Okay so I'm providing an unordered list of some ideas. These are essentially me
just cruising wikipedia with some ideas about where to peek, mixed with stuff l
already had in mind.
I do not mean to bikeshed, far from it. I think the names of these things is
somewhat trivial. Proof being mimblewimble name itself. But I think that if we
have a massive list some will clearly pop out to more than one of us as
something truly special. I am big on myths, and I think that something as myth
based as money deserves novel and interesting branding. I've definitely written
more than enough here, but again, I am only doing so because I think the larger
the selection the more likely we all are to quickly pick something that feels
special. I did not open many books (just my sanskrit dictionary) and could have
done a lot more. I am extremely enthusiastic and happy to contribute something
of my wheelhouse, and I am putting myself out there as a UX/UI copy person. If
we test the waters with some from this list it will be insanely easy to brand
the rest of the components like wallets in the same vein.
I think that the technology speaks for itself if you read the whitepaper(s),
which is why I am not as worried about the premise copy. I think what Ignotus
has written nails it pretty well. I will think about it as well, but couldn't
help but channel my enthusiasm specifically to names as wordplay and such
really gets me going. I hope this list will at least inspire something. Again
forgive its monstrosity. Let me know what you think.
p.s. I really like GRIN... but some of the following had me thinking about cool
chain names... also I think we should stick to metric units but also have pet
names for subunits. I very much dislike bitcoin and ethereum subunits, but I
would appreciate them more if they were nicknames and not the default
signifiers. I think the mystique and playfulness of MIMWIM warrants lots of
weirdness and we can take advantage of that as much as we want in the
nomenclature, but I think we all agree so far that standardized subunits are a
nobrainer. There are a lot of famous wizards/alchemists who could be subunits
for example though.
Here we go
Greenwich - Standard time. Call it GREENs like MONEY. Has something of a harry
potter vibe since it's british. Sounds like GRIN too. BBC radio stations
broadcast *PIPS to mark the precise start of each hour.
EPHEMERIS - Used to tell astrological time. EPH for short.
EXONUMIA - numiastic items (such as tokens medals or scrip) other than coins or
paper money. Call it EXO British NUMIASMATICA) very cool.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exonumia
OR
-NUMMUS - latin for coin. NU money. Love this one.
-NEMO "i dispense, divide, assign, keep hold) would be good name for a
wallet
-CARAT - like carrot on a string
-Planchett - blank metal before striking also called FLAN. Cool because
they are unmarked, yet why would the raw metal not have a similar value as the
one that has all the writing etc on it?
-SHILLING - LOL for shills.
-Piedfort - double thick coin.
-Tombac- type of brass used in canadian 5 cent coins 1942-43
-Escudo (portuguese for shield, very in line with privacy) coin used in
portuguese colonies. no longer used (I don't think).
-Manilla (african currency) or Torc (from latin torque to twist) they are
like unclosed metal rings. pretty cool.
-
GNOMON - The part of a sundial that casts the shadow. There was a funny novel
in 1985 called Masters of Atlantis about a fictional secret society called
Gnomonism (which was very mystical and magical).
*NOCTURN - Like Nocturn Alley. "Night office". In line with the idea of
obfuscation. Device called a Nocturnal related to an astrolabe and sundial, it
is a simple analog computer.
PLUMB - Like a plumb line used to measure depth. I think a PLU coin already
exits.
WAND- Sounds surprisingly like a currency. Also ROD
Alidade - a device that allows one to sight a distant object and use the line
of sight to perform a task. Arabic for "the ruler" used to measure.
Pelorus - a "dumb compass". latin is in line with harry potter.
Windrose - a way of drawing ship courses on a map. Sounds fun. Looks like a
network on a map of routes. Alternatively called a RHUMBline. RHUMB is kind of
HP.
Sandglass - magic sounding name for an hourglass. Money becomes sand.
GOULD - Rupert Gould contributed to horology and Cryptozoology (like the loch
ness) and was british. Obvious Gold homophone thing going on.
