# Use of the word "Prime" in home worlds of various science fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 11, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-prime-in-home-worlds-of-various-science-fiction/646885 "2013-01-11T18:36:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-prime-in-home-worlds-of-various-science-fiction/646885/41 "2013-01-13T22:36:51Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > …My fanwank is that they are actually saying a different name in their native language, but the universal translators render it as Cardassia Prime (like translating Deutschland as Germany). My double-fanwank is that it’s rendered as something else altogether that then gets dubbed into the English equivalent for the benefit of the viewing audience…To say nothing of the inexplicable ferengi word hoomon. That does explain things like two species being named after the twin brothers who founded Rome (Romulus & Remus). Or the Vulcans for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![St.Barthgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@St.Barthgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Barthgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-prime-in-home-worlds-of-various-science-fiction/646885/42 "2013-01-14T00:13:58Z")
The universal translator seems to be out of order every time one says, “Kaplah!” or “P’tak!”… so, at some point i just have to give in to the fact that it’s a device… Ka’plah! ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-prime-in-home-worlds-of-various-science-fiction/646885/43 "2013-01-14T00:23:41Z")
I like to think that 24th-century English has adopted a number of Klingon loan-words, and the gizmo does not need to translate them any more that it would translate “Schadenfreude,” “Mammoth,” “Entourage” or any of the other-Earth-language-based words in 20th-century English. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-prime-in-home-worlds-of-various-science-fiction/646885/44 "2013-01-14T00:28:30Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Then, of course, Jerome Bixby’s other story has an expedition that finds a third moon of Mars, orbiting at an altitude of just a few feet, and the pun-addicted commander of the mission names it… > > Bottomos. Pretty sure it was Innermos. But it has been about 30 years since I read it. ---
**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:** [January 14, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-prime-in-home-worlds-of-various-science-fiction/646885/45 "2013-01-14T01:00:00Z")
[this source](http://books.google.com/books?id=hQ99bIZCccoC&pg=PA552&lpg=PA552&dq=Bottomos&source=bl&ots=-U9gK6CVPR&sig=14VdP9gHEuOqqECvRtTlYSE5TiA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3lbzUOCnA8qWqQHkxYHIBA&ved=0CD4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Bottomos&f=false) seems to agree that the third moon of mars, was indeed bottomos, which is how i remember it, too. Remember the use of puns by one of the characters was a plot point. ---
**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:** [January 14, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-prime-in-home-worlds-of-various-science-fiction/646885/46 "2013-01-14T01:05:33Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > [this source](http://books.google.com/books?id=hQ99bIZCccoC&pg=PA552&lpg=PA552&dq=Bottomos&source=bl&ots=-U9gK6CVPR&sig=14VdP9gHEuOqqECvRtTlYSE5TiA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3lbzUOCnA8qWqQHkxYHIBA&ved=0CD4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Bottomos&f=false) > > seems to agree that the third moon of mars, was indeed bottomos, which is how i remember it, too. Remember the use of puns by one of the characters was a plot point. also [spoiler][http://booksonmars.blogspot.com/2010/05/cities-of-martian-rails-bottomos.html[/spoiler]](http://booksonmars.blogspot.com/2010/05/cities-of-martian-rails-bottomos.html%5B/spoiler%5D) /hijack ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-prime-in-home-worlds-of-various-science-fiction/646885/47 "2013-01-14T03:55:05Z")
Wikipedia gives a number of examples of the use of the term “Earth Prime” in science fiction, more often in comic books than in novels: > **[Earth Prime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Prime)** > > Earth Prime (or Earth-Prime) is a term sometimes used in works of speculative fiction, most notably in DC Comics, involving parallel universes or a multiverse, and refers either to the universe containing "our" Earth, or to a parallel world with a bare minimum of divergence points from Earth as we know it — often the absence or near-absence of metahumans, or with their existence confined to fictional narratives like comics. The "Earth Prime" of a given fictional setting may or may not have an int... Generally the idea is that there are many parallel universes, each with a planet equivalent to Earth in them. You can refer to any of those planet in those parallel universes as Earth. To talk specifically about Earth in our parallel universe, you need to refer to it as Earth Prime. This terminology may have been introduced in the DC Multiverse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-prime-in-home-worlds-of-various-science-fiction/646885.md?page=2)