Using a Name that's a Slang

[ToxicRamen]

I came up with a new name for a race of aliens, "Xan" which means defender of men in Greek which fits perfectly for them since they're a powerful warrior race however it's also a slang for the drug Xanax. I'm afraid if I use Xan, people will probably associate the alien race with depression/anxiety and not being powerful defenders. (I also hope that "Xan" isn't already being used)

Does anyone else has this kind of problem?

[Kelheor]

99% of people have no idea what Xanax is. Also Xan is not "defender of men" in Greek, it's "Alexandros", which is in it's turn compound of two words, none of which is xan by itself. So yeah, I won't worry about that

[llobucervallince]

@Kelheor
hell, xan could come from anything, I was thinking about a chinese word before they started talking about greeks and drugs, also, just searched "xan" directly and there's some artist called X.A.N., and a word from the lenguaje tsonga, the word "XANa" means "Yes" so literally it could be anything, don't think too much about it.

[darthmongoose]

Look, I have a character called Sarin, and occasionally some smartass is like "hurr hurr that's a nerve gas", but you know what happens with the vast majority of people? They have no idea Sarin is a nerve gas any more than I did when I named her that.
I have a character called Subo, which apparently means "spoon feed" in Tagalog.

You know whose name everyone actually memes on though? Urien. Which is a real name, and doesn't mean anything, people just keep pointing out that it's an anagram of "urine".

So Xan is probably fine.

[river121693]

its an alien name, so I dont think people would associate Xan with Earth drugs.

My comic is titled Sao and the Glow of Memories. Sao is the MC's name, which means "star" in Vietnamese. I wanted the shorthand for my title to be "Sao" but I then realized that's the acronym for Sword Art Online

[NickRowler]

I don’t think Xan would be an issue unless it is a street name for the drug.

The one that I hope doesn’t get me in trouble is Mona. I have a character I want to name Mona because she looks like Mona Lisa. Tho in Italy it means vagina and is considered a very rude thing to call a woman.

In my comic Crow’s Worth, I also had to change one of the stories. My main character’s name is Crow and he has a Blasian friend name Brad. The story involved a creepy man looking for Crow and Brad lies by saying “I am Crow” to protect his friend. I ended up changing the story because crow has been used as a racial slur against black people.

[HGohwell]

Honestly, there's so often going to be something in any work that means something else by accident. It's just a fact of life, especailly when it comes to translations. Everything from "it's a boys name in this language but a girls name in ours" to "that's actually a slur inanother language" and you can do your best to avoid the more serious side of things and avoid them but sometimes you've just got to go for it, because you just don't know your blind spots and if people have issue with it, assess the situation when it comes to it.

[moontokkym]

Lol I also have a character called Sarin specifically after the nerve gas because she's designed to be immune to it. I'm kind of sad because Sarin sounds like such a pretty name...

And yeah OP Xan is fine, it's not offensive in any language to my knowledge and most people I know who refer to Xanax regularly call it Xanny more than Xan. Xanax is prescribed as anti-anxiety/panic attack medication like you said, even as someone who has many anxious friends, some of which are prescribed the drug I wouldn't immediately associate aliens with them nor their mental problems, and I'm more in contact with the drug than the average person.

[ToxicRamen]

I actually googled it and it does says 'defender of man" in Greek. But I'm still going to use the name.

[TheLemmaLlama]

In a story I'm planning to write the MC is called Sigma. The greek letter association was deliberate, but I didn't know that 'sigma males' was a thing, so now I feel kind of awkward about it

[moontokkym]

@TheLemmaLlama don't worry, sigma males aren't a thing xD or rather they're a thing in the same way loner guys who think they're tough and misunderstood are a thing. The entire hierarchy thing is bogus and they'll likely find a different name at some point because even the people who believe in the (inexistant) alpha/beta/gamma hierarchy often don't agree that "sigma males" exist.

Sigma the character is fine

[smokesalty]

Anopheles usually gets called "mozzie dad" and "buzzy boy" but I find it funny when people try nickname him "Ano"... because that's slang for anus in some languages fitting for him ngl

Also I have people asking me about cult member #69 (they do in fact exist.)

But like unless its super obvious or well known slang, I feel like most people don't make the connection. And I don't think people are gonna make the Xanax connection, especially since I think "Xan" fits what people would associate with aliens.

[river121693]

I dont know your story's genre, but a non-Italian named Mona bc she looks exactly like the Mona Lisa, who goes to Italy thinking people would love her only to find out her name means "Vagina," sounds like a hilarious gag.

[NickRowler]

I guess looking it up, in Italy they call the painting Monna Lisa. Monna means M’lady or Modanna. I guess I could call her Monna or just Lisa.

[TheLemmaLlama]

Oh, by 'they're a thing' I just meant it's kind of a meme; a thing people talk about But idk, maybe it would've died out by the time I get around to making that story XD