"Vroom!" went the thing that vrooms
December 12, 2011 2:53 PM Subscribe
For a sci fi story's sake, help me brainstorm a cool term for what a flying motorcycle might be called in the future.
Difficulty: the name can't have been used before in any film, TV or major literary work. So no "speeder bike," for example.
I'm looking less for fictional brand names a la "Harley Davidson" but more like what the common man might call a hovercraft motorbike.
Or put into analogy form: A "motorcycle" is to modern day earth, as a "[blank]" is to a futuristic space-based society.
Thanks!
Difficulty: the name can't have been used before in any film, TV or major literary work. So no "speeder bike," for example.
I'm looking less for fictional brand names a la "Harley Davidson" but more like what the common man might call a hovercraft motorbike.
Or put into analogy form: A "motorcycle" is to modern day earth, as a "[blank]" is to a futuristic space-based society.
Thanks!
A ridiculously fast motorbikes is sometimes called a "crotch rocket". It's possible that this will become more literal as civilization advances.
posted by Jon_Evil at 2:55 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by Jon_Evil at 2:55 PM on December 12, 2011
chopter? part chopper part copter
posted by udon at 2:55 PM on December 12, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by udon at 2:55 PM on December 12, 2011 [4 favorites]
It may actually just be called a "Bike," the way that a "phone" is a wireless gadget that lives in my pocket and mostly does twitter, not a thing permanently connected to a party line and owned by Bell Atlantic. And names for common things tend to have no more than one or two syllables - car, phone, bike; the more formal automobile, telephone, and bicycle aren't really part of everyday speech.
So I'd think something like flyer, gad (shortened gadabout), or, yeah, just... bike. Byke if you want to be all fancy about it.
posted by Tomorrowful at 2:59 PM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
So I'd think something like flyer, gad (shortened gadabout), or, yeah, just... bike. Byke if you want to be all fancy about it.
posted by Tomorrowful at 2:59 PM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
BI-AD (Bicycler Individualized Aerial Device)
posted by mattbucher at 3:02 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by mattbucher at 3:02 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
A Flike? With a little trademark symbol after it as if someone had ....
(Preview)
DAMNITALL!
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 3:02 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
(Preview)
DAMNITALL!
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 3:02 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
Really, what it's called depends on the history of the devices, and whether they developed out of motorcycles/bikes, or some other thing. The same way we still "dial" and "hang up" our cell phones even though no actual dials or hanging are involved anymore; if the things are explicitly updated futuristic motorcycles, they'll still use the same terminologies.
Hypercycle? Hoverbike?
posted by Jon_Evil at 3:03 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
Hypercycle? Hoverbike?
posted by Jon_Evil at 3:03 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
Floatercycle, "bike" for short.
posted by arcticwoman at 3:03 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by arcticwoman at 3:03 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm looking less for fictional brand names a la "Harley Davidson" but more like what the common man might call a hovercraft motorbike.
Seconding "hoverbike".
posted by Jehan at 3:06 PM on December 12, 2011
Seconding "hoverbike".
posted by Jehan at 3:06 PM on December 12, 2011
motorcycles tend to be named for losing sides, Indian, Confederate etc. I suggest Jamahiriya
posted by parmanparman at 3:06 PM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by parmanparman at 3:06 PM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
Skybike, skycycle, Gravitybike, Flybike, Zoomer, Airbike, Aircycle, Rocketbike, Jetbike. The list goes on and on and on.
Kind of easy to come up with something descriptive that fits.
posted by fenriq at 3:07 PM on December 12, 2011
Kind of easy to come up with something descriptive that fits.
posted by fenriq at 3:07 PM on December 12, 2011
By the way, I don't like "hoverbike" because that indicates no flying, just floating above the ground and that's kind of boring. I want to fly, not hover.
posted by fenriq at 3:09 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by fenriq at 3:09 PM on December 12, 2011
What's the problem with using brand names? Think of Hoover, Kleenex, Crock Pot - you don't have to limit yourself.
