I woke up this morning with the urge to post a brief and thoroughly non-exhaustive list of Discworld pun/reference names of varying levels of obscurity that people may or may not have gotten, and HERE IT IS.
- Vetinari is a play on “Medici,” the extremely powerful Italian political family who sponsored and inspired Macchiavelli’s “The Prince.”
- The philosopher Didactylos’s name literally means “two fingers,” which refers to a rude British gesture roughly equivalent to flipping someone off.
- Death’s manservant Alberto Malich is named after Albertus Magnus.
- The feuding Ankh-Morpork Selachii and Venturi noble families are named, respectively, for the scientific name for sharks and a part found in jet engines. This is a reference to the feuding Sharks and Jets street gangs in the musical West Side Story, which is itself a retelling of Romeo and Juliet.
- “Nobby” is a slang term for a policeman. Nobby’s dad, Sconner, gets his name from- well, you know how the Nac Mac Feegle call people “ya wee scunner”? Same word.
- The guide to nobility Twurp’s Peerage is named after the Roundworld equivalent, Burke’s Peerage.
- Mrs. Rosemary “Rosie” Palm, head of the Guild of Seamstresses, is named for. Um. Something a bit… rude.
- All the golems mentioned in Feet of Clay have Yiddish names, and mostly uncomplimentary ones. “Dorfl” means “idiot” and “Meshugah” means “crazy.”
- The head of the dwarves running the printing press in The Truth is Gunilla Goodmountain, whose surname is a literal translation of “Gutenberg,” the inventor of movable type.
- The Smoking GNU is a reference to the GNU operating system.
- Ridcully was introduced in Moving Pictures as “Ridcully the Brown,” as an extended parody of Radagast the Brown from Lord of the Rings.
- Black Aliss is named for Black Annis, and the god Herne the Hunted is a play on Herne the Hunter.
- “Greebo” means… well, I’ll quote the Annotated Pratchett File: “’Greebo’ is a word that was widely used in the early seventies to
describe the sort of man who wanders around in oil-covered denim and
leather (with similar long hair) and who settles disagreements with a
motorcycle chain – the sort who would like to be a Hell’s Angel but
doesn’t have enough style.”- Nanny Ogg’s house is called “Tir Nanny Ogg,” a play on “Tír na nÓg,” the otherworld in Irish mythology.
- Miss Treason’s given name, Eumenides, is another name for the Erinyes, Greek goddess of vengeance.
- Erzulie Gogol’s first name is shared with a Vodou goddess, and “Baron Saturday” is a play on “Baron Samedi.”
- Desiderata Hollow, good fairy godmother, has a first name derived from the Latin word for “to wish.”
- “Lilith de Tempscire”‘s surname is just a French translation of “Weatherwax.”
- The terrible pun in Casanunda’s name (he’s a dwarf, so he’s UNDA, not OVA) is probably obvious to a lot of people, but it took YEARS for me to notice it, so I’m including it on this list.
- The old Count de Magpyr’s name is Bela de Magpyr, after, of course, Bela Lugosi. (And Vlad also mentions an aunt Carmilla.)
- “Djelibeybi,” for those unfamiliar with British sweets or classic Doctor Who, is pronounced identically to “jelly baby.” The country of Hersheba was introduced after many, many Americans failed to get the joke- with limited success, because it’s less immediately recognizable as a play on “Hershey bar.”
- “Omnian” is a multilingual play on “Catholic.” Omni- is a root meaning “everything,” and “Catholic” originally meant “universal.”
- Lu-Tze’s name is a play on Laozi/Lao-Tzu/Lao-Tze, founder of Taoism.
- Dr. Follett, head of the Assassin’s Guild thirty years ago in Night Watch, is named for… author Ken Follett, in exchange for a significant monetary donation to charity.
And I’ve got some more for you!
• Mrs Cake’s first name is Evadne. In greek mythology she is a child of Posideion and Pitane. She became pregnant by Apollo and her child was destined to be a gifted prophet. Her name is said to mean “Pleasing One.”
• Ridcully has already been mentioned but his first name is Mustrum. Which seems to be a combination of muster and monstrum. Together of course can mean “Summon Monsters.” Intersting name for a wizard!
• Interestingly, the word “Rince” can mean to move quickly. Meaning we have a character who’s name pretty much means, “Run like the Wind.”
• Its fitting that Nanny Ogg’s first name is Gytha, meaning “Warlike” or “Warring.” Consider what her family is like….
• Detritus; a troll who’s name literally means “ a loose mass of stones.”
• Lancre is a clear reference to Lancashire. But also Pierre de Lancre, a witch hunter from the 17th century.
• Pseudopolis is a literal “fictitious city”
• Llamedos is a reference to Llareggub; a town in a poem by Dylan Thomas. Go ahead and read that backwards.
• All the aussie places are reminiscent of strine (a form of aussie slang and a dialect in itself. Dijabringabeeralong is the most obvious, say it slowly. Worralorrasurfa is basically what a lot of surf, a reference to Surfer’s Paradise in QLD. Where you can find Petunia the Desert Princess, a reference to Priscilia, Queen of Desert. (plus all the dfamous drag refefrences)
• Bugarup is self explanatory. And probably Sydney, meaning Dijabringabeeralong is melbourne, due to the wine references.
• The Horse in Tiffany’s home in the Chalk, is a reference to the Uffington White Horse. So much so that it’s almost identical. (many Chalk figures can be found in various locations in the UK)
• Theres one up in Lancre called the Long Man which bears a resemblance to the Cerne Abbas Giant. Nanny would definetely approve.
• The closest name meaning of Helit (Sto Helit) is to “To Last Forever”
• Qu in Thief of Time, is definetely supposed to be Q from James Bond. The gadget maker who would very much like all his things returned intact.
• Teatimes name is most likely a reference to The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul, where Gods are created by humans due to the compulsion to personify forces. They become more and more powerless as people forget them, until they are a bit like divine vagrants.
There is so much more. But heres a few!
ALL OF THESE ARE AMAZING
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