dragaera-request at dragaera.info wrote: > Date: Sat, 03 Jun 2006 18:22:47 -0600 > From: Howard Brazee <howard at brazee.net> > Subject: Re: Yuck > > Peter H. Granzeau wrote: > >> At 09:31 PM 6/2/2006, Howard Brazee wrote: >> >>> On 5:36 PM Peter H. Granzeau wrote: >>> >>>>> So what does "dead" mean? >>>> She's not exactly dead, she is just not alive. >>>> >>> We've been told she's dead, but she's obviously also alive. >>> >> The correct word seems to be undead. >> > Yep. But when it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck - she's alive. > > ------------------------------ Despite ducks, Loraan and other comments... I suspect you are mistaking your terms, specifically "alive" where a better word would be animate. It's trickier to mistake "dead" for the merely inanimate and no longer alive. Undead is a placeholder. It assumes that someone has been animated, or is able to function like a living being, or possesses features of same. Think of Frankenstein. Think of the Bicentennial Man [in text, not onscreen, please]. It also assumes that one does not have all the features of the living and possesses some features of the dead; in Sethra Lavode's case, from having had a particular experience. That's why you have the handy category known as undead. I can't speak for what vampire means in Dragaera, 'cause I'm not the author. Now that I consider, there's another Asimov bit that I wouldn't try on Sethra Lavode. :> I would never offer her a fruit and ask her to eat it, as proof she was alive. Mostly because it's not proof. I'm going to pretend that you all were arguing in earnest, instead of passing the time on a quiet weekend. :P *--- --- A.S. Zanoni Personal Assistant to Steven Brust Steven's Travel & Event Schedule: http://www.angelfire.com/fang/dreamcafe_chica