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Antidepressants or Tolkien

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Re: Antidepressants or Tolkien

#81

Post by lIl-IIIl »

crypto29 wrote: post #21
saghm wrote: post #16

Two of my favorites of this genre are "Ikea Furniture or Metal Band" and "Drug or Pokemon". I did terribly at the first one since I don't know enough metal I guess, but I aced the latter, despite realizing that "Remoraid" actually does sound more like some sort of join pain cream or something than a pokemon.

Let's not forget one of the first in the genre - "Programming Language Inventor or Serial Killer" https://vole.wtf/coder-serial-killer-quiz/

My first and favorite was cheeseorfont.com, which is unfortunately has been taken over by something completely unrelated.

But that at least had an explanation: both cheeses and type foundries seem to come from Switzerland.

Re: Antidepressants or Tolkien

#82

Post by fikama »

jltsiren wrote: post #45
blooalien wrote: post #24

I'm really surprised at what a challenge that turned out to be. I was certain I was gonna have no problems distinguishing drugs from Tolkien characters, but I only got 15/24 in the end. Recognized a few obvious brand names and characters, but half the time I had to resort to straight-up guessing. Some of those drug names totally sound like Tolkien characters.

None of the drug names sounded like Tolkien characters to me. I guess native English speakers are at a disadvantage, because they are more likely to consider the names as they would be pronounced in English. The intended pronunciation is usually close to Classical Latin, which means that pronouncing the names in any other European language is likely closer to the truth. And when you pronounce the names in that langua…

You got me interested, could you say more about how are doing this? What exactly sounds different to you, and maybe what is your first language too. I am European but my first language is polish so in this context it is useless :P

Re: Antidepressants or Tolkien

#83

Post by indigoabstract »

retrac wrote: post #75
ren_engineer wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's actually a due to a research field created/popularized by Tolkien https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonaesthetics all about studying pleasant sounding words, big pharma uses it for naming drugs. "Cellar door" was one of Tolkien's favorite phrases, you can see variations and modifications of it in many fantasy settings >Tolkien, Lewis, and others have suggested that cellar door's auditory beauty becomes more apparen…

There's a related field, phonosemantics, about the inherent meaning of a word because of how it sounds. (Words which sound like what they should sound like are, I would guess, pleasing.) Onomatopoeia fall in this category: bang, crash, pow, glug-glug. Teensy eensy tiny itty bitty little bit. All /e/ and /i/ front vowels. The mouth is literally closed up. Grand large vast ginormous expansive gargantuan. All /a/ back v…

I've noticed that too. It's like some form of synesthesia, where one sense (audio in this case) influences perception in another seemingly unrelated sense (visuals).

And, perhaps related, in addition to their regular meaning, a lot of things seem to also have an inherent symbolic value. Like going up/going down, on top/at the bottom, sharp/blunt, clear/foggy, etc.

I think that most people, when asked, would prefer going up to going down, even though they have to push against gravity.

Re: Antidepressants or Tolkien

#84

Post by jhbadger »

blooalien wrote: post #24

I'm really surprised at what a challenge that turned out to be. I was certain I was gonna have no problems distinguishing drugs from Tolkien characters, but I only got 15/24 in the end. Recognized a few obvious brand names and characters, but half the time I had to resort to straight-up guessing. Some of those drug names totally sound like Tolkien characters.

It depends if you've read The Silmarillion or not. Pretty much all the obscure Tolkien characters are from that and had no problem recognizing them. Also, they included accent marks on some of the names which is a dead give away (I can't think of any drug name that uses those). Still, if your exposure to Tolkien is just LOTR, I could see how this could be difficult.

Re: Antidepressants or Tolkien

#85

Post by thedanbob »

jhbadger wrote: post #84
blooalien wrote: post #24

I'm really surprised at what a challenge that turned out to be. I was certain I was gonna have no problems distinguishing drugs from Tolkien characters, but I only got 15/24 in the end. Recognized a few obvious brand names and characters, but half the time I had to resort to straight-up guessing. Some of those drug names totally sound like Tolkien characters.

It depends if you've read The Silmarillion or not. Pretty much all the obscure Tolkien characters are from that and had no problem recognizing them. Also, they included accent marks on some of the names which is a dead give away (I can't think of any drug name that uses those). Still, if your exposure to Tolkien is just LOTR, I could see how this could be difficult.

> Also, they included accent marks on some of the names which is a dead give away (I can't think of any drug name that uses those).

There actually was one, Clédial. It caught me out because I was thinking the same thing.

Re: Antidepressants or Tolkien

#86

Post by davikr »

jonny_eh wrote: post #25
isoprophlex wrote: post #3

I never knew sildenafil (marketed as viagra) acted as an antidepressant too, lol

> Antidepressant-like activity of sildenafil following acute and subchronic treatment in the forced swim test in mice: effects of restraint stress and monoamine depletion https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5031750/

It is definitely not used for depression in humans, though.

Re: Antidepressants or Tolkien

#87

Post by 93po »

diarrhea wrote: post #37
jonny_eh wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment, its content and tone, is why I came here.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224

I wonder what it's like to be BrandonM and internet famous in such a niche way but also in a way that a lot of successful people recognize.

Re: Antidepressants or Tolkien

#88

Post by SamFold »

misstuned wrote: post #71
ren_engineer wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's actually a due to a research field created/popularized by Tolkien https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonaesthetics all about studying pleasant sounding words, big pharma uses it for naming drugs. "Cellar door" was one of Tolkien's favorite phrases, you can see variations and modifications of it in many fantasy settings >Tolkien, Lewis, and others have suggested that cellar door's auditory beauty becomes more apparen…

There is, or was, a radio/TV company in Europe called Celador - I always wondered where the odd-sounding name came from.

Also the name of the island where the dragons live in Ursula Leguin’s books. (Written Selidor)
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