In honor of what I’ve heard about the Hobbit, this post has a long and unnecessary preamble.  Those with valuable time may wish to skip to the contest itself, the beginning of which is obvious even though it is incorrectly called a game.  (It’s clearly a contest.)



Moxie is soon moving to her own room.

How does this affect me, you say?

That answer is currently unknown to science, so, officially, we have no comment.  Unofficially, we expect you will be affected by the move, and that, in effect, that effect will be large relative to the effect on you of other things that have affected you.

Oh my, you say, then perhaps I should help!

Yes, otherwise you would risk being a feckless FoM, effectively.

FoM, you say?

Friend, Family or Financier of Moxie.   You pick.  (You may pick up to three, but must pick at least one.  The last one.  Pick the last one.)

Oh, you say.
Seriously?
This all a little Moxie-centric, you say, don’t you think?

You’re the one reading the blog that openly talks about her fecal fecundity.

You say, fair.

Yes.  And listen, she’s moving to the other room soon.  So let’s continue.  Preparations really must be made.

Of course, of course!  What can I, you say, do?  Can I, you say, set her room up?

Well, Bob and Teresa have already done most of the heavy lifting and fancy interior design, so you can’t help there.  The room is as it will be.

Hmmm, you say, mmmm.   
Then perhaps I can get Moxie stuff to put in in her room to make it all feel more roomy?

Well, you’re always welcome to send Moxie stuff.  But a lot of people have already thought of that, so the room is decently roomy.  Perhaps try another command.

You say this: Well, poop.

Oh dear!  Such language from a supposedly winning adventurer!

Say what?!? 
Wait….
 >go downstairs , you type.

It is pitch black.  You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

 >Light the candle , you humor me.

It is not clear what you want to burn the candle with.

Ahhhh, everyone in the world says!
 >LIGHT THE CANDLE WITH THE MATCH! 


The match is not burning; you cannot light things with the match.

Just kidding.  The room is lit and to the east you see a great idea for how you can help Moxie out with her room!

…, you don’t say.

The east.  There’s the idea.  Go over there.  East.

<rude gesture>, you sign.

All right, all right.  Let me do if for you:

 >Go east 

You come upon an old, battered sign that you can just barely make out.  It reads:

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The Name Moxie’s Dragons Dragon Naming Game!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Ok, everyone, Moxie has dragons, and they look like this:

Droles de dragons
The similarities between the purple dragon in the middle and the blue dragon next to it are a great example of convergent evolution.  While both have bulbous bodies, rectusian tails, and ovid ears, their closest common ancestor is the primordial wing, which is the earliest undisputed organism in the dragon taxonomy.

(If you’re lucky, you can click on the picture to make it bigger.  If you’re not lucky, I’m so, so sorry.)

I won’t go into much of the backstory on these dragons because there’s a lot of pain–the real, gut-wrenching pain of love, loss and love lost–and going through it all again just isn’t fair to them.  Suffice to say, they’re on the other side of all that and now Moxie has 10 dragon friends and one dragon wing friend, all of whom watch over her.  (It’s a mobile; what else would they do?)

(To be completely transparent, there’s an additional dragon friend not pictured here that already has a name and will be discussed at some other point in time.  This is not a page for dragon rivalry.)

So these dragons need names.  (Again, long story, but there’s some people out there that’d really like to know where these dragons are.  Some not so nice people.   We don’t want to take any chances, so they all agreed to assume new identities.)

As is apparent from the prequel, Moxie’s dad is much too dorky to come up with these names himself, so he’s asking for help.  He’s me, though, so let’s go back to the first person because I’m uncomfortable here in third.  Ok, I’m handing off the naming duties to you all, but I’m too egotistical to just let this be entirely open.  So I made some dorky rules for you to follow.  Call them Naming Conventions.

  1. The name must be a real word.
  2. The name must tell me something about the dragon.
  3. The name should be three or more syllables long.
  4. The name should not be a commonly used word.
  5. The name should sound cool.
  6. The namer must be ok with their name or names not being chosen.
  7. The namer may specify which dragon they are naming, but must also be ok with that name being assigned to a different dragon.

