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> native polish speaker. Ah, the man I want. Tell me, is "Ijon Tichy" a joke on "tachyon", or something else? (noticed that years ago, been wondering it coul
by B1FF_PSUVM 5y ago
> native polish speaker.
Ah, the man I want. Tell me, is "Ijon Tichy" a joke on "tachyon", or something else?
(noticed that years ago, been wondering it could not possibly be accidental, not Lem ...)
- jagrsw 5y agoProbably not, the name goes before the surname in Polish (like in English), so saying "Tichy Ijon" would sound a bit unnatural, even if the 'Citizen Tichy Ijon' form was promoted in communist time, probably as a borrowing from a more formal Russian? The word 'tichy' means 'silent' in Czech/Slovakian, and maybe in some smaller Polish dialects. Though http://encyklopediafantastyki.pl/index.php?title=Ijon_Tichy http://encyklopediafantastyki.pl/index.php?title=Ijon_Tichy claims that "the ancestor of Tichy was called Cichy (the silent one in Polish), but the official putting down the name in the official register was lisping"
- miav 5y agoI doubt it, as puns like this are generally not Lem's style in my opinion. "Tichy Ijon" kinda sounds like tachion, which is polish for tachyon, but I would chalk it up to coincidence.