Otherwise, nthing just "bike".
posted by fearnothing at 3:10 PM on December 12, 2011
Otherwise, nthing just "bike".
posted by fearnothing at 3:10 PM on December 12, 2011
Best answer: Just as mountain bikes are seldom found at mountainous altitude so the stratobike is more likely to be found in the lowly work-a-day troposphere.
posted by rongorongo at 3:11 PM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by rongorongo at 3:11 PM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Fearnothing: the problem with using a brand name instead of creating a new noun is that they're not very descriptive, so people coming anywhere but earth of that time wouldn't know what it was until they saw someone actually USE one. I'd like the word to be something that implies what it is.
posted by np312 at 3:14 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by np312 at 3:14 PM on December 12, 2011
Flycycle?
Taken -- see Larry Niven's Ringworld.
Ah, must have stuck in my subconscious, tanjit.
posted by malocchio at 3:14 PM on December 12, 2011
Taken -- see Larry Niven's Ringworld.
Ah, must have stuck in my subconscious, tanjit.
posted by malocchio at 3:14 PM on December 12, 2011
Pig.
Hogs go along the ground. Pigs fly.
posted by RobotHero at 3:15 PM on December 12, 2011 [9 favorites]
Hogs go along the ground. Pigs fly.
posted by RobotHero at 3:15 PM on December 12, 2011 [9 favorites]
Flycycle? Already taken by Jan Wahl.
Levbike
Hike/Hyke (high bike)
Zoot
posted by plinth at 3:16 PM on December 12, 2011
Levbike
Hike/Hyke (high bike)
Zoot
posted by plinth at 3:16 PM on December 12, 2011
Call it a flit. Or an upsy. Suggestive of function, odd enough to be passable futureslang.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:18 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:18 PM on December 12, 2011
Who refers to bikes by their brand names outside of the bike community? Unless there is only one brand of flying bike, it needs a general name.
posted by griphus at 3:21 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by griphus at 3:21 PM on December 12, 2011
Response by poster: The World Famous: I'm not debating that I COULD do that if I wanted to. However a Polaroid can also be called a "camera" which isn't a proper noun. Similarly, not everyone has a Droid or a Razr, but most people you know have "cell phones." I don't want to waste time in the script describing what something with a cute gibberish name actually is, I just want to label it something suggestive like rongorongo's "stratobike" for example, and move the story forward.
posted by np312 at 3:22 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by np312 at 3:22 PM on December 12, 2011
I like Boomcycle. Doesn't oversell the flying aspect but sounds like something obviously different than a standard motorcycle. Also just fun to say.
posted by Navelgazer at 3:23 PM on December 12, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Navelgazer at 3:23 PM on December 12, 2011 [3 favorites]
If it's just a motorcycle that flies, they're going to call it all the things they call regular bikes. Choppers, crotch rockets, bikes, etc...
posted by empath at 3:24 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by empath at 3:24 PM on December 12, 2011
For a datapoint, other English–speaking cultures don't adopt brand names as generics so often as in the US. Hoover, Kleenex, and Xerox are elsewhere just vacuum, tissues, and photocopy. That may or may not be relevant, but it's something to think about when deciding on whether to use a descriptive or brand name for your story.
posted by Jehan at 3:24 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by Jehan at 3:24 PM on December 12, 2011
A motorcycle is a bicycle with an engine, but they still call it a bike. If you put a jet pack on it, they're still going to call it a bike.
posted by empath at 3:25 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by empath at 3:25 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
will there still be two wheels on it? like for when its on the runway? if not, then it wouldn't be correct to call it a bike. cause we dont call jetskis bikes
posted by udon at 3:30 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by udon at 3:30 PM on December 12, 2011
Kite.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 3:45 PM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by sevenyearlurk at 3:45 PM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
A personal aerial vehicle is not going to be actually related to motorcycles in any reasonable technological development scenario, nor is it going to particularly look like one. "It's like a bike, except it can fly" is a nonsensical statement. Aerial and ground vehicles are very different things and do not share many design principles. Among other things, I doubt any personal flying machine would ever go without completely enclosing the pilot/passenger. Similarly, the vehicle is certainly going to have wings, or rotors, or both. Even assuming Harrier-style directional thrusters, you'll still need control surfaces of some kind. (Be sure to keep your Harrier-style directional thrusters well clear of your human, too, lest said human get sucked into and/or broiled by said HSDTs.)