Read the conventions with “must” as immutable; read the conventions with “should” as guidelines that can be bent if need be.  The convention with “may” is entirely optional.

Ok, Convention 6 is there just in case I get too many names.  I’m the final arbiter and will judge the names based on the Naming Conventions.  And really, I just mean I’ll chose the ones I like best.  I won’t take into account who sent the names, so reread Convention 6, please.  Seriously.  I’ll wait.  Also, Convention 7 is pretty enjoyable, if you’ve got the time.

Here is an example from my childhood:  I grew up with a dragon named Serendipity.  She was a pink dragon that learned about being who she was.  This is a pretty good example.  Serendipity is a real word that sounds really cool, is long, and somewhat rare.

I don’t actually remember the plot that well, so I don’t know if Serendipity’s life was serendipitous, but I’m guessing it was, so Convention 2 was probably satisfied.  As for Convention 6, well, I didn’t contact the author for this post, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that he won’t feel bad that I’m not choosing Serendipity for Moxie’s dragons.  She gets her own dragon names.

(I should mention that Serendipity is the inspiration for this.  I don’t remember a time that I didn’t have some idea of what serendipity meant because of those books.  So there’s a little bit of education motivation in all this.  I hope that doesn’t taint it too much.)

All right, I know you all have favorite words that would just be great for dragon names.  Leave comments.  Private message me.  Email me.  Letter write me.  Anything you want, just get me some names.

6 thoughts on “A call to wits!

  1. Extirpate is the name of the black-and-white checkerboard dragon just left of center.

    Adherence To the Conventions:
    #1 – extirpate is in fact a real word
    #2 – As a dragon, Extirpate by nature is designed to extirpate. Whether she chooses to do so or not is entirely up to her.
    #3 – ex tir pate = three syllables
    #4 – quite a rare word; only time I've seen/heard it used was in your blog about the golden number skirt length fiasco. (Fiasco… now there's a good dragon name…)
    #5 – c'mon. please. who is going to say Extirpate is not cool? seriously. way cool.
    #6 – I'm quite a laid back person in general, though now that I've gone through this whole process and am doing all this justification on behalf of my chosen name, I gotta admit I'm becoming more and more tied to the idea. Take it or leave it. Just know that I may use it in a naming ceremony of my own at some point in the future if you don't.
    #7 – Also fine. Though as stated at the beginning, Extirpate is the name of the black-and-white checkerboard dragon just left of center. Whether you choose to name her as such or not is entirely up to you.

  2. Loquacious is the name of the blue dragon just right of center.

    Adherence To the Conventions:
    #1 – Loquacious is in fact a real word
    #2 – duh, as defined Loquacious tells you something about her (and what she does…)
    #3 – lo qua cious= three syllables
    #4 – i'm pretty sure I'm the only person who ever uses this word, which I learned in high school studying for the SATs
    #5 – cool is a relative term. it is cool to me. and after all it is always all about me.
    #6 – i couldn't give a shit whether or not you use it, because again see #5. It was enough for me to put it out there to be satisfied with my fabulous choice of a name.
    #7 – I would prefer that you don't because I'm really, really fond of that blue one, but will settle for another one if that is your preference. you are in charge of this!

  3. Did you just make use of text-based adventure game commands in a post about naming dragons? Did that just happen? Where the hell is my Vic-20 when I need it?
    >LIGHT THE MATCH

    As per the Naming Conventions, there is no clause stating that a participant must limit her entries to one (1). In light of this discovery, I am going to abuse the hell out of that loophole.

    Entry the First: [For consideration for thin, yellow, O-shaped, red-and-white dragon.]

    Shenanigans (also acceptable, though somewhat frowned upon: Shenanigan)–Mischief. Prankishness. Trickery.

    Entry the Second: [For consideration for yellow and purple fire-breathing dragon.]

    Smithereens–Small pieces, bits. In other words, what dragons can do to Those Who Anger Them. Apropos of the last entry, this really ought to remain in the plural. I offer as rationale a tidbit of dialogue from a Tom Robbins book: ". . .are you aware that there’s no such thing as a smithereen? The word exists only in the plural.”

