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I always thought Obelix was named after obelisks because of the menhir connection (e.g. both are upright stone monuments of a sort). The connection with asteri
by riffraff 6y ago
I always thought Obelix was named after obelisks because of the menhir connection (e.g. both are upright stone monuments of a sort).
The connection with asterisk/Asterix makes it so much better.
FWIW, I only realized last year, ~30 years after I read the books, that Idefix was named thus because of "idée fixe"[0].
Ah, the unexpected depth of a children comic book!
[0] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/id%C3%A9e_fixe https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/id%C3%A9e_fixe
- OskarS 6y agoI always kinda enjoyed the english translation of the tribe chief being Vitalstatistix.
- meesles 6y agoI'm not sure if you're a native French speaker, but most of the names in Asterix & Obelix are puns and worth exploring! - Panoramix (panorama) - Abraracourcix (a bras racourcis) - Bonnemine, Assurancetourix, Agecanonix, etc.
- Tainnor 6y agoThey translate most of those names differently in other languages, in German, they use German puns, etc. (strangely enough, Idefix wasn't translated).
- riffraff 6y agoI'm italian, so some of the things made sense from the start (Panoramix, Asterix and many of the one-off characters which I can't recall) but some have always been obscure :)
- phaemon 6y agoA pun that actually works better in the English translation as Dogmatix.