I see no reason not to call such a contraption a "plane" or a "copter" (depending on whether it has wings or rotors), but definitely not a bike. If you want a generic term, perhaps something like "pavie" (short for PAV, derived from "personal aviation vehicle") would work. But "plane" or "copter" would be better.
If you're going for more fantasy (e.g. the speeder bikes in Star Wars),, you don't have to worry about calling it something descriptive or spending time explaining what it is in exposition. Everyone has already seen Star Wars so you simply say, "Zonny leapt onto his flythingy, kicked at the starter, yanked on the handlebars, and disappeared into the sky." People will know you mean "speeder bike" no matter what you call it.
posted by kindall at 3:46 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
I see no reason not to call such a contraption a "plane" or a "copter" (depending on whether it has wings or rotors), but definitely not a bike. If you want a generic term, perhaps something like "pavie" (short for PAV, derived from "personal aviation vehicle") would work. But "plane" or "copter" would be better.
If you're going for more fantasy (e.g. the speeder bikes in Star Wars),, you don't have to worry about calling it something descriptive or spending time explaining what it is in exposition. Everyone has already seen Star Wars so you simply say, "Zonny leapt onto his flythingy, kicked at the starter, yanked on the handlebars, and disappeared into the sky." People will know you mean "speeder bike" no matter what you call it.
posted by kindall at 3:46 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
A "motorcycle" is to modern day earth, as a "[blank]" is to a futuristic space-based society.
Where are they used? In space? Or close to ground like a hover craft? What's max altitude? Do you fly 'em or flit along the ground?
posted by Max Power at 3:50 PM on December 12, 2011
Where are they used? In space? Or close to ground like a hover craft? What's max altitude? Do you fly 'em or flit along the ground?
posted by Max Power at 3:50 PM on December 12, 2011
First thing my brain spat out was "zipper."
posted by yellowbinder at 3:57 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by yellowbinder at 3:57 PM on December 12, 2011
Will it have wheels and function like a motorcycle except it will also be able to fly? I'm wondering because the flying part might be more meaningful--so "cycle" might not end up in the name. I'm thinking of airplane and helicopter...
aircopter
airbike
helibike
posted by bluedaisy at 3:57 PM on December 12, 2011
aircopter
airbike
helibike
posted by bluedaisy at 3:57 PM on December 12, 2011
I came to say "zipper", but yellowbinder beat me to it by only a couple minutes. It also seems onomatopoeic for what such a machine would sound like while doing it's thing. This might be the 'slang' term, like hotrod versus automobile.
posted by AzraelBrown at 4:01 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by AzraelBrown at 4:01 PM on December 12, 2011
Karl Schroeder's "Virga" series has exactly this — flying bikes. Contrary to what kindall says, they do resemble bicycles or motorcycles in some respects, particularly with regard to handlebars, seat, and windscreen. You can see what they look like in this preview of the graphic novel version. (Note that they are capable of "flying" because they are used in a zero-gravity environment, which is why the character in that drawing is depicted as "upside down.")
Schroeder calls them "bikes."
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 4:01 PM on December 12, 2011
Schroeder calls them "bikes."
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 4:01 PM on December 12, 2011
Best answer: Something with "ride" in it:
Airride
Skyride
Jetride
Hoverride
Flyride
My inner 12-year-old also likes "crotchride".
posted by SuperSquirrel at 4:04 PM on December 12, 2011
Airride
Skyride
Jetride
Hoverride
Flyride
My inner 12-year-old also likes "crotchride".
posted by SuperSquirrel at 4:04 PM on December 12, 2011
Zoomer (above).
