Noa-name
Sign in to savethumb|Portuguese mariner Bartolomeu Dias named the ("cape of the storms") in southern Africa but the king [[John II of Portugal renamed it ("cape of good hope").|alt=A cape and a beach seen from above.]] A noa-name is a word that replaces a taboo word, generally out of fear that the true name would anger or summon the force or being in question. The term derives from the Polynesian concept of Noa, which is the antonym of Tapu (from which derives the word taboo) and serves to lift the tapu from a person or object.
In the Vinony graph
Within Vinony's link graph, Noa-name is referenced by 18 other articles, and connects out to names of God in Judaism, William Shakespeare and Ursidae.
Vinony files it under English-language idioms, Etiquette and Euphemisms.
Its subject is documented across 7 Wikipedia language editions.
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
3 sectionsContents
- Examples
- See also
- References
thumb|Portuguese mariner Bartolomeu Dias named the ("cape of the storms") in southern Africa but the king [[John II of Portugal renamed it ("cape of good hope").|alt=A cape and a beach seen from above.]] A noa-name is a word that replaces a taboo word, generally out of fear that the true name would anger or summon the force or being in question. The term derives from the Polynesian concept of Noa, which is the antonym of Tapu (from which derives the word taboo) and serves to lift the tapu from a person or object.
A noa-name is sometimes described as a euphemism, though the meaning is more specific; a noa-name is a non-taboo synonym used to avoid bad luck, and replaces a name considered dangerous. The noa-name may be innocuous or flattering, or it may be more accusatory.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Noa-name” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.