DAYMARK - a highly visible object used as navigation aid. Mark has some
currency connotation.
KALA - Sanskrit word for time. Two distinct words actually, one means black, or
dark color, and the other menas a fixed point in time. Also 144 seconds.
HORAE - Godess of time, broken into triads. THALLO AUXO and CARPO. CARPE could
be a funny name. Most of the greek hours would be interesting names like SPONDE
(libations poured after lunch... looks like spend a little)
DRAM - like a shot of whiskey. This one is particularly light and fun to me,
and is also an antiquated unit of measure.
MERLIN - I would love to keep all my cash in merlins.
QI - Taoist mystical energy.
PRANA - Sanskrit mystical energy. Probably a little too yoga themed though.
FLUDD- After occult philosopher and astrologer Robert Fludd. Studied
hermeticism, secret teachings. Hermeneutics / hermetics very in line with a
privacy technology.
CROWLEY - After british occultist aleister crowley. Or even an ALEISTER which
sounds super harry potter but isnt really. Probably too heavy.
Lamen - magical pendant worn around the neck... indicates grade of magician,
the ANON (cool anonymous connection)
PENTACLE - Symbol for coins used in the tarot and other magical practices. Also
called "minutum mundum" or "the universe in little" which seems appropriate to
me since money can represent anything.
-PATEN - similar
LAPIS - From latin for lapis philosophorum or the philosophers stone. Obviously
HP related, but also highly appropriate because the philosophers stone is a
legendary substance that can be used to create anything (as money can be used)
and especially for turning base things into gold.
-ALKAHEST - Paracelsus believed this to be the element from where all
other elements were made.
-CINTAMANI - or CINTA in buddhism is the philosophers stone. "wish
fulfilling gem"
-VITRIOL - sufficiently latin stands for VISITA INTERIORA TERRA
RECTIFICANDO INVENIES OCCULTUM LAPIDEM or "visit the interior of the earth, by
rectification thou s halt find the hidden stone"
-Rubedo - last stage of Jungian alchemy where consciousness makes contact
with self, in other words, Jungs Philoseper's stone.
-PANACEA - cure for all things.
-PAN greek for ALL. HEN greek for ONE.
-MANI - Sanskrit for precious jewel. Like philosophers stone. ALso like
Manna which has esoteric meaning as food.Sounds like money.
-*CUPEL - or a cup for short (kind of cool) tool used for cupellation, or
turning metals into other metals (I really like this one) philosophers stone
connection.
-SLAG - leftover glass when you purify an ore
-JAM persian word for cup that held the elixir of immortality. "I need
more jam to buy this art"
-*GRAAL like the holy grail. Some think this is the philosophers stone.
-SANG - means blood
-/SOLVENT - the universal solvent is another word for the philosophers stone.
can destroy anything. also MIMWIM solves some digital currency problems.
-Chrysopoeia - turn base metals into noble metals.
-AU - just the shorthand for gold.
-/ELIXIR - like elixir of life (aka philosophers stone)
-AMRITA - in sanskrit. Like SOMA. "I need SOM!"
-/CHASMA in Arabic.
-Ambrosia in Greek.
-Ichor is ethereal fluid that is the blood of gods/immortals.
-Dutsi in buddhism.
-*Peach of Immortality. "I need a bunch of peaches!" (Chinese).
-TAT - Sanskrit for THAT.
-Other words for philosophers stone
-Aer
-Bufo
-Capillus
-Crocus ( a plant but kind of rolls off the tongue)
-Filius
-Folium
-Hepar
-Lac ( I like this one its short)
-stone (which is like quid in the british sense I think) I like stone
-Azoth
Sigil or Seal (like a magical combination of pictographs). 20k seals in my
pocket.
Nasik - mathematical term for a magic hypercube
BESOM - broom. Just BROOM shortened BRO.