Flitter
Rainbow (or "bo")
Broom
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 4:13 PM on December 12, 2011
Flitter
Rainbow (or "bo")
Broom
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 4:13 PM on December 12, 2011
"A personal aerial vehicle is not going to be actually related to motorcycles in any reasonable technological development scenario, nor is it going to particularly look like one. " so..."pav" sounds good to me.
posted by ps_im_awesome at 4:32 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by ps_im_awesome at 4:32 PM on December 12, 2011
Yeah, I was assuming using them in a gravity well. In a zero-gravity environment you could have paddles where the wheels would be on a normal bike, and then you could call it a bike. Of course, in a zero-gravity environment there would be little use for the other kind of bike, so the origin of the term would be quite obscure to these people (assuming they were descended from colonists who knew what an actual bike was).
posted by kindall at 4:38 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by kindall at 4:38 PM on December 12, 2011
First things that popped into my mind were hoverbike and hovercycle. I like flit(ter) and aerocycle as well.
posted by deborah at 5:36 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by deborah at 5:36 PM on December 12, 2011
Floatocycle (Flotocycle, flotorcycle, floatorcycle) ow my brains...
posted by empatterson at 5:38 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by empatterson at 5:38 PM on December 12, 2011
If they were initially marketed as being like bikes BUT FLY!! then they would probably have some reference to bikes in the name...
If on the other hand they were derived from "flying cars" which were in turn derived from helicopters, they'd probably use that idiom instead. Er, the helicopter one.
The key capability distinguishing these things from, say, hang gliders, is vertical takeoff and landing, nèe vertol. (Some hang gliders have motors in them. It's weird.) Flying things have been named after this capacity before and it sounds cool and industrialist so let's start with that, eh?
vertolic
vertolite
verto
vert
posted by LogicalDash at 5:39 PM on December 12, 2011
If on the other hand they were derived from "flying cars" which were in turn derived from helicopters, they'd probably use that idiom instead. Er, the helicopter one.
The key capability distinguishing these things from, say, hang gliders, is vertical takeoff and landing, nèe vertol. (Some hang gliders have motors in them. It's weird.) Flying things have been named after this capacity before and it sounds cool and industrialist so let's start with that, eh?
vertolic
vertolite
verto
vert
posted by LogicalDash at 5:39 PM on December 12, 2011
also: Helicycle?
posted by empatterson at 5:40 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by empatterson at 5:40 PM on December 12, 2011
Difficulty: the name can't have been used before in any film, TV or major literary work. So no "speeder bike," for example.
Unless there is a pressing reason for this, it's a bad restriction.
I mean, in real life, the first time we built something close to an actual reusable spaceship, we called it Enterprise because of Star Trek.
If we built them, they might well end up being called speeders because of RotJ.
If you insist on a generic term, "bike" or "flier." There's no way to say this without sounding like a dick, so I hope you'll just accept my honest statement that dickery is not my intention when I say that the terms you've best-answered are fakey-sounding, smeerpy sorts of words.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:45 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
Unless there is a pressing reason for this, it's a bad restriction.
I mean, in real life, the first time we built something close to an actual reusable spaceship, we called it Enterprise because of Star Trek.
If we built them, they might well end up being called speeders because of RotJ.
If you insist on a generic term, "bike" or "flier." There's no way to say this without sounding like a dick, so I hope you'll just accept my honest statement that dickery is not my intention when I say that the terms you've best-answered are fakey-sounding, smeerpy sorts of words.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:45 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
Cool names appeal to people sometimes. I don't think there's anything wrong with making them up, although you need to be careful not to confuse the reader. Ideally, the name for something should reflect its history. Smartphones are named after a communication technology that required a wire from end to end and couldn't compute shit, much less do any routing. So when Anathem referred to computers as syntactic devices, it was a subtle bit of world building. It told me the technology was probably first developed for purposes that Earth-dwellers would think of as linguistic.
posted by LogicalDash at 5:52 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by LogicalDash at 5:52 PM on December 12, 2011
Maybe you could repurpose 'flivver.' It would retain something of the 'deathtrap' allusion ...
posted by carter at 5:55 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by carter at 5:55 PM on December 12, 2011
Response by poster: ROU_Xenophobe: if this were real life as opposed to fiction, yes it might make perfect sense for me to call something an "Enterprise" or "Speeder bike." But this is fiction, so I'm not going to rip-off something that's been used before and is already indelibly linked in readers' minds to another work of fiction.
