I hate it because it's so true. If we were smart we'd follow the tradition we've already set with naming (most) all other planetary bodies with Roman names, but for some reason we didn't. Understandably naming Earth such would be even more ethnocentric than it already is with the other planets, but it makes sense.SandChigger wrote:Why? It's just Earth in Latin. Or Portuguese, as Lisan has pointed out.Redstar wrote:God I hate that name.
It forms a perfectly usable adjective (Terran; don't ask me where FH got his ridiculous "Terranic" ), which you can't claim for English Earth. (Earther? Fuck that.)
I actually prefer Terra, Luna and Sol.
To each his own.
That's why I hate it. It seems most authors feel they have to "make it right", and so refer to the planet as "Terra", its people as "Terrans", and the government as the "Terran [ ]" It annoys me in how much it makes sense, and for that reason I think it shouldn't be a matter of debate.
I have my main character in one of my short stories bitching about it, explaining that the only reason Earth-born humans call themselves "Terrans" is because they're jealous of the colonists getting "grand names" like "Martians" and "Venusians." (Which I'm sure might actually happen) She ends the little mental rant by saying she personally prefers Gaia, just because it's not the usual choice.