Tired of "Mana"

[Alzrius]

Another one would be ki. This is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character chi. You hear ki used in a lot of anime and other Japanese martial arts films.

Also, for all you Naruto fans, you can use chakra as a term. Instead of referring to specific points in the body, that manga/anime uses it to represent energy the body produces (almost identical to ki).

 

[ecliptic]

I am going to use 'midget' instead of 'mana'. Those that master midgetry will be known as a midgetmasters, midgicians, and midgi. We can also measure the power of it (megamidget, gigamidget etc).

 

[mythusmage]

Another one would be ki.

So having the necessary energy to cast a spell would be ki.

 

[Wolv0rine]

I'm partial to having it measured in units called "Thaums"

Is that fully yoinkable?

 

[Catavarie]

Not really, since the term "sword" was developed hundreds of years ago (sweran "to hurt," from *swertha-, lit. "the cutting weapon"), and has dozens of synonyms. "Mana" (as the term for magic) was coined 30 years ago, being used out of context from the Polynesian term for powerful charisma and influence.

Actually Mana was used in the early Hebrew, and shows up first around 1000 BC. It was defined as energy giving bread which fell from the sky and given by God.

This is the way that I understand it...been awhile since theology class. But in that since it makes since to have Mana used for magical energy, IMO

 

[mythusmage]

Actually Mana was used in the early Hebrew, and shows up first around 1000 BC. It was defined as energy giving bread which fell from the sky and given by God.

This is the way that I understand it...been awhile since theology class. But in that since it makes since to have Mana used for magical energy, IMO

That would be "manna", 2 "n"s.

 

[Gez]

Is that fully yoinkable?

IIRC, you'd have to ask Terry Pratchett.

 

[Corvidae]

how aobut eidos, pronounced i-dos.

i know it is a game company, but it is a word that means the essence of the idea, a perfect word for magic in my opinion.

 

[Wayside]

how aobut eidos, pronounced i-dos.

i know it is a game company, but it is a word that means the essence of the idea, a perfect word for magic in my opinion.

Well, that's what it means when you're reading certain Greek philosophers (not the essence of the idea, but the essence of the thing--its thingness, the ideal--and of course it has been appropriated in a variety of ways as jargon by a number of disciplines). I don't know about extending it to magic in general though, at least not without fitting it very specifically to an explanation of how magic works in this or that world. Certainly it could be applied to specific kinds of magic, like illusion--it shares its root with words like eidolon and eidetic, and has been used in coining inventions that model/copy/represent things, like the eidophusikon and the eidouranion. Just grabbing words from random languages (especially jargonny stuff) strikes me as even less creative than just sticking with mana though.. I mean you aren't really creating anything, just substituting.

 

[The Mad Kaiser]

*snip* So I reject your first argument - that using "mana" as synonomous for "magic points" or "magic potential" is a misapplication. I think it's a perfectly valid one!

--The Sigil

Ah, but my gripe is two-fold:

1) Mana is an overused definition in need of suitable synonyms (which varázs and it's derivitives as synonyms perfom superbly) I will concede that Charisma is an acceptable defenition for magical influence, but since it is only ever applied in an anthropological sense, it is a poor choice to describe unthinking magical energy. (Thinking magical energy OTOH...)

2) Mana (as magical force) was Niven's idea: git yer' own or give him credit.

Furthermore, I have seen dozens of synonyms posted which range from silly to fantastic, which proves that it takes very little effort to produce a word for "magical energy" that could easily compliment "mana," and possibly even replace it, given enough time.