From alt.fan.pratchett Thu May 20 13:25:09 1993 From: tao@fine.princeton.edu (Terry Tao) Subject: Constellations - the shortlist Organization: Princeton University Whew! Thanks for all the replies, by email and by post. I've got far more than the 64 constellations we needed. Some I unfortunately had to eliminate, for several reasons: some were anachronisms, too contemporary (the constellations would have been named centuries ago) or not in Discworld taste; some would never have been named by the dignified astrologers, who really would have *tried* for a serious sounding name; and some were interesting ideas (e.g. the astrologer's answer to Skund), but were too improbable, even for the disc - relying a bit too much on "in-jokes" and such. Also, there were some repetitions that popped up occasionally, and so I had to select only one. Finally, I wanted all the Zodiac constellations to be roughly the same size, and while some suggested names for individual stars, nebulae, etc. were interesting, they weren't really what we wanted. Sorry to all those constellations who were left out! Anyway, here's the list. I guess I'll just lay out the lot for you, all 109 of them.. Someone else can choose which sixty-four become the official list. (Yes, all of Pterry's constellations are in there somewhere..) Akhtivol (Trollish for Bright Night Thing Higher Up Than I Can Reach) Andion the Softener (A feared hero of legend) Ardlestip, the Cup of Sugar Baashwyc, the Condiment Set Ballabork the Slightly Unwell Walrus Bingle, the Pinkfish Borff, the Chipolata Boris, the Cunningly Disguised Bybbel, the Partly Eaten Apple Carpigob, the Sea Turkey Chela's Nostril Clang, the Docile Hippo Cusper, the Snake with a hat Deformed Rabbit Eehish the Flatulant Wyvern Eslar's Wart Flarnt, the Cracked Jug Flob, the Unknown Poet Four Empty Mugs Five Other Krullians Who Did Not Heed The Story Of The Eight Careless Krullians Frundel, the Packing Crate Gastible, the Spice Rack Gahoolie, the Case of Tulips Gilwort's Line (lost every few years, but refound again. Only has two stars) Grodumm's Holy Pocket Fluff Grumbin, the Communal Rice Bowl Ignominius Irg the Spaniel and his Shadow Jixx, the Burning Greengrocer Khaphut's Wig Kharzilch- The Pickled Herring Mahatma'Cote the Cloakroom Attendant Miki the mouse Mubbo the Hyaena Nombo the Dead Herring Luq-Meia the rather sick barnacle Okjock the Salesman Omporno the Tapestry Fitter Ongl'truq, the cleaven Maggot (near Bybbel, the partly eaten apple) O'Ryan the Punter Ququvrac, the Crazed Philatelist Serpens Majoris - the greater sea monster Serpens Minoris - the lesser sea monster Serpens molto minoris - the really tiny sea monster Snoo the Bloated Gerbil Sovergum's Navel Spragg the Hunchbacked Stoat S'sputt the Rhododendron Tangularis Circumferensi - The Rimward Tangle Tangularis Corioli - The Hubward Tangle The Asthmatic Weasel - Sign of door-to-door salesmen The Balances (with The Thumb Star) The Barbarians Handbag The Broken Wizard The Big Ladel The Book of Celerity The Celestial Parsnip The Cow of Heaven The Cheese Wheel The Disappearing Citadel The Disfiguring Bruise The Dirtied Hanky The Door of Paranoia The Eight Careless Krullians The Exploded Swamp Dragon The Fearful Suitors The Fire-Damaged Bungalow The Fisherman's Knee The Five Small Turnips The Flying Moose The Four Unsuspecting Toenails The Gnat's Chuff The Great Goat Rump The Greater Empty The Hedgehog Kebab The Humbled Shrew The Illustrious Sandal The Inverted Elephant The Irritable Woodlice The Knotted String The Lawyer's Kneecaps The Leaping Sandwich The Lesser Empty The Little Ladel The Loose Doorknob The Lonely Star The Mouse of Predestination The Nine-Legged Platypus The Perhaps Gate The Posthumous Decoration The Presentation Clock The Rubber Figgin The Seven Awkwardly Positioned Stars The Small Boring Group of Faint Stars The Sneeze The Somewhat Larger Ladel The Spinning Buzzard The Stars Whose Sum is Twelve The Three Knobbly Potatoes The Three Spoons The Two Fat Cousins The Wizened Wahooni Uiahovip's Magnificent P (Uiahovip was nearsighted, it's actually an E) Umposht and Kwerd, the Maracas Virgin with Scimitar (near the Fearful Suitors) Wezen, the Double-Headed Kangaroo Wizard in a Bucket Wolf Chewing Pebbles Zurgencree the Laundry Thief -- Terry Tao Math Dept., Princeton University (tao@math.princeton.edu) "It's what I do. Any time there's something so ridiculously dangerous that no rational human being would even consider trying it, they send for me." - Belgarion (King of the Murgos)