Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Page 43: Redshirts

Given his wicked sense of humor, I’m sure that Dr. Belanger’s favorite TA, Rusty Piquot, wouldn’t mind that his name was a bad pun. Are you ready for it?
Rusty = russet, ruddy, from the Proto-Germanic rusta, red.
Piquot = homonym for peacoat, the closest surname-sounding synonym that I could find for “shirt.”
Thus, Rusty Piquot = Redshirt. (Groan.) If that wasn't obvious enough, consider that when we first meet him, he is wearing a “combed ringspun red cotton t-shirt” (p. 43). Consider it foreshadowing!

Many character names in The Billionth Monkey have hidden meanings: some are homage, some are Dickensonian, and some are just bad jokes. We’ll cover them all here, so if you're interested keep reading this blog.

And if you haven’t read it yet, check out John Scalzi’s entertaining Hugo-winning novel, Redshirts (2012).


Two currently-popular memes about Redshirts. The Internet being what it is, I have been unable to find
the creators of these images to credit them, although the bottom one seems to have started on Tumblr.

John Scalzi, Redshirts (New York: Tor, 2012).
No connection whatsoever to The Billionth Monkey,
other than it's also a funny book that's worth reading. And redshirts.

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