Author: Benny Antonsson
Date: 10:30:24 12/04/01
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On December 02, 2001 at 11:55:16, Gareth McCaughan wrote: >On December 01, 2001 at 18:49:33, Benny Antonsson wrote: > >[I observed that "Deamon" is a mis-spelling...] > >> We know... we first selected the word Deamon and thought it was >> the right spelling. After a while we realized that it was wrong, >> and ever since then we have argued about changing the name or not... >> we haven't really decided yet... any suggestion of a new name ? >> Or should we just spell it right ? > >I think it would be quite amusing to use the very obscure >spelling "daimon". Most of the very few times I've seen that word >used, it's been with reference to the ancient Greek philosopher >Socrates. He claimed that he received guidance from some kind >of divine being which he called his "daimon". (Of course, back >then it wasn't an obscure literary word; it was an ordinary >word in the language he spoke.) > >In general, a "daimon" in Greek mythology was sort of half way >between a human and a god. There were allegedly good ones >(like Socrates's) and bad ones. > >One English word that's almost equivalent to "daimon" in some >of its uses is "genius". Not in the sense of "really clever person" >but in the sense -- much less common these days -- in which, >e.g., it was used by Shakespeare: "And under him my genius is >rebuk'd, As, 'tis said, Mark Antony's was by Caesar". The meaning >is, as with Socrates, something like "guiding spirit". > >It would, as I say, be quite amusing to have a program whose >name will be understood, by the 1% of people who understand it >at all, as being equivalent to "genius". :-) > >The word "demon" comes from the same place, but because it was >generally used as the translation for "daimon" in the New Testament >(where it always refers to evil spirits) it's always had that >connotation of evil. That may or may not be part of what you >want, of course. > >There's one association that "demon" has and "daimon" lacks, >which might be a shame. There are phrases like "speed demon", >meaning "very very fast person or thing". I think they come >from the idea that the devil and his servants are beings of >great power as well as great evil, but I'm not sure. So if >you were hoping for resonances of "speed demon" then "daimon" >won't do so well. > >Anyway, you asked a fairly concrete question, and I've responded >by blathering at grossly excessive length. I'll return to the >actual issue. I think calling the program "Deamon" is probably >a bad idea unless you can find some explanation that doesn't >involve it being a mis-spelling of "demon" or "daemon". You >could just use one of the correct spellings. If you want to >look for something different, what you're looking for probably >depends on why you liked the original name. Was it the implication >of evil? supernatural-ness? mystery? power? possession? Or >something to do with phrases like "speed demon", "Maxwell's >demon", "demon driver", etc? > >The chances are that "demon" will reflect your intentions >perfectly well. It's time I shut up. Sorry for boring you. :-) > >-- >g Ah ! You are quite a writer ! We have decided to rename the program to: Alarm Thanks for your help
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