What does Qud mean?

[bozar]

Hello everyone,

Currently I'm writing a Simplified Chinese review for CoQ, and I need some suggestions for translating the game's title.

As far as I can tell, Joppa seems to be a word in the Bible which refers to Jaffa, an Israeli city. So I'm wondering if Qud is related to Al-Quds, the Arabic name for the city of Jerusalem. If so, I'd prefer to translate Caves of Qud into something like "Caves of the Holy City". Thx!

[Cosmogrunt]

Hello bozar,
well, by experience in translations I would suggest: even if we could find some propspectives hints concerning names in the game, I would keep these names as they are in the game.
(Franck Herbert, writer of Dune took a lots of words from ancient arabic, but do I have to care about?)

In fact, for the reader of your review, writing "Caves of the Holy City" is giving him YOUR understanding, which should be avoided as a reviewer. Also, a good practice is to not translate names (unless, it hurts as a phonetic insult in another language).

Better use "Qud" only as it is, the reader has to figure out by himself what Qud could be... and perhaps guess from where the name comes from... if he fells the need.

[Mehukannu]

You probably want to avoid confusing people by not changing any of the names. It will make it easier for them to look up information and reference it later after reading your review.

And as Berozz said, it is better to leave that for the reader to figure out.

[Kaaven]

The guys are right - it is best not to translate names like that, cause even if the way that the name sounds is taken from somewhere it does not have to carry the meaning. Many authors do use foreign-inspired words simply cause they sound cool.

That being said, I do have my own theory about the name:
I believe the name "Qud" was created from the sound of the word "cud". Cud is the partially chewed and partially digested food, created in a process of eating by some plant feeding animals, like goats or antelopes. Basically, they eat up some grass, chew and swallow it into one part of the stomach, then spit it out (and that thing is called "cud") and swallow it again into the "main" stomach. It helps them digest some otherwise undigestable parts of the plant that way.

So the name of the land is "Qud", cause just like the cud created by the animals it was already "chewed and digested" (by the way of all sorts of chemical poisons, environment modifications and genetic mutations) by the race that initially ruled it, before the races we encounter in the game were even created. Especially, since that those original rulers are called "the Eaters" in the game lore. Players can even encounters ancient robots digging the pointless corridors in the deeper parts of the dungeons - figuratively speaking still "chewing the planet", long millennia after their masters are gone.

[bozar]

Thank you for your advice, guys. I think I would transliterate Qud into Chinese and keep the English title in my review. Besides, I am still cat-curious about the real meaning of "Qud". Please feed me with your assumptions, or even better, developer's official announcement.

[Mehukannu]

You are welcome. Glad to be some help.
I wish I could add something to the meaning of Qud, but I am such a bad person to find meaning in things most of the time. :D