Prima (as in prima materia, the first original thing) or even Materia
Obol - ancient greek currency. 3 obol was worth one prostitute for example.
sometimes word to describe coin placed in the mouth of the dead. I really like
this one. We all die. Obo for short has a pseudosymmetric property. Also
EPHODION "something for the road"
Lamella - latin for metal foil sheet
Ablaut - "zero grade" changing an internal vowel in a word to change its
meaning (sing -> sang). Sounds like a type of money to me.
PETRICHOR - the scent of rain on earth
Ouroboros - the snake that eats itself. Reminds me of how information is pruned
in mimble wimble to make it self referential and smaller. Token could be
shortened to OUR. OUR money.
-ENSO zen hand drawn circle similar to an ouroboros.
-MU void.
TERMA - Tibetan for "hidden treasure" either earthly treasures or mind
treasures.
-NAMCHO - tibetan "space treasures"
Artifex - an artificer or alchemist
ISM- As in any word that ends in ism. Organism. Very cool. I need 55 isms to
buy this book.
Pleroma - Gnostic term for primordial consciousnes.
SYMBOL - Just call the amount a symbol. I need 25 symbols to get lunch. SYM.
MERC as in mercURY - messenger god. liquid metal (like liquid currency)
RASA - Sanskrit for nectar, mercury and juice.
Corpuscles - alchemical idea where atoms came from. CORP or body for short.
pretty cool. isaac newton, descartes and others believed in corpuscles.
Silphium - plant whose heart shaped seeds may have been source of our current
heart symbol, was put on Cyrenian silver coins in the 6th centure BCE.
Kallisti - Written on a golden apple by Eris to create chaos amongst beautiful
godesses. Related to discordianism which is a kind of funny mordern magical
sect.
-QUINCE - another middle eastern fruit called a golden apple. I like this
name for a currency. has our QUI in it too.
-Pomo d'oro or just POMODORO is tomato in italian but means golden apple.
-HESPER for Hesperidium which is an allusion to golden apples.
PAIN - means bread
Spagyr or spagyric - take apart and put back together
COR - heart
Spintria - roman brothel tokens
Gettone - Token in italian. Looks like get one.
Jeton - 13-17th century europena token.
Calculi - roman value stones
Wampum - Native American shell currency. Mimblewimble's Wampum
Freeba as in Free Banking
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_banking#History_of_free_banking
-Meulen after Henry Meulen who wrote about individual right to bank and.
MEU for short.
-Hayek who wrote The Denationalization of Money
FRAM - Frvilous Amuesements
Mabignogi - MAB for short. Earliest british literature. Means Juvenile
Amusements. aka young adult literature
CORNUCOPIA - mystical vessels of never ending contents. COR for short, which is
latin for heart.
-SAMPO like cornucopia
-GROTTI - magical grindstone
MONAD
JNA- Sanskrit for knowledge
Vidya - Sanskrit for correct knowledge
RATNA - sanskrit for gemstone. RAT for short, which is harry pottery. OWL could
be a good currency name.
Pendre - etymology of pendant. AMUlet would be cool too. or TALIS as in
Talisman.
Altar - without the magical connotation sounds like a sci-fi currency. Has
bonus of being shortened as ALT. Fully embrace the ALT coin. Love it.
----
just brainstorming
Mining Software
MAKARA - guardian fish deity in hindu mythology
MERCURY - used in alchemy and is a messenger
ALCHEMY - process of refining low level things into higher level order and
wisdom/value.
TRANSMUTE
ABULAFIA - mystic and fictional computer
BLAZON - coat of arms/shield
ABACUS
--
Wallet software
HERMETICA/HERMETICUM - perfectly sealed and secret.
MANSAROVAR - "mind lake" Holy lake at foot of Tibetan mountain.
RAS - Indian ford for juice.
CAULDRON
There are also quite a few references JK Rowling makes that are of actual
mythical and historical reference, and so would not be copyrighted. I will look
into it. BASILISKS and such are not her invention.
This is really the tip of the iceberg. Once I get some feedback theming other
components of the framework will be even better. Constraint is good creativity
fuel.
have a magical day
0x-art
Sent with [ProtonMail](https://protonmail.com) Secure Email.
