Need help with another word for "android"

Marcusthefish · Apr 21, 2006

Something from Triceratops' "pushing the genre" thread has opened my eyes to a potentially serious problem in my SF novel.

The book is about a group of androids who escape from corporate slavery. Well, I call them androids, but they are actually artificial people, bio-engineered and manufactured to grow up very fast. They're a lot like Philip K. Dick's replicants in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Blade Runner)--entirely biological and almost totally anthropomorphized in the story.

Readers who've seen my first few chapters have had problems (at least initially) with my using the word "android" to describe these beings. I agree it would help to give them a name that doesn't have so many genre connotations, but I haven't been able to come up with one that I like.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

MTF

A. Hamilton · Apr 21, 2006

the company that manufactured them would most likely refer to them by an acronym. you could use your description of what they are to create a catchy one. ie: aritficial biological subjects would be ABS. make it interesting and easy to remember.

Marcusthefish · Apr 21, 2006

P.H.Delarran said:
the company that manufactured them would most likely refer to them by an acronym. you could use your description of what they are to create a catchy one. ie: aritficial biological subjects would be ABS. make it interesting and easy to remember.

Thanks for your suggestion--I'll think along those lines, but I really want a word. My setting is pretty far-future, and androids are in general use by many corporations across a fairly far-flung interstellar human society, so I want something that feels organic. A tall order, I know.

By the way, "android" comes from the Greek prefix for "man" (andr-) and a suffix that means "alike" (-eidos or eides).

MTF

sacredmime · Apr 21, 2006

Are you looking for a word that they would call themselves or a word that their owners would call them?

Marcusthefish · Apr 21, 2006

sacredmime said:
Are you looking for a word that they would call themselves or a word that their owners would call them?

Both, I guess--something that could be a standard term for a biological android. Here are some I remember from books I've read:

In an old Robert Reed novel (The Hormone Jungle, I think), he used the word "chem" as slang for android (chemical as opposed to biological, I guess).

Cordwainer Smith called his manufactured people "underpeople" (in Norstrilia). They were human-animal hybrids, more like the uplifted creatures in David Brin's books.

Maureen McHugh used the word "chimera" (and "harni") in Nekropolis. Will Shetterly also uses it in his book, Chimera.

An old SF thriller by N. Lee Wood (Looking for the Mahdi) used "fabricant."

Robert Silverberg used good old "android" in Tower of Glass (about an android rebellion), but they acted pretty human.

MTF

veinglory · Apr 21, 2006

As a generic term would 'Hominoid' make sense? I assume you have both androids and 'gynoids'.

Anya Smith · Apr 21, 2006

I use "Cymechs" in one of my stories, but they're also augmented.

Wesley Smith · Apr 21, 2006

Would this word be the official designation of said sentients, or more of a slang term? If it is to be the offical, corporate name, I would go with an acronym.

However, since we're talking about plastic people, how about calling them Kens or Barbies?

Marcusthefish · Apr 21, 2006

veinglory said:
As a generic term would 'Hominoid' make sense? I assume you have both androids and 'gynoids'.

Thanks, Veinglory. I do have males and females.

I'll think on it, but "Hominoid" might just be a little too close to Hominid.

MTf

Marcusthefish · Apr 21, 2006

Wesley Smith said:
Would this word be the official designation of said sentients, or more of a slang term? If it is to be the offical, corporate name, I would go with an acronym.

However, since we're talking about plastic people, how about calling them Kens or Barbies?

Wesley: It's not an official designation, more like a common name. Kens and Barbies is fun, but probably too flippant for my story.

Anya: "cymechs" is a good one for robotic androids.

I was thinking about calling them "pseudos" or "zoans," (after the greek prefix meaning animal--since they're engineered from animal DNA).

I also considered using "sureibu," or "tobi" which (according to the internets) are the Japanese words for slave and worker, respectively. But putting japanese words in your SF novel went out in the 1980s, right?

I also considered "thrall," which comes from an Old English word for slave, but it might be too archaic.

Damn, I wish I had thought of this before I wrote the book--nothing is going to sound right to me.

