Its Trouble...

Wednesday, March 08, 2017

Is it really Frankenstein's Monster?

Is the term really "Frankenstein's Monster" rather than just "Frankenstein" when talking about the monster? How often has the term "Frankenstein's Monster" really appeared anywhere? Why is there confusion about the monster's name? Well, that's because he isn't actually given a proper name in the original story by Mary Shelley.

Without much context, a quick search on Google ngram reveals that the term "Frankenstein's Monster" does indeed show up in literature. However, going back to 1800 finds that the term really didn't get started until well after 1870. Beyond that, the term wasn't really in use until the 1960's. Just for reference, the Frankenstein book was originally published in 1818.

So, what do we get when we compare the usage of the term "Frankenstein's Monster" with usage of just the name "Frankenstein"?

Well, usage of "Frankenstein" does occur well before 1818. That makes sense since it is a real surname. However, taking pre-1818 use of the name as noise, there is still substantial use of the term "Frankenstein" from 1818 and on. "Frankenstein" appears so often that it literally relegates the use of "Frankenstein's Monster" to well below that of background noise. Usage of "Frankenstein's Monster" is less than a blip, even nowadays.

Beyond that, is the distinction between the mad scientist and his monster really all that important, namewise? If we count the monster as the scientist's child in a manner of speaking, the monster would carry the scientist's surname anyway. Both the monster and the scientist carry the name "Frankenstein". Maybe instead of trying to impose a ill-accepted term like "Frankenstein's Monster", we simply use the term "Dr. Frankenstein" for the mad scientist and "Frankenstein" for the monster.

"Dr. Frankenstein" appears orders-of-magnitude more often than "Frankenstein's Monster". And, it's a bit more of a blip when compared to just "Frankenstein".

Tuesday, March 07, 2017

Stopped in L.A.

While running around L.A. with Allie after SOLIDWORKS World 2017, I was approached twice over the weekend in early February.

We were queued for a ride at an amusement part. The guy behind Allie and I got my attention and asked, "Are you in a recent movie? I feel like I've seen you somewhere." Now, if I had been such a D-list star that someone kinda recognized me but didn't know for sure, I might have been mildly insulted. But, as it turns how, I am not a star. I'm just a guy that gets mistaken for other people from time to time. Instead, I'm mildly amused. Sorry, no point in getting a photo with me or having my autograph.

The next day, Allie and I were walking along Venice Beach. We had just spotted Emma Roberts on the walk down to the beach, but she looked busy on the phone as she rushed into a wardrobe trailer. Anyway, down on Venice Beach, this one guy road up to us on his bike. He didn't recognize me so much as he recognized the shirt I wore. It was a t-shirt from SOLIDWORKS World 2017. He is a SOLIDWORKS user who didn't get to go to the conference this year even though it was in L.A. The conversation was pleasant, but soon enough, Allie and I were on our way down the beach again.

Of course, as an employee of Dassault Systemes that supports the development of SOLIDWORKS products, I expect to be approached at the SOLIDWORKS World 2017 conference. However, SOLIDWORKS is well enough known that anyone wearing the company shirts or even t-shirts will be approached from time to time just for that alone. I actually try to avoid wearing the actual company shirts when travelling or attending any nonwork event. You'll never know when someone will approach you to talk shop, not that I mind all the much. It's just nice to keep the universes separate when I'm out with my wife or focused on getting somewhere.