whom the place was named after.

** ''[[~~Discworld/The Wee Free Men|~~The Wee Free Men]]'' had a Nac Mac Feegle named "Not-as-big-as-Medium-Sized-Jock-but-bigger-than-Wee-Jock Jock". Pratchett did his usual "wind it to 11" trick on the page he gets introduced, resulting in sentences like ' "No, not Not-as-big-as-Medium-Sized-Jock-but-bigger-than-Wee-Jock, Not-as-big-as-Medium-Sized-Jock-but-bigger-than-Wee-Jock ''Jock''" said Not-as-big-as-Medium-Sized-Jock-but-bigger-than-Wee-Jock Jock. ' It rapidly gets surreal. And hilarious.

** ''[[The Wee Free Men]]'' had a Nac Mac Feegle named "Not-as-big-as-Medium-Sized-Jock-but-bigger-than-Wee-Jock Jock". Pratchett did his usual "wind it to 11" trick on the page he gets introduced, resulting in sentences like ' "No, not Not-as-big-as-Medium-Sized-Jock-but-bigger-than-Wee-Jock, Not-as-big-as-Medium-Sized-Jock-but-bigger-than-Wee-Jock ''Jock''" said Not-as-big-as-Medium-Sized-Jock-but-bigger-than-Wee-Jock Jock. ' It rapidly gets surreal. And hilarious.

** C.M.O.T. Dibbler appears many times in the books, and the initials had been understood to stand for his nickname, Cut-me-own-throat Dibbler, until in ''[[~~Discworld/Making Money|~~Making Money]]'' his full name was unveiled: Claude Maximillian Overton Transpire Dibbler. So he said anyway, but this is Dibbler (AKA 'throat') we're talking about. It's quite possible he made it up.

** C.M.O.T. Dibbler appears many times in the books, and the initials had been understood to stand for his nickname, Cut-me-own-throat Dibbler, until in ''[[Making Money]]'' his full name was unveiled: Claude Maximillian Overton Transpire Dibbler. So he said anyway, but this is Dibbler (AKA 'throat') we're talking about. It's quite possible he made it up.

** Omnian names like [[~~Discworld/~~Carpe Jugulum|"Mightily-Praiseworthy-Are-Ye-Who-Exalteth-Om Oats"]] and watchmen "Visit-The-Infidel-With-Explanatory-Pamphlets" and "Smite-the-Unbeliever-with-Cunning-Arguments". Vimes' regicide ancestor was called Suffer-Not-Injustice Vimes.

** Omnian names like [[Carpe Jugulum|"Mightily-Praiseworthy-Are-Ye-Who-Exalteth-Om Oats"]] and watchmen "Visit-The-Infidel-With-Explanatory-Pamphlets" and "Smite-the-Unbeliever-with-Cunning-Arguments". Vimes' regicide ancestor was called Suffer-Not-Injustice Vimes.

** Nobby Nobbs is actually called Cecil Wormsborough St John (pronounced sinj'n) Nobbs, which is not just overlong but rather posh for Nobby Nobbs.

*** It's Nobby. He probably nicked those names off of someone posh.

Line 590:

⚫

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

[[Category:Naming Conventions]]

[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]

[[Category:Self-Demonstrating Article]]

[[Category:Length Tropes]]

⚫

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]