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [Mimblewimble] Branding and messaging
> Local Time: September 7, 2017 3:25 PM
> UTC Time: September 7, 2017 10:25 PM
> From: igno.pever...@protonmail.com
> To: 0xb100d <0...@protonmail.com>
> mimblewimble@lists.launchpad.net <mimblewimble@lists.launchpad.net>
>
> Sorry for jumping the gun too fast! I've added Quipu and Talent (Fing reminds
> me too much of an insult), hopefully it's not too late. And don't let that
> stop you, I'm fairly sure we'll need to name quite a few other things
> (wallet, mining software, etc).
>
> - Igno
>
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: Re: [Mimblewimble] Branding and messaging
>> Local Time: September 7, 2017 8:41 PM
>> UTC Time: September 7, 2017 8:41 PM
>> From: 0...@protonmail.com
>> To: mimblewimble@lists.launchpad.net <mimblewimble@lists.launchpad.net>
>>
>> It looks like I'm a bit late as the poll seems to already be up. I am a
>> linguistics guy and really wanted to brainstorm some good naming ideas
>> before submitting some. Seeing as how quickly things are moving I hope I can
>> submit a couple of ideas that came to me in the shower last night and maybe
>> there will be a chance to contribute further later.
>>
>> 1. Grin should be its own thing, not Bitcoin 2.0. As far as worrying about
>> how to get in... time time to learn to mine my friend. Everyone is staff on
>> this ship, no passengers.
>> 2. Quid is confusing, like stated above, it's like calling it Bucks.
>> 3. I somewhat liked ingots.
>> 4. Quipu is the mayan knot notation. It looks a little like quid. The mayan
>> quipus were long term exact value notation, and I like the idea of value
>> being exchanged as knots in a chain.
>> 5. This one came to me maybe I'm an idiot. What if we call the tokens FING.
>> Like finger, as in a finger pointing to the moon. The fing(er) is not the
>> value it is just symbolic of what is valuable. Added bonus, say out loud "I
>> need you to give me some fing" or "I am owed many fings! 25 fings!" it
>> sounds like a thick british accent asking for "things" and I think that is
>> hilarious.
>> 6. A "talent" is an ancient unit of mass
>> (https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talent_(weight)) and a talent of gold was
>> gold that weighed as much as one person. I think that is awesome.
>> 7. Time related units could be interesting (delving more now) as they say
>> time is money. It would be cool if our money was named after time.
>>
>> I agree with earlier statements that we do not need to brand too heavilly to
>> HP stuff, since it can get stale and incur copyright violations. But I do
>> think that the fun, magical, youthful vibe should carry over. I think that
>> MW is a truly fantastic way to store and exchange of value, and I hope to
>> use it heavily in the future. It would be great if the currency I used
>> reminded me to be light and fun and magical.
>>
>> I don't know what the time frame is by I hope if there is some time you will
>> let me do some more research and come up with some more magical options. My
>> background is linguistics, and I've also studied academically mysticism and
>> occultism, so it would be a great honor to be able to apply some of that to
>> the project (especially since my engineering background is lacking). Going
>> to spend the day on it.
>>
>> Sent with [ProtonMail](https://protonmail.com) Secure Email.
>>
>>> -------- Original Message --------
>>> Subject: Re: [Mimblewimble] Branding and messaging
>>> Local Time: September 7, 2017 1:25 PM
>>> UTC Time: September 7, 2017 8:25 PM
>>> From: leishm...@gmail.com
>>> To: Jackson Palmer <he...@ummjackson.com>
>>> mimblewimble@lists.launchpad.net
>>>
>>> Well said Jackson. I'm looking forward to a fresh start and pleasant
>>> alternative to the ICO, get rich, hedge fund mania that's happening.
>>>
>>> I hope we can focus on building a beautiful, open source project that helps
>>> solve a problem in the world.
