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Best pen names ever
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| Lira |
Do you know the name history behind the pen names of some of the world's greatest writers?
Today I've just found a hilarious one, studying Japanese literature:
Futabatei Shimei - The origin of his pen name is in the curse his father said when told by his son that he aspired to study literature: Kutabatte shinee [くたばってしねぇ], often translated into English as "Die, you f***ing bastard"! :D
Do you know of any other funny/interesting pen names? |
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| StanVoid |
| Honore de Balzac |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by wizniz
mark twain? |
Yeah, but why was Mark Twain called Mark Twain?
I know the history behind Bic, and I'm going to read about the Pen Island (i hope that's the name :p), but I don't know why Mark Twain is Mark Twain :p |
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| nchs09 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lira
Yeah, but why was Mark Twain called Mark Twain?
I know the history behind Bic, and I'm going to read about the Pen Island (i hope that's the name :p), but I don't know why Mark Twain is Mark Twain :p |
i was just joking about bic. whats the story behind it? :wtf: |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by nchs09
i was just joking about bic. whats the story behind it? :wtf: |
BIC was founded in France by Marcel Bich with Edouard Buffard in 1945. The two bought a factory and set up a business making parts for mechanical pencils and fountain pens. In December 1950, Marcel Bich introduced his own ballpoint pen, and named it the BIC. The 'h' from Bich was dropped in order to avoid a potentially inappropriate English pronunciation of the name
:D
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_Bic |
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| jrbuddha |
Richard Bachman (Stephen King's pseudonym)
At the beginning of Stephen King's career, the general view among publishers was such that an author was limited to a book every year at the utmost; any more, it was felt, was not acceptable to the public. King therefore wanted to write under another name in order to double his production. He convinced his publisher, Signet Books, to print these novels under a pseudonym. The originally selected pseudonym was Gus Pillsbury; but at the last moment King changed it to "Richard Bachman" in tribute to crime author Donald E. Westlake's long-running pseudonym Richard Stark. The name Stark was used in King's novel The Dark Half, a novel about an author with a pseudonym. The surname was in honour of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, a rock and roll band King was listening to at the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bachman
As for Mark Twain, it stands for "two fathoms." It was a Mississippi River boating term used to convey the water depth was safe.
(at least thats what i remember from school many moons ago) |
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| stren |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lira
Yeah, but why was Mark Twain called Mark Twain?
I know the history behind Bic, and I'm going to read about the Pen Island (i hope that's the name :p), but I don't know why Mark Twain is Mark Twain :p |
Mark Twain. Twain is a term for shallow water, Samuel Langhorne Clemens worked on a steamboat on the Mississippi, before becoming a writer. So Mark Twain - Mark shallow water
*edit: ok i got it the other way round, it meant safe water |
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