MTF

sunandshadow · Apr 21, 2006

I have humanoids constructed by magic, who are just called 'constructs'. But for a more science fiction sound you coud try Synths (for synthetic humans), or Instas (for instant human (just add water

). Speedies (because they grow up fast)?

I would say, look at what you want the androids to thematically represent in the story and choose the name based on that.

Marcusthefish · Apr 21, 2006

sunandshadow said:
I have humanoids constructed by magic, who are just called 'constructs'. But for a more science fiction sound you coud try Synths (for synthetic humans), or Instas (for instant human (just add water ). Speedies (because they grow up fast)?

I would say, look at what you want the androids to thematically represent in the story and choose the name based on that.

Thanks for the ideas--synths might work.

MTF

alaskamatt17 · Apr 21, 2006

I like the sound of "synths." It also has a derogatory undertone, which fits very well for your novel (from what I read of it). The humans in your novel would definitely love to call their creations synths.

sunandshadow · Apr 21, 2006

Deleted member 42 · Apr 21, 2006

Marcusthefish said:
Wesley: It's not an official designation, more like a common name. Kens and Barbies is fun, but probably too flippant for my story.

And Mattel would sue for TM violation; they sue at the drop of a hat.

Maybe name them after their inventor/maker/"father"?

badducky · Apr 21, 2006

I'd give them no name whatsoever, and make the absence of name part of the corporate conspiracy to mask the existence of these entities.

Then, the questions driving the book would be stuff like "What are our people?", and "What is our cultural identity if we have no identity?"

My 2 cents.

triceretops · Apr 21, 2006

Marc, I think it is important, very important to be original in SF nowadays.

My robots were called auto-mechs, but I hardly think that qualifies as anything original, hence part of my rejections.

Artificial Person and Replicants has been used.

I put three words together for you just off the top of my head: Robot, android, and cybernetics, and came up with Cyboid.

Mechoid

Cybertrom

Faboid

Since these androids could be called a new species, what about a Latin definition that's new?

Yes, be fresh/original. It certainly wouldn't be a bad idea to start a SF/Fantasy thread that contains a listing of all our alternative names, tags, and such. It could be a thesarus or dictionary and everyone could contribute. You know like alternative names for lazer pistol, plasma rifle, sword, cops, intellectects, magic use, planet names, city names, social standings, income brackets, alien cultures and names, religious orders, military (futuristic) designations, and scores of other things. We desperately need some type of pool to dip into occationally, so our stuff doesn't come off as borrowed, hackneyed, or cliche.

Tri

ChaosTitan · Apr 21, 2006

Wesley Smith said:
However, since we're talking about plastic people, how about calling them Kens or Barbies?

Potential litigation aside, the terms also call to mind the...ah, lack of physical definition in certain parts of those dolls. :hat:

But the comment reminded me of a scene in one of my novels. One of the supporting characters is a sentient android prototype, and one of the assumptions my main female protag makes about him is that "he's as anatomically correct as a Ken doll." A rather amusing scene follows when the android wanders into the room naked as a jay bird, and defies that expectation.... :e2brows:

ChaosTitan · Apr 21, 2006

Marcusthefish said:
Wesley: It's not an official designation, more like a common name. Kens and Barbies is fun, but probably too flippant for my story.

Anya: "cymechs" is a good one for robotic androids.

Is it bad that upon first reading this part of the post, I thought it was dialogue for some strange Buffy/Angel crossover scene?

Marcusthefish · Apr 24, 2006

triceretops said:
Yes, be fresh/original. It certainly wouldn't be a bad idea to start a SF/Fantasy thread that contains a listing of all our alternative names, tags, and such. It could be a thesarus or dictionary and everyone could contribute. You know like alternative names for lazer pistol, plasma rifle, sword, cops, intellectects, magic use, planet names, city names, social standings, income brackets, alien cultures and names, religious orders, military (futuristic) designations, and scores of other things. We desperately need some type of pool to dip into occationally, so our stuff doesn't come off as borrowed, hackneyed, or cliche.

Thanks, Tri, and everyone else who's responded. I've been killing myself at an online etymological dictionary, looking up every variation of "slave," "worker," "robot," and "android." Nothing I've found feels right, yet--it's godawful tough to change a word that I've held onto for three-plus drafts. "Synth" is growing on me, though.

