Calling a Microsoft system "Sun" would be bad karma, in theory, but German-izing it makes it OK.

Duh:

http://utenti.lycos.it/ilsitodibisto...TLER-GATES.jpg

Yeah, but the system isn't called "Sun". It's called <b>sonne</b>. :)

<b>nebel</b> was the other choice, but I think that'll be my next system.

And yet, you have failed to answer the question posed, you evasive bastard.

"Fog?"

It's not called "sun", and the next one won't be "fog". It's <b>sonne</b>, and the next one will probably be <b>nebel</b>. You're Americanizing it. It doesn't need to be translated. The word is <b>sonne</b>, and the fact that when Germans think "sonne" they think the German equivalent of "that big star that the Earth revolves around" is irrelevant. Don't think of it as "sun", because that's not what its name is. :)

I picked it because it's easy to pronounce, I like the way it sounds, it's short and it's easy to type. "<b>syphon</b>" means nothing - I just like the spelling and the sound. <b>tier</b> just happened to be an accurate description of the previous computer. :)

Anyway, don't bother translating the words because that's not why they were picked. :) Just read them in German and that's it. Don't think about what they mean.

Now see...was that so hard? You could have just said that in the first place. Like I'm a mind reader and know that your computer names don't really have any significance beyond what you mentioned.

Now you're telling me what to think and do...you're like a wife! Like I'm not allowed to ask questions or something...man, you're a real asshole! :)

Sonne is easier to type than Sun? And word's <i>don't</i> have meaning if they're co-opted and re-cast as names? Riight..

Man, am I going to get it! :)

"Sonne" does not mean "sun". "Sonne" is a German word. "Sun" is an English word. They describe the same star, but it's not like, when someone was coming up with the word Sonne, they said "Let's make this mean 'the German word for 'sun'.'" Languages don't work like that. "Sonne" is a German word, "Sun" is an English word. "Sun" was never a naming option.

I think, to a degree, you're skirting the issue. Yeah, "sonne" is a name. It's a sound, with 5 letters that correspond to it, that you can use to identify some object. But, "sonne" is also a German word. You may not be saying "this box will be called 'sun', but in German!", but by naming it the same thing as what the Germans named the daystar, I think you create some sort of link that cannot be simply severed with a quick dismissal of the German language.

Just to continue making no point at all, let's take a 100% hypothetical example. Say some people have a daughter, and name her Zoë. Now, that word means 'life' in Greek. Under what situation can they, as you've attempted to do here, disavow the connection to the Greek word? Can they say "yeah, it's a word in Greek, but that's not why we named her that"? Can some other couple do the same, but with, say, 'Asshat'?

Skunks -

Following your example, sycamore would be saying that her name was "life". The name isn't "life". It's "Zoë".

I'm hardly skirting the issue. He asked why it was called "sun" and I said "It's not 'sun'. It's 'sonne'."

Evidently we view language differently. I don't look at other languages as a translation of English. When I think "Sonne", I do not think the English word "sun".

When a Mexican says "Mi casa es su casa", they're not saying "My house is your house." They're saying "Mi casa es su casa".

CodeBlue - you did fine. Don't worry about it. :)