    Entry the Third: [For consideration for thin, yellow, zig-zaggy dragon.]

    Whimsy–Fanciful notion. Playful expression.
    "But Naming Convention Number Three!" you may protest.
    “True; however, ‘Whimsical’, though three syllables, is not as strong a name; I am not willing to compromise the quality of your daughter’s dragon’s names. Are you? To hell with Naming Convention Number Three!”
    ‘To hell,’ you say?” you say.

    “ ‘To hell,’ ” I said, “I said.”

    Entry the Fourth: [For consideration for purple dragon.]

    Gumption–Courage. Guts. That early twentieth-century initiative that strong women summoned time and again as they fought for equal rights. Seems like a nice notion for a growing girl.
    "But Naming Convention Number Three!" you may protest.
    “Zip it,” I snap.

    Entry the Fifth: [For consideration for blue-and-white checked dragon.]

    Extemporaneous–Impromptu. Fun to say, amirite?

    Entry the Sixth: [For consideration for thin, yellow and green dragon with red tips.]

    Pulchritudinous–Beautiful. The irony of this word is striking. It’s an awkward word that means beauty. Almost as though one has to get to know it before one can understand its value.

    Entry the Seventh: [For consideration for rotund, sky-bluw dragon.]

    Jitterbug–Acrobatic dance with twirls, splits and somersaults. Because that is what children do. With their dragons. And stuff. Shoosh, okay, it’s just a cute word.

    Entry the Eighth (and Final): [For consideration for large red dragon.]

    Valkyrie–Old Norse for “chooser of the slain”. Really, dragons do a lot of that sort of choosing, too, so it seems appropriate. Also? You know those Valkyries have fun with their mead and Vikings in Valhalla. (Ooh, Valhalla! Another good option…) Perhaps this stretches Naming Convention Number One because it is a name rather than a word, but just knock back a couple steins of mead and you won’t. even. care.

    tl;dr: Don’t link your blog to the public. The preceding is the result of such foolishness.

  4. Kiki/Glenn says:

    I really like the Fiasco suggestion!
    From left to right:

    FIASCO – She's actually a rare flying llama. She tries hard, but is a massive failure at being a dragon.

    HALCYON – A sunny and happy dragon.

    BAILIWICK – A bit of a know-it-all, but he really does know a lot about being a dragon, and is quite good at it.

    ZAPATO – With so many feet, it only makes sense that this wiggly dragon hoards not gold, but shoes.

    PERSNICKETY – This checkered dragon could tell you why she's named that … but she won't.

    PANACHE – She's big, and purple and know's how to work it.

    ROCOCO – Believes the small flourishes are what really make a dragon look hot like Smaug. Concentric circles on the wings are a must, and a nice accent color stripe on the tail can really complete the look.

    DULCET – He sings so sweetly, he gives himself cavities.

    CALAMITY – She suffers from such bad breath, that she once petrified an entire village of garden gnomes.

    APOGEE – Kind of an outsider, Apogee just kinda hangs out around the outer orbit of dragon social circles.

  5. Pandorion – (yellow and green snake dragon on the right) Her luminescent scales are being reproduced by Czeck and Japanese bead makers using pressed and crystal glass.

    Argonaut – (red and yellow snake dragon on the left) It is rumored that this dragon chased Jason and his crew for many years, aiding in Jason’s famous exploits.

    Seismic – (large red dragon on the right) Large and in charge. Makes quite an entrance when he makes the cave shake.

    Pythagoras – (purple and yellow striped dragon with a pointed tail on the right) This dragon is one of the most famous and controversial dragon philosopher.

  6. Phobaphobia– scared at the thought of being scared. That's probably the checkered one laying motionless on the ground.

    Caddywampus– (probably the big blue or big red one)

    Archipelago– the stripey snake-like green guy. Alternately, that one could be

    Somnambulant (sleepwalker) for the yellow one to the left.

    Schistosomiasis– that's the windy striped red one. Look at him– he's ready to crawl into someone's bloodstream through their foot, I just know it.

    Hooligan- the purple striped one. Trouble.

    Erinaceous– purple bulbous one. Resembling a hedgehog.

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