In regards to you disliking the terms I've favorited, that is what we call a difference of opinion. In my opinion, just calling something a "bike" is kind of boring, even if it is more realistic. But the question wasn't "what's the most realistic name for what a motorcycle might be called in the future," the question was "what's a cool term for what a motorcycle might be called in the future."
posted by np312 at 5:56 PM on December 12, 2011
In regards to you disliking the terms I've favorited, that is what we call a difference of opinion. In my opinion, just calling something a "bike" is kind of boring, even if it is more realistic. But the question wasn't "what's the most realistic name for what a motorcycle might be called in the future," the question was "what's a cool term for what a motorcycle might be called in the future."
posted by np312 at 5:56 PM on December 12, 2011
floater
posted by flabdablet at 6:45 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by flabdablet at 6:45 PM on December 12, 2011
Best answer: Gravibike? Gravicycle?
(No need to get all fighty, btw. Just ignore answers you don't like.)
posted by J. Wilson at 6:59 PM on December 12, 2011
(No need to get all fighty, btw. Just ignore answers you don't like.)
posted by J. Wilson at 6:59 PM on December 12, 2011
Motorcyclone?
posted by simplethings at 8:01 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by simplethings at 8:01 PM on December 12, 2011
Raptor
posted by Salamandrous at 8:10 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by Salamandrous at 8:10 PM on December 12, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks everyone! These are all great ideas. I appreciate the collective b-storm.
posted by np312 at 8:48 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by np312 at 8:48 PM on December 12, 2011
I'm all for ludicrous acronyms, how about:
SUATU: Single User Air Transport Unit - verbally shortened to Swat by cool kids.
Or something that sounds like a dumb corporate name:
BikePlus
iChopper
nanoWheels
HighlyDavison
CloudRipper
Cycle-o-Sky
no-wheels
Or named after some made-up technology:
PulseInverter (shortened to Inverts)
PhaseInjection
NeutrinoLift
posted by pmcp at 9:14 PM on December 12, 2011
SUATU: Single User Air Transport Unit - verbally shortened to Swat by cool kids.
Or something that sounds like a dumb corporate name:
BikePlus
iChopper
nanoWheels
HighlyDavison
CloudRipper
Cycle-o-Sky
no-wheels
Or named after some made-up technology:
PulseInverter (shortened to Inverts)
PhaseInjection
NeutrinoLift
posted by pmcp at 9:14 PM on December 12, 2011
I'm with Tomorrowful and the others in saying the most clever name is "bike", and it's also probably accurate for the reasons outlined above.
I am flailing trying to think of examples, but I am very certain I have read writers who have done this as a cute trick, making it clever by not immediately revealing that the thing they are calling a "bike" isn't the same thing that the reader is picturing.
(In this example, it would only be after a couple of hundred pages of using the term blandly that you happen to mention that the "bike she rode to work every morning" was 300 meters in the air.)
If this is a filmed work, of course, you're fracked.
posted by rokusan at 9:48 PM on December 12, 2011
I am flailing trying to think of examples, but I am very certain I have read writers who have done this as a cute trick, making it clever by not immediately revealing that the thing they are calling a "bike" isn't the same thing that the reader is picturing.
(In this example, it would only be after a couple of hundred pages of using the term blandly that you happen to mention that the "bike she rode to work every morning" was 300 meters in the air.)
