Word Play

[catlady_de_los_angeles]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C6203
From: catlady_de_los_angeles
Subject: Re: Word Play
Reply To: [Yahoo! #6201] Word Play
Date: 8/8/00 2:34 am  (ET)

I suppose there will be a FAQ on Names. You may find some that are
anagrams that I would never have thought to look for, but I find the
ones that come from Roman Mythology. (Not that a million other people
didn't find them first!)

Remus and his brother Romulus were babies who were thrown out into
the woods to die (as was normal in those days) but instead they were
suckled by a wolf bitch and Romans said that their names came from 'ruma'
meaning the 'dug' (teat) of a wolf. When they grew up, they founded Rome
and Romulus killed Remus in a quarrel over which of them it should be
named after.

'Lupin' is 'lupine' which is the adjective meaning 'wolf-like' or
'of wolves' (like leonine for lions or equine for horses). I did some
Web searching to find out why the flower is named after wolves, and the
Latin Homework Helper at about.com said that the Romans named the flower
because it's "throat" (what is the throat of a flower?) looks like the
head of a wolf.

There is so much connection between a person's name and his/her destiny
in the HP universe that I have wondered whether people change their names
to suit their destinies, or do parents use divination to find out their
children's destinies in order to choose a suitable name, or does the name
itself influence the destiny? Because of many examples of family names,
I suspect that it is the name that influences the destiny. In such a
universe, why would anyone EVER name their baby Remus Lupin?!?!?! That's
like forcing him to become a wolf! Even if they meant a lecher rather
than a werewolf, why???

Someone, I think on this list, posted that Pettigrew means 'grew petty'
i.e. became smaller, and so does Peter as in 'peter out'. He literally
became smaller by turning into a rat, and figuratively his courage and
honor rotted away as he followed V.

And here's something I posted on hpa last night: I found a web site
listing (some) Gaulish Celtic gods, and it said:
Rosmerta | goddess who was the native consort of the Roman god Mercury;
her name signifies "great provider"
which is pretty cool for the owner/hostess of a bar/restaurant!

I wonder about the Weasleys: living in The Burrow and having So Many
children, why aren't they the Bunnies? Weasels have a bad connotation.