Terran Empire: But do they smell as well?

[Fitz]

I just got my copy of Terran Empire, and so far I'm finding it pretty good.

One thing which concerns me though is all the jokes my players are inevitably going to make when they find out about the existence of the Fex. I'm wondering if Mr Cambias knew what the word meant when gave the name to a major alien race?

I'll give you a clue: the plural is "faeces".

[keithcurtis]

What language might this be? It's not English, as far as my sources show. It's also not Latin, which would be "Faex".
If there is a case in which this is true, it sounds obscure enough that I doubt anyone would make a connection.

Keith "lexicographically curious" Curtis

[Jerry A!]

There is no singular.

From MedTerms.com (http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?ArticleKey=3400)
Feces: The medical and scientific term for the "excrement discharged from the intestines."

The word "feces" (or its English version "faeces") in Shakespeare in this context until the 17th century "feces" merely meant the "dregs or sediment" of wine or some other fermented product.

From the Latin "faex" and "faecis" meaning the dregs or sediment. "Feces" is the plural. There is no singular.

It's only the Latin root that has a singular version.

[keithcurtis]

That was pretty much my discovery, as well.

Keith "who also has no plural" Curtis

[Gary Ciaramella]

Originally posted by keithcurtis
Keith "who also has no plural" Curtis

Curtisee?

[Fitz]

It's from the latin, and as you said it's originally spelled faex. Just as the modern spelling of faeces allows for dropping the "a" (feces), so too with faex/fex.

Source: the Chambers Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (Revised Edition of 1890)

[Steve Long]

Jim didn't make that name up; I did.

It's a contraction of the Latin felix, meaning "cat."

So, in short, your players are over-educated the wrong way. ;)

[Hermit]

Originally posted by Steve Long
Jim didn't make that name up; I did.

It's a contraction of the Latin felix, meaning "cat."

So, in short, your players are over-educated the wrong way. ;)

Ya wouldn't happen to have also had something to do with one planet being named Osiris, would ya? ;)