If this is a filmed work, of course, you're fracked.
posted by rokusan at 9:48 PM on December 12, 2011
The first terms that came to mind were "zoomer" and "slicer." On account of a flying motorbike being pretty zippy. (Zipster?) You know, something that evokes the feeling of a fast moving flying vehicle, like how a helicopter is called a "chopper."
posted by greenland at 9:52 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by greenland at 9:52 PM on December 12, 2011
motorflycle
posted by a humble nudibranch at 10:33 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by a humble nudibranch at 10:33 PM on December 12, 2011
The World Famous: I'm not debating that I COULD do that if I wanted to. However a Polaroid can also be called a "camera" which isn't a proper noun. Similarly, not everyone has a Droid or a Razr, but most people you know have "cell phones." I don't want to waste time in the script describing what something with a cute gibberish name actually is, I just want to label it something suggestive like rongorongo's "stratobike" for example, and move the story forward.If you want simple, obvious, and to the point just call it an airbike. Tells you exactly what it is, quick to say and type.
posted by delmoi at 11:18 PM on December 12, 2011
Motorcycles are often called bikes because that is the tech that they grew out of. A personal flyer most likely grew out of a different tech more like a gravity free glider or ultralight or maybe a military UAV. You might want to think about its evolution which could also play into the story. People who read SF like to have something semi-believable.
Connecting to the potential military origins, try an "ayvee" or you could just use a a future slang word like a "flick". BTW, let's say you can use this idea for a year and then afterwards you can start paying me.... :P
posted by JJ86 at 7:09 AM on December 13, 2011
Connecting to the potential military origins, try an "ayvee" or you could just use a a future slang word like a "flick". BTW, let's say you can use this idea for a year and then afterwards you can start paying me.... :P
posted by JJ86 at 7:09 AM on December 13, 2011
I am SO swiping "boomcycle" for my sci-fi comic. I hadn't intended to have anyone riding a skybike BUT I AM NOW! Thanks, Navelgazer. Maybe I'll have it come on the heels of the rail-grind sequence I want to do.
Honestly I kinda think all the good names have been "taken" already. Invent new ones and you're off in PKD territory calling them "flapples" or "squibs".
sky speeder grav vtol bounce jet boom air cloud bike skimmer speeder ride rocket
Heck, people might just take a page from pilots and call them "birds". Which brings me to another wrinkle in coming up with future slang, one I refer to as "the codder-shiggy dilemma*" - different people use different words for the same thing, and it starts to look weird if everyone, regardless of social stratum, subculture, and technical acumen, all uses the same piece of Future Slang. So you might have one person use a weird slangy word because he's a hardcore fanatic about personal flying machines who wants to quickly distinguish a particular class of them (like the aformentioned "crotch rocket" for small, fast, sleek motorbikes), while another person says "skybike".
And don't underestimate context. If the first appearance of one is "Max leaned forward as he sent his gravmo down through the clouds" then it's pretty obvious that whatever a gravmo is, it flies; there's also an implication that it's a small enough device to be controlled partially by the user shifting their weight.
* from Brunner's "Stand On Zanzibar", which drove me crazy because EVERYONE called guys "codders" and gals "shiggies"
posted by egypturnash at 7:33 AM on December 13, 2011
Honestly I kinda think all the good names have been "taken" already. Invent new ones and you're off in PKD territory calling them "flapples" or "squibs".
sky speeder grav vtol bounce jet boom air cloud bike skimmer speeder ride rocket
Heck, people might just take a page from pilots and call them "birds". Which brings me to another wrinkle in coming up with future slang, one I refer to as "the codder-shiggy dilemma*" - different people use different words for the same thing, and it starts to look weird if everyone, regardless of social stratum, subculture, and technical acumen, all uses the same piece of Future Slang. So you might have one person use a weird slangy word because he's a hardcore fanatic about personal flying machines who wants to quickly distinguish a particular class of them (like the aformentioned "crotch rocket" for small, fast, sleek motorbikes), while another person says "skybike".
And don't underestimate context. If the first appearance of one is "Max leaned forward as he sent his gravmo down through the clouds" then it's pretty obvious that whatever a gravmo is, it flies; there's also an implication that it's a small enough device to be controlled partially by the user shifting their weight.
* from Brunner's "Stand On Zanzibar", which drove me crazy because EVERYONE called guys "codders" and gals "shiggies"
posted by egypturnash at 7:33 AM on December 13, 2011
parmanparman: "Confederate"
*cough* Vincent, Triumph, Victory...
posted by workerant at 5:46 PM on December 13, 2011
*cough* Vincent, Triumph, Victory...
posted by workerant at 5:46 PM on December 13, 2011
Boosterbike or boostercycle with the slang booster for short. Valkyrie for a brand name.
greenland writes "omething that evokes the feeling of a fast moving flying vehicle, like how a helicopter is called a 'chopper.'"
