Hyp: Did I miss something with the names?

[Zach]

Has the use of "M" as an honorific been explained? Is it just a genderless form of "Mr." or "Ms."?

It took me a while to even notice it, then I was suddenly like "wait, what the hell does that "M" mean?" tru story bros

[terpkristin]

I figured it was a sign of moving beyond gender in the future. Kinda like how a lot of women go by "Ms" these days instead of "Mrs" or "Miss."

[Nimrod]

I had assumed it was lost in the kindle version... there were alot of errors I could attribute to the OCR software that converted the book to epub...

[Tamahome]

I thought it was like R. Daneel Olivaw from Asimov's Caves of Steel. But in that case R is for robot.

[Sean]

M. is the abbreviation for "Monsieur," though why it's used for women instead of Mme. (Madame) is anyone's guess.

[Travis]

The android that took them down the river was named A. Bettik (A = Android). M. is the honorific for humans.

[Travis]

I agree with terpkristin on the idea of moving beyond gender with the M.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Dan Simmons addresses it on his own forum

Dan Simmons wrote: "The "M" comes from a rather ancient and obscure Hungarian honorific. What it "means" some 3,000 years hence is anyone's guess. But it sure is useful, ain't it?"

[Travis]

LOL

[Alex]

It actually took me a while to notice it as well. Didn't catch the A. for android though. Kinda neat.

[terpkristin]

Travis wrote: "The android that took them down the river was named A. Bettik (A = Android). M. is the honorific for humans."

I missed the "A" listening to it. Good call.

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

Oh gosh, I didn't notice that at all! I think in my head I just shrugged it off as initials without even thinking about it, possibly even when that clearly wasn't right, because I don't even remember noticing this!

[Leesa]

Hahaha! In the audio I thought the android's name was Abe Ettik. :)

[Tamahome]

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Good one Tamahome.

and if you haven't checked. He is still alive ;-)

[Marz]

Nimrod wrote: "I had assumed it was lost in the kindle version... there were alot of errors I could attribute to the OCR software that converted the book to epub..."

I read the dead tree edition, and it was still "M"

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

What's with the picture of the guy, and the 'he is still alive' website. There's a joke I'm not getting here. What am I missing?

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Ruth wrote: "What's with the picture of the guy, and the 'he is still alive' website. There's a joke I'm not getting here. What am I missing?"

"Following an erroneous report of his death in 1982, and another in 1987, Vigoda has been the subject of various running gags about whether he is alive or dead. A website was mounted and a Firefox extension was written solely to report on Vigoda's status. Good naturedly, he made regular appearances on various television shows to make fun of the error"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abe_Vigo...

[Tamahome]

[image error]

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

Tassie Dave wrote:"Following an erroneous report of his death in 1982, and another in 1987, Vigoda has been the subject of various running gags about whether he is alive or dead."

Haha, still not sure why his pic was posed in the first place, but that's pretty funny. What a great way to react to a report like that! :D

[Leesa]

I still chuckle seeing the photo of Abe Vigoda, and now and for always will picture him when I'm thinking of "Abe Ettik" the android. Vigoda's expression would also work for Marvin in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.