[UA] Other names for Unknown Armies?

[Bob Koutsky]

Hello,

I've been lurking on this list for quite long time, and because of the
excellent level it has, I hope that you can help me with my little
problem:
I'm currently in discussion with John Nephew from Atlas Games about the
possibility of translating UA to my native Czech language and publishing
it here in Czech republic in electronic form. I'm really excited with
this project, and hope that it will work out well, but there is this
teeny little problem: the name.
You see, I could use literal, word-by-word translation of "Unknown
Armies" (it is "Nezname Armady"). But somehow, it just does not sound
right. "Armady" is fine, but "Nezname" is just wrong. It has dull
melody, it is not striking enough, and it is more "Unknown because
nobody really cares about them, because they are insignificant" than
"Unknown because very secret a powerful enough to keep that secret,
kinda like freemasons or templars or illuminati". And of course, to make
it sell well, I'd prefer the second meaning over the first one 8-).
I know that is is somewhat stupid to ask for translation from someone
who probably did not even heard czech. But I'm hoping that you can
provide me with some alternate english names, or with some insight on
what the name really means and that I will gain some inspiration from
it.
As I said, the "Armies" part sounds fine, and I think that I should keep
it (or maybe not? hmmm...) and just find another adjective. For now, I
have two variants: "Nameless Armies" ("Bezejmenne armady") and "Hidden
Armies" ("Skryte Armady"). What do you think? Which one is closer to the
original?
Or maybe, is it that my sense for english is just wrong, and "Unknown"
_is_ supposed to have that plain, insignificant feel I sense in its
czech equivalent? It is hard to judge subtle differences in words from
other languages...
Anyway, thanks in advance for any help,
Bob Koutsky


_______________________________________________
UA mailing list
UA at lists.uchicago.edu
http://lists.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/ua