Talk:Transformer naming

I question the validity of this article. --M Sipher 22:19, 2 August 2009 (EDT)

I concur. "Safe to assume", that's a problem. For all we know, the speech on Cybertron is translated to English, and Bumblebee's untranslated name is a term that describes a small buzzing insectlike robot. However, that's conjecture. I do not think this page should stick around because it lacks sources and concrete facts. 98.209.73.178 22:30, 2 August 2009 (EDT)

You could get a decent article out of this. Instances when TF's note that their real names are unpronouncable, that they've chosen designations equivilant or whatnot...

...but this article is not that. Even the opening sentence has like 3 problems with it. I'd bad celetion unless someone is interested in doing a total rewerite. (and by rewrite, I mean 'scrap this and start with a blank page.') -Derik 01:05, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

Yes, a complete rewrite is necessary, but there is some good potential here. BTW, Man of Iron features something to the effect of "Optimus Prime calling Autobot operative codenamed Jazz." --Jimsorenson 01:31, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

I was planning an article on naming conventions before the Bookworm crash, covering things like the three distinct types of name (English, Graeco-Latin, 'alien') in the franchise, but forgot about it during the catastrophe. Might be a good time to start drafting again. --Tribimat 05:52, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

There could also be a section on Transformer naming in the real world. How the original line-up was all named but then most of them rejected by Hasbro and had to be renamed, etc. And real-world Japanese names, if it is at all interesting. A lot of them have "English" Japanese names (like "Convoy") which confused me for a while. - Starfield 11:28, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

It sounds to me from the edits above and below as though I'm not the only person who thinks that this article can be made into something useful. Is it appropriate to remove the deletion tag? I'm not clear on the policy here for such things, and a brief search of Transformers_Wiki:Policies didn't turn anything up. Ayellowbirds 23:15, 25 September 2009 (EDT)

If you want to put in the work to overhaul this article (and as Derik points out up there, it'll need a lot of work) then I don't think there's a problem with removing the deletion tag when you start. --abates 17:30, 4 October 2009 (EDT)

Sorry

I apologise for the stupid article :( It won't happen again, I'll just make little edits from now on. Kit 05:23, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

It's not a stupid article. It's a smart article that's clumsily executed. If it was really just stupid, we'd have just marked it for deletion instead of debating about it. Keep trying, you'll get the hang of it. --Jimsorenson 11:03, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

It was a good faith effort that was appreciated. It just needs a little touching up. Don't let the deletion comments discourage you. -- SFH 11:19, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

What Jim, said. Really, these 'general topic' articles are among the hardest to write, because in order to say something that's 'true' for all of Transformers you have to be either very general, or start getting into very specific examples.

Plus you're bumping up against some meta-fictional questions. Are Transformer names really Greko-roman? Fiction presents Transformers as speaking English, but they don't really... -Derik 13:44, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

The "very general" aspect is very true in regards to the "Autobots" section where it claims they generally have heroic-sounding names. That's... well, no. Honestly, most Transformers have names that could go on a character of either good or evil (plus the naming of the section forgets the existence of Maximals). I mean, "classic" "hero" names like Ironhide, Mirage, Wheeljack, Chromia, Sandstorm, and Hot Rod have all been applied to villains... and "classic" "villain" names like Soundwave, Frenzy, Bonecrusher, Divebomb, Swindle and Skywarp have been applied to good guys. (And I'm not talking Shattered Glass here either.) Move beyond the first three years and the number of cross-ideological names only grows by leaps and bounds. At best, you can say the Decepticons have a slightly higher ratio of evil-sounding names than the Autobots have heroic-sounding ones... but not by a lot. --M Sipher 15:52, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

Salvaging

I came looking for an article on this subject on TFwiki, so at the very least there's a bit of demand for it. I started things out by adding a section on the real-world linguistic origins of several Transformers, and while a lot of work is still necessary, I'm confident that this article can become something very useful. The key is differentiating between fictional and meta-fictional aspects of naming. Ayellowbirds 12:57, 25 September 2009 (EDT)

I was just reading through it and I think there are some good in-fiction points we could raise here - BW Megs states that he took his name from the Covenant of Primus, for example. Most of the Beast Warriors appear to change their names upon receiving new forms (and as such are not referred by name in Dawn of Futures Past) and Jazz tell Sammy in Man of Iron that his real name would be unpronounceable, if memory serves. I'm pretty sure Bumblebee is referred to as "Codename Bumblebee" at some point too but I can't remember where. Isn't this the sort of thing we should be writing about? --Emvee 13:46, 25 September 2009 (EDT) Haha, I'm the least observant person in the world, I just saw Jim mentioned Man of Iron up there ^ --Emvee 13:50, 25 September 2009 (EDT)

A-name and J-name

i seem to recall some organic creatures in one of the Dreamwave Productions comics (War and Peace, i think) observing the Transformers and using the terms "A-name" and "J-name" in their notes (specifically, "A-name: Jazz, J-name: Meister"). Should this article, and/or the Easter egg article, mention the use of those abbreviations? Also, should some article (maybe Jazz (G1)) mention that in this continuity, rather than going by Jazz or Meister, he was known as Jazz and Meister?

At any rate, i don't have the book handy to double-check my punctuation (A. Name? j-name?) or citations, so i won't add any of this anywhere yet.

--Rhymus (talk) 00:34, 29 May 2016 (EDT)