Understanding Athelind's Argot: Say "UNCA!" Say it!

[athelind]

In a blog comment just now, I almost referred to SF author Charles Stross as "Unca Charlie".

To remind the linkophobic, "'Unca' is an honorific that refers to an individual whose words or writing have had a marked influence on Your Obedient Serpent's philosophical development."

... It also carries obvious connotations of "Older, Wiser Mentor".

Charlie Stross is almost exactly my age. In fact, he's eight months younger than I am.

I'm just sayin'.

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Comments

[paka.livejournal.com]

I think one of the biggest bits of actual wisdom I get from being older, is knowing that wisdom, enlightenment, insight and technical know how are going to come from people younger than me as well as people older than me. It's sort of the flip side of knowing that most of the people older than me, these adults who were supposed to be the experts on everything, were just abusive bastards who didn't know shit. Wiser is wiser, that's the part that counts imho.

[araquan.livejournal.com]

...knowing that most of the people older than me, these adults who were supposed to be the experts on everything, were just abusive bastards who didn't know shit.

Indeed. It's amazing how impressive-sounding some of those types can be. The blatant ones may mark themselves as obvious blathering blowhards, but some of the more subtle ones can command a surprising amount of respect. Seeing through that for the first time, all those years ago, was quite a revelation.