I'd like to see a thread about current ideas in SF (it should be separate from fantasy), in addition to new names we're using for the old stand-bys. I've been doing this on my own for a few weeks--buying and reading a lot of recent SF, and taking notes on the idea content. My goal is to find out how SF writers are handling the standards (space travel / space combat / artificial intelligence / virtual reality / nanotechnology / cybernetics) and what new ones are getting a lot of use, so I can make sure my approach in the next book is at least current, if not cutting-edge.

I'd be happy to post some of my notes, if people think it's a good idea (I've also found that reading book reviews of current books is a good quick way to to become aware of what's being done).

MTF

ChaosTitan · Apr 24, 2006

I'm up for that sort of discussion. I'd start it myself, but I have to run off to work. <sigh>

Sage · Apr 24, 2006

We did have a game in this forum for a few weeks where we took cliched names for sci-fi/fantasy standards & came up with new names for them. It came out of a discussion about whether "blaster" was a cliche, a ripoff, or necessary.

triceretops · Apr 24, 2006

Yeah, I could go for something like that too. "The Evolutionary Change of Science Fiction" or something like that. What's hitting the shelves today as opposed to what was there 10-15 years ago? What are the most popular trends today?

Are we seeing paranormal SF coming into vogue? And what has prompted a healthy emergence in romantic SF? Is there room for satirical SF, and where are these markets? Are the top science writers and PHDs really slugging it out in the trenches and trying to push a new Golden Age? Just some of the questions that are bugging me. I wish I belonged to the SFWA, but I'll have to requalify again to get in there and rub noses and find out some of these insider notions and revelations.

Tri

Marcusthefish · Apr 25, 2006

triceretops said:
Yeah, I could go for something like that too. "The Evolutionary Change of Science Fiction" or something like that. What's hitting the shelves today as opposed to what was there 10-15 years ago? What are the most popular trends today?

Are we seeing paranormal SF coming into vogue? And what has prompted a healthy emergence in romantic SF? Is there room for satirical SF, and where are these markets? Are the top science writers and PHDs really slugging it out in the trenches and trying to push a new Golden Age? Just some of the questions that are bugging me. I wish I belonged to the SFWA, but I'll have to requalify again to get in there and rub noses and find out some of these insider notions and revelations.

Tri

Tri, your concept is more of a market analysis than I was thinking (not that it wouldn't be interesting, but it's beyond my expertise).

I was more interested in tracking the speculative ideas that are popular, and documenting how old ideas are being updated.

I think I'll start something (in a week or so), and see if anyone finds it interesting or helpful.

MTF

Higgins · Sep 8, 2006

Do Anddroids have some Characteristics?

Marcusthefish said:
Something from Triceratops' "pushing the genre" thread has opened my eyes to a potentially serious problem in my SF novel.

The book is about a group of androids who escape from corporate slavery. Well, I call them androids, but they are actually artificial people, bio-engineered and manufactured to grow up very fast. They're a lot like Philip K. Dick's replicants in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Blade Runner)--entirely biological and almost totally anthropomorphized in the story.

Readers who've seen my first few chapters have had problems (at least initially) with my using the word "android" to describe these beings. I agree it would help to give them a name that doesn't have so many genre connotations, but I haven't been able to come up with one that I like.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

MTF

Do they stutter? To they look like Gilligan ( call them "Little Buddies"), do they have extra hands? Big teeth? ("Toothies") do they all wear wigs (Wigs? Wiggies?)

Derive it from Gulliver's Travels sort of and call them Homonyms.

Need help with another word for "android"

Marcusthefish

A. Hamilton

here for a minute...catch me?

Marcusthefish

sacredmime

Esteemed New Member

Marcusthefish

veinglory

volitare nequeo

Anya Smith

House Dragon

Wesley Smith

Marcusthefish

Marcusthefish

sunandshadow

Impractical Fantasy Animal

Marcusthefish

alaskamatt17

sunandshadow

Impractical Fantasy Animal

Deleted member 42

badducky

No Time For Chitchat, Kemosabe.

triceretops

ChaosTitan

Around

ChaosTitan

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Marcusthefish

ChaosTitan

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Sage

Our Lady of Parentheticals

triceretops

Marcusthefish

Higgins