>>>
>>> I also agree with the idea of outlining principles for the future of the
>>> technology. Hopefully we can learn from Bitcoin and solidify these
>>> principles early on to lower the chance of political fractures in the
>>> future.
>>>
>>> -Alex
>>>
>>> On Sep 7, 2017, at 12:40, Jackson Palmer <he...@ummjackson.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hey Rhett,
>>>>
>>>> I have to strongly disagree with the "Bitcoin 2.0" approach - it seems
>>>> like that approach is in fashion right now and the politics involved are
>>>> just a distraction I don't think a fledgling project like Grin needs.
>>>>
>>>> Additionally, I'd argue that the current Bitcoin token distribution is not
>>>> something anyone would want to "snapshot" or "copy" for their new chain.
>>>> You have the large number of frozen Satoshi coins, multitudes of
>>>> hacked/stolen coins that may still be in the hands of bad actors, and a
>>>> large centralization of coins amongst big miners. Snapshotting the
>>>> existing chain only acts to "self-serve" the existing Bitcoiner space and
>>>> I don't see how that's going to improve accessibility or adoption of the
>>>> Grin network in any positive way (most Bitcoiners would probably dump it
>>>> for a profit as they already have Bitcoin Cash)
>>>>
>>>> To stick to the values that Andrew and others have outlined, I think it's
>>>> best for Grin to remain its own network/chain and strive to provide a
>>>> scalable technology stack that avoids some of the pitfalls other
>>>> currencies such as Bitcoins have faced by building on top of those
>>>> learnings.
>>>>
>>>> Lastly (and maybe this is the socialist in me talking), I prefer not to
>>>> think of involvement in Grin as "investment" for personal gain... I really
>>>> think this whole industry needs to focus more on building solid
>>>> open-source technology as the starting point, if it ever wants to actually
>>>> revolutionize the digital currency space. I really hope through smart
>>>> messaging/community building that Grin can be positioned as something more
>>>> than just a Bitcoin 2.0 get rich quick scheme.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> Jackson.
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Sep 7, 2017, at 09:57 AM, Rhett Creighton wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi MimbleWimblers,
>>>>>
>>>>> I'd like to suggest a different approach. Rather than launch with zero
>>>>> supply, MimbleWimble should start as a chain split of Bitcoin. I
>>>>> understand that the address scheme is different, but there are several
>>>>> ways to solve this. One way is to store all Bitcoin addresses with a
>>>>> non-zero balance in a genesis block and treat these addresses similar to
>>>>> the way other currencies have used "pre-sale" wallets.
>>>>>
>>>>> Optionally, if we didn't want to worry about maintaining this prewallet
>>>>> state over a long time, there could be a short time window where people
>>>>> must sign a message to claim their MimbleWimble coins. After
>>>>> bootstrapping the initial supply, the blockchain could start running as a
>>>>> pure MimbleWimble implementation and nodes could even choose to prune the
>>>>> initial bitcoin bootstrapping blocks.
>>>>>
>>>>> Then as far as branding and messaging goes, we could take a page out of
>>>>> Bitcoin Cash's book. Honestly, I wouldn't mind calling this chain
>>>>> Bitcoin2.0 or something like that.
>>>>>
>>>>> People of course would still be free to use legacy Bitcoin. Bitcoin2.0
>>>>> might only start with 10% of the market cap of Bitcoin Legacy.
>>>>>
>>>>> I can understand the urge to create a "pure" chain implementation, but I
>>>>> think that we have moved past the days where that's necessary for a
>>>>> project like this, and honestly, it could set back the potential of
>>>>> MimbleWimble by several years.
>>>>>
>>>>> As an investor, I am very excited about the technology in MimbleWimble.
>>>>> However, if it starts with zero supply then I'm in a really tough spot of
>>>>> trying to figure out where to buy in. After 6 months, the coin still has
>>>>> a 200% yearly inflation rate. After 1 year, it's at 100% yearly
>>>>> inflation. Will demand outpace that? Maybe, but it's a much tougher
>>>>> spot to be in than if supply was bootstrapped off of the Bitcoin
>>>>> blockchain.
