Before Acheron escaped (didn't die as Next knew) out of the car outside his brothers flat people were careful not to speak his name for fear of him sensing it and drwaing his presence but after it was sure Acheron was alive there wasn't the same carefulness in speaking his name.

Why is this?

I got the feeling that after Acheron escaped from the car everyone thought he was dead and it made no difference if the spoke his name. And most of the officials didn't believe Thursday when she told them he could sense his name. My guess is that Thursday herself believed that Acheron was nowhere nearby so it didn't matter much if she said his name.

Really!
Puh-Lease!
If Hades was nearby, it wouln't really matter since Thusday had deafeated him once, he knew she could do it again. Please

Isn't this like that Harry Potter thing,where everyone's afraid to speak Voldemort's name?I think it's a fear thing,if Thursday's not afraid of Acheron knowing it won't matter if she says his name.It's not like he can suddenly appear or anything right?

If I remember correctly, Hades could sense his name being spoken within a thousand yard radius - so, if he's in Wales and Thursday is in Yorkshire or anywhere else outside that radius there is no problem in speaking his name.
Unless, that is, you're lumbered with the German translation which turns the "thousand yards" into a thousand "miles" - which explains why that distance stuck in my memory.

Gained just a little in the translation?

Not only that, Boffin. The translation gains and loses (bits of) sentences at numerous points, including the omission of the entire paragraph about Joffy's tea service.

hehehe. good translation. I keep thinking bout buying the french version. I hope the translation is better in that one. =)



=)

Yes.... Uh, no.... Actually......I don't know.... Um, hang on.... What was the question again?

i had something to say about hades' name a minute ago, but as soon as i saw the voldemort reference i totally forgot it.
why cant voldemort be more like acheron????????
if he were, THEN the harry potter books would be perfect. or at least a lot better.

Have any of you read the Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones? It's not exactly the same, but in her books enchanters can be summoned (intentionally or not) by calling their names outloud. (There is a charming scene where Chrestomanci explains why his bathrobes are as fancy as robes of state: he never knows when he might be called away unexpectedly!)



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Metaphors be with you!

There is a long history of taboo associated with the speaking of names of gods, demons, the dead or simply the wicked. In some cultures it can be highly threatening if someone outside of a fairly close circle knows your name (especially if you don't know theirs) as it potentially gives them power over you. Sometimes, the name of a visitor must be freely offered and not be asked - this crops up a couple of times in The Odyssey.

Knowing the real name of a demon (who notoriously lie about their real names) supposedly gives the shaman power to summon it - but if he lacked the power to then command it, summoning it wouldn't be the safest idea. Thus the root of the theme of this thread - the accidental summoning by speaking a name.

In the culture of some groups of Australian Aboriginals a dead person's name is not spoken by relatives and friends and they are referred to obliquely. This is more from respect than 'fear' but further illustrates the very wide (and world wide) taboos associated with the speaking of names.

I am tempted to think that in Western culture this taboo has now been transferred to pin-numbers and passwords!

The main issue with speaking Hades' name is that he could then know someone was about and on to him. In the initial stakeout towards the beginning, it is of course an issue, but later through the book (and I could be forgetting a few instances here) his name was said in the SpecOps offices, so what it won't hurt for him to know that they're in their own building.
And of course, it was just him and Next inside Eyre.

I recently read a chapter in a book that was talking about name taboos. The author was discussing how having a sense of humor serves the evolutionary function of uniting communities - and also undermining figures of authority.
He mentioned an African culture in which it was forbidden to speak the names of the Headman and his family (i.e. the higher-ranking people in the village). In the anecdote he related, an anthropologist was trying to create a geneology for the tribe, and so he needed to know peoples' proper names.
He gathered the village together and obtained names by pointing to the people one at a time and having someone else whisper their name into his ear.
The anthropologist spent months painstakingly constructing a geneology, and, when he was finished, he tried to show off by dropping the name of the headman's wife. What followed was what the author described as "a village-wide roar of laughter": it seems the name that he had been given actually translated as "Hairy C*nt." All of the other names translated similarly ("Eagle Sh*t," etc.) - so he had nothing but nonsense to show for all his research!



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Metaphors be with you!

I'm going to go with...once they knew he was alive whats the point in trying to keep him away, obviously this guy is pretty insane if he's going after you, well he'll probably get you (unless your Thursday) so I mean what good would it do really?



SpecOps-27 Wordage is our business Grammar is our game.

Tasha Wrote:
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> Isn't this like that Harry Potter thing,where
> everyone's afraid to speak Voldemort's name?I
> think it's a fear thing,if Thursday's not afraid
> of Acheron knowing it won't matter if she says his
> name.It's not like he can suddenly appear or
> anything right?
>
>
I agree with this and literarylobster! they both make sense!