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Tintin: His real name, or a nickname?

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Frankymole
Member
#31 · Posted: 7 Feb 2005 23:44
It could be his reporter's byline (or a nom-de-plume). This is how he is known to the newspaper readers, so it became his adopted name, and hence real.

Btw Columbo's first name is Frank.

Ah, 2Orangy4crows, I see great minds think alike.
snafu
Member
#32 · Posted: 29 Mar 2005 16:30
Nah...Tintin is merely a creative name so that there is no need to create a first name and a last name. I've read that Herge wanted to make Tintin a kind of person with whom most people (at that time, Europeans) can associate. Giving him a last name almost amounts to some kind of national affinity (effectively excluding some people from living Tintin's experiences). A one-word name helps to create blank identity...

Anyway, Tintin is a name that people can easily memorize (the same two words being mushed together). That makes Tintin someone that people can know better!
tintinuk
Moderator Emeritus
#33 · Posted: 29 Mar 2005 18:18
I see what you mean ! It's very easy to remember, plus doesn't make him stand out as being a single nationality - he can appeal to everyone simply because he has a name that doesn't exist in any language ! ;)
snafu
Member
#34 · Posted: 29 Mar 2005 18:52
The only thing I don't know, however, is why Tintin is named "Kuifje" in Dutch (I only know this because I tried hard to find as much stuff on Tintin as possible)...

In Cantonese (I speak this form of Chinese) Tintin is pronounced (roughly) "Ding Ding" (sounds like a high-pitched bell). It might be similar in Mandarin (Cantonese and Mandarin are more closely related to each other than either Cantonese or Mandarin to, say, Fujianese, Hokkien, Taiwanese, or Shanghainese). Apparently Tintin is a name whose pronounciation easily transferred over to non-related languages!
tintinuk
Moderator Emeritus
#35 · Posted: 29 Mar 2005 19:21
The only thing I don't know, however, is why Tintin is named "Kuifje" in Dutch

It actually means 'small quiff'. The reason for the name change is unclear, but is probably due to the fact that Dutch was one of the first foreign language translations of Tintin.
jock123
Moderator
#36 · Posted: 30 Mar 2005 08:51
This is drifting a bit off topic - there are threads about the meaning of Kuifje, and the alternate character names etc. elsewhere on the site; could we keep to the subject of whether or not Tintin is a nickname?

The definitive answer is actually currently on the official Tintin site, where if you click on the “Tintin” square in the bottom right you find a paragraph beginning:
Tintin is neither a first name nor a surname, it is much more than that

This is, I admit, a bit of meaningless babble, but hey! It is official…
yamilah
Member
#37 · Posted: 30 Mar 2005 18:54
jock123
This is, I admit, a bit of meaningless babble, but hey! It is official...
Definitely, I agree with this...
But how come the officials have been keeping for years hinting at something special, reciting "Tintin has not yet delivered all his secrets", and playing hide and seek with 'meaningless' assertions such as "it's much more than that" ?
Richard
UK Correspondent
#38 · Posted: 30 Mar 2005 19:10
I think it's more to do with the fact that 'Tintin' doesn't really mean anything in terms of a name, and they're simply trying to come up with an explanation. It's unlikely that the Foundation are going to come up with the meaning of the name, but it undeniably has a ring to it, especially in French.
yamilah
Member
#39 · Posted: 2 Apr 2005 10:40
Richard

but it undeniably has a ring to it, especially in French.

What do you mean exactly by 'ring' ?
Richard
UK Correspondent
#40 · Posted: 2 Apr 2005 12:23
I just meant it sounds nice, it's short, concise and memorable, it rolls off the tongue easily, and it suits the character.

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