Choppers are called that because of the noise they make. Maybe Whoosher for a flying motorcycle.
posted by Mitheral at 6:41 PM on December 13, 2011
greenland writes "omething that evokes the feeling of a fast moving flying vehicle, like how a helicopter is called a 'chopper.'"
Choppers are called that because of the noise they make. Maybe Whoosher for a flying motorcycle.
posted by Mitheral at 6:41 PM on December 13, 2011
In regards to you disliking the terms I've favorited, that is what we call a difference of opinion. In my opinion, just calling something a "bike" is kind of boring, even if it is more realistic.
I am telling you, as a longtime SF fan, that the words that you're liking will alienate longtime SF fans and serve as a marker that you are Not One Of Us and do not take us seriously.
If you are writing a script for an SF thing that's not going to be for SF fans, this is fine. Maybe Ma and Pa Kettle want to hear about sploopy-cycles and binglehoppers and whatever. But I will tell you now that many, many actual SF fans will start losing their attention at the first mention of a future-cycle or space dementia or other such term. These are smeerps, and by and large we dislike smeerps.* If you have a rabbit, call it a fucking rabbit.
If you want the counterexample, take the miniseries and the first season or so of N-Galactica, which was widely embraced as a FINALLY SOMEONE GETS IT by SF fans. One of the things they did that was dead-on right was a combination of not explaining too much stuff and being mundane. They didn't have space-phones or twiddle their donglyboppers to make a star-call. They picked up a phone. They didn't use space-days or centons, they used hours. They didn't eat starbeast or mushies or Blargarian Floof-Snappers, they ate chicken. They didn't shoot space-blasters or garblaxian gooble-rays or a stream of blozniton particles at the cylons: they had guns, that shot... something. And eventually revealed that they were just railguns.
Really: they're bikes, or maybe fliers. Or ironically use a term from SF, like speeder or flycycle (from Known Space). Or don't mind when you lose an SF audience.
*Or at least smeerps without good reason... Stephenson sort of got away with in in Anathem, since he had a decent reason for his smeerps. But even that usage, by somebody that we know is One Of Us down to his dorky bones, provoked some strong negative reactions from SF fans
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:11 PM on December 14, 2011
I am telling you, as a longtime SF fan, that the words that you're liking will alienate longtime SF fans and serve as a marker that you are Not One Of Us and do not take us seriously.
If you are writing a script for an SF thing that's not going to be for SF fans, this is fine. Maybe Ma and Pa Kettle want to hear about sploopy-cycles and binglehoppers and whatever. But I will tell you now that many, many actual SF fans will start losing their attention at the first mention of a future-cycle or space dementia or other such term. These are smeerps, and by and large we dislike smeerps.* If you have a rabbit, call it a fucking rabbit.
If you want the counterexample, take the miniseries and the first season or so of N-Galactica, which was widely embraced as a FINALLY SOMEONE GETS IT by SF fans. One of the things they did that was dead-on right was a combination of not explaining too much stuff and being mundane. They didn't have space-phones or twiddle their donglyboppers to make a star-call. They picked up a phone. They didn't use space-days or centons, they used hours. They didn't eat starbeast or mushies or Blargarian Floof-Snappers, they ate chicken. They didn't shoot space-blasters or garblaxian gooble-rays or a stream of blozniton particles at the cylons: they had guns, that shot... something. And eventually revealed that they were just railguns.
Really: they're bikes, or maybe fliers. Or ironically use a term from SF, like speeder or flycycle (from Known Space). Or don't mind when you lose an SF audience.
*Or at least smeerps without good reason... Stephenson sort of got away with in in Anathem, since he had a decent reason for his smeerps. But even that usage, by somebody that we know is One Of Us down to his dorky bones, provoked some strong negative reactions from SF fans
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:11 PM on December 14, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by malocchio at 2:54 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]