>>>>>
>>>>> Additionally, I don't think it's a stretch to think of MimbleWimble as
>>>>> Bitcoin 2.0 technology. It has many of the same goals as the original
>>>>> Bitcoin with advancements that weren't available at the time and a much
>>>>> nicer codebase.
>>>>>
>>>>> -Rhett
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, Sep 6, 2017 at 12:22 AM, Ignotus Peverell
>>>>> <igno.pever...@protonmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We're getting closer and closer to a testnet [1] and it may be a good
>>>>>> idea to start thinking of outward communication. We want to have enough
>>>>>> time to prepare so when the time comes, we don't get confused with the
>>>>>> thousands of other projects in this noisy space, and have a chance to
>>>>>> voice our strengths and differences. Messaging can also take time to
>>>>>> refine. Now, as I know words like "narratives" (yeastplume used it
>>>>>> first, not me :P) can make some developers' eyes glaze over, I'll start
>>>>>> with something more fun and friendly: naming [2].
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We need names for a few things:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> - Our blockchain type. I'm happy to keep using MimbleWimble here. I know
>>>>>> that technically, the Grin blockchain will have quite a bit more than
>>>>>> just what's in the Jedusor white paper, but I think at a high level it's
>>>>>> a good approximation. Some people are also already familiar with it and
>>>>>> heard the name.
>>>>>> - Our implementation. I'm not unhappy with grin but I'm not opposed to
>>>>>> renaming if too many folks are strongly against it.
>>>>>> - Our coin. We have nothing so far here so we need to find a name. My
>>>>>> first inclination would be to accept propositions for names as replies
>>>>>> to this email, and then run a poll online. Sounds good as a process? We
>>>>>> likely need another name for smallest denominations too.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To draw a parallel, in the Ethereum world 1) is Ethereum, 2) is Parity
>>>>>> or geth, 3) is Ether/Wei.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Now for the messaging and narratives. In my experience (which is a lot
>>>>>> more shallow in that domain), we want to outline our strengths and
>>>>>> differences to formulate a value proposition. From there we can distill
>>>>>> messages of various lengths, adapted to different support (one-liner
>>>>>> title, one paragraph article intro, full website, etc). And ideally,
>>>>>> we'd have opportunities to try these messages in various environments to
>>>>>> see how they work and incrementally improve them.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So I'll start with a mixed bag of strengths and differences in no
>>>>>> particular order and maybe we can figure out a way to go from there. If
>>>>>> some people have more experience in how to go about this and a good
>>>>>> process to get there, by all means please chime in.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> - Strong anonymity provided by obfuscating amounts, sources and
>>>>>> destinations and removing data over time.
>>>>>> - Great scalability as most blockchain data gets removed, without
>>>>>> compromising security (the magic part).
>>>>>> - A diverse community of developers and cryptographers (no control from
>>>>>> a single entity).
>>>>>> - A brand new, clean (relatively) and modern blockchain implementation
>>>>>> with few fundamental primitives.
>>>>>> - A Harry Potter theme that, while quirky, has personality (obviously, I
>>>>>> may be biased).
>>>>>> - No ICO, pre-mine or funny business. We may still need to find a way to
>>>>>> get funding but hopefully it'll be reasonable and in line with other
>>>>>> funded open source projects/foundations.
>>>>>> - The person who started the project has a cool name and uses
>>>>>> parentheses a little too much (it's a side effect of the cloak).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For others involved in this project, I'd love to hear what it means to
>>>>>> you as well.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> - Igno
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [1] I know it's taking some time but I decided to include the UTXO sum
>>>>>> tree in that milestone, which created a bit more work than I expected.
>>>>>> [2] Throwing a Wikipedia article your way:
>>>>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_name#In_cryptography
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~mimblewimble
>>>>>> Post to : mimblewimble@lists.launchpad.net
>>>>>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~mimblewimble
>>>>>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~mimblewimble
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>>>
>>>> --
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