# A Star Trek species name nit **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 25, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974 "2003-12-25T05:40:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/1 "2003-12-25T05:40:14Z")
Vulcans are from Vulcan Talosians are from Talos IV Endarians are from Endar Cardassians are from Cardassia Romulans are from Romulus and Remii (pronounced Remus) Bajorans are from Bajor. So… Humans are from Huma? NO! They’re from Earth, silly. True, not all species names follow this no brain approach. Klingons, Vorta, JemH’addar are nicely named apart from their planet of origin, or their home planet remains unknown. But, far too often, the species and home planet are closely linked as proper nouns. Let’s see some variety! btw, none of the series are exempt from this foolishness, but TNG was the worst by far. Discuss :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Fang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fang)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/2 "2003-12-25T05:59:15Z")
Not that odd. Think about it: French are from France, Brazilians are from Brazil, Indonesians are from Indonesia. So most peoples are named after their homelands. But you also have Dutch from the Netherlands and Americans from the US (a bit of a stretch I know). ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/3 "2003-12-25T06:03:08Z")
Dang, **Fang**. I had overlooked that. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/4 "2003-12-25T06:16:53Z")
In Klingon, we’re Terrangon (or Terragon… something like that.), and we’re occasionally referred to as Terrans in the ‘common speach’. I don’t THINK the Trill homeworld is called Trill, Trillia, or anything like that. And did you think that maybe, in some cases, the planets are named after the species (in the tradition of England, or Deutchland), rather than the other way around? (I present Ferengenar as a possible case of this.) And, the Klingons are the only ones we know anything major about their native language (we hear the odd word of Vulcan or Bajoran, but there’s no dictionaries for them) - it’s likely that in many of the cases they have a Human/Earth style dichotomy in their language which ‘Common’ ignores. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/5 "2003-12-25T07:16:54Z")
The actual citizens of Huma have filed a huge civil suit against all Earth citizens charging copyright infringement over the term “Human,” non-payment of royalties for use of the term and, most recently, cybersquattting. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/6 "2003-12-25T20:23:15Z")
This actually brings up what, IMO, is the biggest flaw in all the Star Trek series. The **'Planet as Country"** syndrome. In fact, in most episodes it was more like ‘Planet as City (or even village)’! The idea that you could:[ul][li]talk about[/li][li]negotiate with[/li][li]explore[/ul]etc. an _entire planet_ as though it were one thing. It’s absolutely and ridiculously impossible! Its just a kludge to the fact that Roddenberry conceived ST as “Wagontrail to the Stars…”[/li] I’m still a big ST fan though. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/7 "2003-12-25T22:05:42Z")
Just finished watching **“The Trouble with Tribbles”** , the Klingon first officer stirring it up in the bar refers to humans as “Earthers.” But Humans are guilty of leaning towards their own culture linguistically in the Trek universe before though. What about the dinner party in ST 6, when the Klingons object to Checkov’s use of the term “inalienable human rights” IIRC. Besides as way of a “treksplanation” look on it as a glitch in the universal translator 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Iacob\_Matthew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Iacob\_Matthew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iacob_Matthew)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/8 "2003-12-25T22:25:28Z")
A fairly literal Deus Ex Machina- the Translators. It doesn’t matter what we REALLY say, or what THEY really say, it all gets put into the magic language machine and comes out being their own word for themselves. Either that or the elder space-faring species know of a race that came before humans from Earth, or a place called Huma that Humans lived before they moved to Earth and had a societal collapse and are just keeping quiet about it. You can tell I’ve thought about this before, can’t you? I think deep thoughts, I do. ---
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Short\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/9 "2003-12-25T22:32:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hail Ants \* > \*\*This actually brings up what, IMO, is the biggest flaw in all the Star Trek series. The **'Planet as Country"** syndrome. In fact, in most episodes it was more like ‘Planet as City (or even village)’! The idea that you could:[ul][li]talk about[/li][li]negotiate with[/li][li]explore[/ul]etc. an _entire planet_ as though it were one thing. It’s absolutely and ridiculously impossible! Its just a kludge to the fact that Roddenberry conceived ST as “Wagontrail to the Stars…”[/li] > I’m still a big ST fan though. 😃 \*\* While I understand that criticism, I’ve always believed that that was a fairly credible effect of interstellar travel and the discovery of alien life. Eventually, the entire planet will form one block, often against a common enemy. Within Trek continuity, this is even adressed in “First Contact”: Earth was divided by war until the time of first contact, when all humans sort of realized they were basically the same race and began to see themselves not in term of nations, but in terms of planet. A couple of hundred years of space travel should be enough time to provide for a planet with one government, one language, etc. Nothing impossible there. ---
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Short\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/10 "2003-12-25T22:36:55Z")
What does bother me about the universal translator, though: if everything gets translated, how come Klingons can just throw in a Klingon word in the middle of an English (universal language) sentence without it being automatically translated? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/11 "2003-12-25T23:00:23Z")
vB code, of course IT’s the basis for all future Trek technology ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/12 "2003-12-25T23:06:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tengu \* > In Klingon, we’re Terrangon (or Terragon… something like that.), and we’re occasionally referred to as Terrans in the ‘common speach’. > > I don’t THINK the Trill homeworld is called Trill, Trillia, or anything like that. It’s called Trill. And Jadzia Dax is the hottest babe in the Universe. Anyway, I don’t think the planet-species names are that big a stretch. For all we know, Cardassia was named by some future human astronomer before we ever met the Cardassians, and so that’s just what we call them in Future-English. In Cardassian, it’s a completely different name. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/13 "2003-12-25T23:16:22Z")
And another thing! Sometimes, it’s not even the planet that has a name. Like Cardassia. Its name is actually Cardassia Prime, suggesting that it’s the major planet of the star Cardassia. Same thing with Talosians. Their planet is Talos IV, the fourth planet of the star Talos. By that convention, we would be named Solans or Sunners. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/14 "2003-12-25T23:56:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > **It’s called Trill. And Jadzia Dax is the hottest babe in the Universe.** I stand corrected on the name of the world. However. Your misconseption on the second point must be corrected. Jadzia, while attractive, cannot hold a candle to Ezri. (I’ve something of a crush on Nichole de Boer. I even watch a rather crappy show on Space because she was in it. Ah. [Beyond Reality](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101046/), it’s called.) ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/15 "2003-12-26T01:17:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Short Guy \* > \*\*What does bother me about the universal translator, though: if everything gets translated, how come Klingons can just throw in a Klingon word in the middle of an English (universal language) sentence without it being automatically translated? \*\* I think that would just be like languages on Earth that can’t always be fully translated into other languages, either because of differences in grammar or nouns that noone has a comparison for. Yes I have thought about this a lot ☹ ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/16 "2003-12-26T03:07:19Z")
Ezri? Good gad, man, I believe it’s illegal to take someone her age to a bar in Memphis. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/17 "2003-12-26T05:04:57Z")
Eesh…Memphis must have some strict drinking laws… (Ezri was a (young, granted) certified councilor and Starfleet officer. Lte 20s, early 30s at the youngest. And Nichole de Boer was 30 at the time…) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/18 "2003-12-26T05:37:44Z")
She just _looked_ like a thirteen-year-old boy. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/19 "2003-12-26T07:12:08Z")
I’m waiting for the universal subtitleler ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974/20 "2003-12-26T12:39:45Z")
Where did the Horta get their name? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-trek-species-name-nit/220974.md?page=2)