Tintin Forums

Err... considering that 'Tintin is neither a surname nor a name (...) nor a first name' (page 1/8)

Where did you get that from? I think this sentence is ridiculous: wouldn't it be enough just to say "Tintin is not a name"?? It completely redundant to say "not a surname or a first name" because by saying that it is not a name, then it obviously cannot be a surname, a first name or any other kind of name you care to imagine.

It is like saying "John is neither a Daschund, nor a dog, nor a Dalmation."

Therefore I think you have misunderstood the sentence. I think what they were saying was that 'Tintin' is neither a FIRST name nor a SURname, but is maybe a NICKname or SOME OTHER TYPE OF name.

As someone else on this forum has said (I forget who) you are making it impossibly mysterious by declaring that 'Tintin' "is not a name."

I will only accept that Tintin.com wrote this if I see the quote on their website. If it says something like "Tintin is neither a name nor a surname" then I will interpret this as "...is neither a FIRST name nor a surname," because they can't mean "not a name nor a surname" beacause this is again, like saying "John is neither a DOG (this ALREADY rules out ALL types of dogs, including Dalmations) nor a DALMATION." I doubt whether someone would be allowed to write such nonsense on a professional, official site like Tintin.com.

I think the absurdity of the sentence "Tintin is neither a first name, nor a name, nor a surname" stands out a mile off to most people.

ClaroQuerido

As these 'ridiculous' comments have been removed from the concerned website since about April 2005, I think you should rather tell your opinion to them and not to me, and ask them directly about that...
I doubt they'll answer you, though...

If you like, I can fax you a copy of the concerned page, but if you are really interested, it would certainly be better for you to start thinking about Tintin's quiff, with which he is synonymous...

yamilah
it would certainly be better for you to start thinking about Tintin's quiff, with which he is synonymous...

It would help if instead of merely repeating these gnomic statements, you took some time to clarify matters. I don’t see any significance in the statement that Tintin is synonomous with his quiff, as he is also known as Kuifje - a straightforward case of synonomy.

jock123
I don't see any significance in the statement that Tintin is synonomous with his quiff, as he is also known as Kuifje - a straightforward case of synonomy.

I meant synonymy... It's rather simple though, at least in the very beginning:

- you first find the most probable Indian* language chosen to tell a secret which is as sympathetic as the 'British Isles'* & the local ink, in The Black Island*, taken as a password*...

- this exotic vocabulary should most likely contain an obscure passage* able to render Herge's most probable childhood's secret...

- this obscure passage* should most likely match with distorted Tintin, Haddock and the others*, taken as a series of passwords* to be read in an Indian file*...

- this obscure passage* should most probably start as described in this thread on April 8, 2005, and most likely hold nine syllables (see 'hieroglyphs' thread)...

The problem is that the prerequisites are such that they seem redhibitory, as the Tintinologist shouldn't just be deeply interested in Herge's life & in Tintin, but also in childhood's secrets, foreign languages, and rebuses, to start with...

Not to mention the forum's rules... Hence some gnomic statements...


* please search for related threads...

Perhaps his last name was Tintin and everyone called him that. Lots of people do that. Many of my friends used to call me by my last name as it is fairly unique.

mkpdluv :
Perhaps his last name was Tintin and everyone called him that. Lots of people do that.

Back in the time that Tintin was created, and for some time after, it was customary - in England, at least - for members of the middle and upper classes to address their friends by surname only. Your Christian name was only ever used by your relations.
Tintin's described by the Soviet on the train as a bourgeois, so perhaps this is the case ? Although I don't know whether the surname-only rule extended outside of England. Does anyone know anything about 1920s Belgian social etiquette ?

I've also heard that Tintin's real name might be Augustin(which fits him quite well). I agree that Tintin is a nickname, fondly given.

Well, you may have discussed this already but look here. I just cracked the case on how the name Tintin came up. The word 'Tin' is the back pronoucation of Martin. Tintin may have liked the pronouncation, 'Tin' better than his full first name, Martin. There's another hypothesis that I ruled out as well, His back name may have started with 'Tin' and the last 3 letters of his first name, 'Tin'. So, his real name could be Martin Tin..something or Martin Martino, maybe, or Martin Tiner, no. I can't make it out. If you can help me find out his real surname starting with Tin or ends with Tin.

His name is Tintin, he doesn't ever state his 'real' name if he has one, in any of the books, so to say you've "cracked the case" and then come up with 'Martin Martino' and 'Martin Tiner' does seem abit ridiculous!

What baffles me is that Tintin's name is 'translated' into other languages, such as:
Tim-Tim - Portuguese, in 1936
Kuifje - Dutch, in 1943

Maybe there's some good reason to it?