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ArchivesDan Brown's etymological blunder
I won’t spoil it for you by revealing the Lost Symbol's plot, but I’d like to point out an etymological blunder as well as some other sloppiness I detected.
After escaping from prison, the book’s villain moves to Greece where he "...chose a Greek name— Andros Dareios—Andros meaning 'warrior'...”
On the one hand, Andros in not used as a first name in Greece. It *is* used in Cyprus as a nickname of Andreas, and Dan probably heard it from a Greek Cypriot friend of his ;-)
Furthermore Andros (Andreas) does *not* mean warrior - literally means "manly" and, figuratively, "brave".
Some more trivia:
* The masonic jargon-word "heredom" it is attributed to the Greek IEROS DOMOS (sacred building). Could be. However it is spelled in Greek as HEPOÄOMOÓ which is an utterly nonesense / pythonesque transliteration.
* Another tidbits that appears amusing to a native Greek speaker, which however do not qualify as an error: when in Greece, for Andros "...sucking moist arni (lamb) souvlakia right off the skewer became his new Ecstasy". This would be tantamount to saying that a munching on Double Wopper with cheese constitutes a sublime mystical gourmet experience. Go figure.
If Dan had taken the time to consult a fluent speaker of Greek, such sloppiness would have been avoided :-)
After escaping from prison, the book’s villain moves to Greece where he "...chose a Greek name— Andros Dareios—Andros meaning 'warrior'...”
On the one hand, Andros in not used as a first name in Greece. It *is* used in Cyprus as a nickname of Andreas, and Dan probably heard it from a Greek Cypriot friend of his ;-)
Furthermore Andros (Andreas) does *not* mean warrior - literally means "manly" and, figuratively, "brave".
Some more trivia:
* The masonic jargon-word "heredom" it is attributed to the Greek IEROS DOMOS (sacred building). Could be. However it is spelled in Greek as HEPOÄOMOÓ which is an utterly nonesense / pythonesque transliteration.
* Another tidbits that appears amusing to a native Greek speaker, which however do not qualify as an error: when in Greece, for Andros "...sucking moist arni (lamb) souvlakia right off the skewer became his new Ecstasy". This would be tantamount to saying that a munching on Double Wopper with cheese constitutes a sublime mystical gourmet experience. Go figure.
If Dan had taken the time to consult a fluent speaker of Greek, such sloppiness would have been avoided :-)
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Replies
I can't say I'm surprised by his etymological errors.
I know it's not really relevant to this board, but you may be a little unfair in criticizing his last bit, though. Foods which seem common and everyday to people who've grown up with them might seem marvelous to someone who's just discovered them. Also, if "Ecstasy" is capitalized in the original, he's probably referring to the particular drug called Ecstasy. Since this guy is a villain, Brown might be trying to make him seem more evil and animalistic by saying that "sucking meat right off a skewer" is like a powerful drug for him.
I know it's not really relevant to this board, but you may be a little unfair in criticizing his last bit, though. Foods which seem common and everyday to people who've grown up with them might seem marvelous to someone who's just discovered them. Also, if "Ecstasy" is capitalized in the original, he's probably referring to the particular drug called Ecstasy. Since this guy is a villain, Brown might be trying to make him seem more evil and animalistic by saying that "sucking meat right off a skewer" is like a powerful drug for him.
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