Origin of D&D words/names?

[Kae'Yoss]

It was probably taken over from French, and used differently (meaning meatball, even the French term doesn't - just another false friend).

 

[Aitch Eye]

The Derro were in literature too. Some 30's science fiction book I believe.

Actually, it was a whole series of stories and articles by Richard Shaver published in various magazines edited or published by Ray Palmer, starting in the late 40's. I don't know whether Dexter's Lab may have gotten the name Mandark from these as well.

The stories were fictionalized accounts of what Shaver actually believed to be true about the earth, which he felt had an extensive underdark many times larger than the surface. Doug Skinner (the frightened guy in the men's room stall in Crocodile Dundee II) described the stories this way:

"He claimed our world was honeycombed with huge underground caverns built long ago by Titans from another galaxy. When these godlings fled to escape the radiation of our aging sun, their castoffs degenerated into evil dwarves Shaver called "dero." (For the record, he pronounced this "day-ro."' In "Mantong" -- according to Shaver, our original language -- "de" means "detrimental energy," "ro" means "slave." A dero is someone who is compulsively evil.) These nasty gnomes prey on surface humans, toy with the elaborate technology abandoned by the Titans, and trade ancient machinery and abductees with touring extraterrestrials. Shaver insisted he'd visited these primeval caverns, and poured forth his exploits and assertions in a stream of stories and articles."

The full article can be found here (warning: Shaver's very stylized illustrations contain some nudity. But that's just a sword hilt in the second one.)

 

[Kunimatyu]

I seem to recall reading on ENW that Sahaugin is a proper name, specifically of some random LDS missionary in Mexico.

Which, IMO, doesn't really clear things up satisfactorily.

 

[Fifth Element]

Spam reported.

 

[That One Guy]

tief is German for deep (like in the lower planes). If you would give Tieflings an English name, it would be Deepling.

I've always heard it explained this way.

So, the explanation of genasi was seriously awesome.

 

[jinnetics]

I always heard it this way - that Wolfgang Baur coined the name when Zeb asked him for one.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

As German is my native language, I always wondered why they'd use a German word (It's the same with Doppelganger, which only lacks the ä) in an English work, while they often use English words around here.

Doppelganger is a transplanted word that's been around in English for a long time.

 

[Serendipity]

IIRC, Sahaugin was one of David Arneson's creations. I don't recall any stories shedding light on the name origin though.

 

[Glyfair]

IIRC, Sahaugin was one of David Arneson's creations. I don't recall any stories shedding light on the name origin though.

Steve Marsh, actually.

Bits are found here (including that the inspiration was a Super Friends episode).

 

[Serendipity]

Steve Marsh, actually.
Bits are found here (including that the inspiration was a Super Friends episode).

Okay. I think I was likely as not thinking of them being in Blackmoor and the rest getting fuzzy. Age don'chaknow.....