OK. My character in a game has a Manriki-Gusari, but the name is a bit of a mouthful and dosen't sound all that threatening to me as an english speaker.

Does anyone have any ideas for a realistic slang term for a Manriki-Gusari in seattle in the year 2063? I know it's probably a rare weapon, but I wouldn't be surprised that with the (highly effective) stats given to the weapon it could have been discovered and populated the shadows.

Right now I'm looking at Ruckus, Ricky, Rick-Gus or Mansari as name bastardisations. Anyone else have ideas? Maybe something that's not a name bastardisation?

Riki or 'sari sounds realistic.

How about just "chain". Slannging something thats an unintimidating word people dont understand will lead to yet a different word someone's not going to understand. Shortening it wont change anything.

Whirley thing? Granted its not exactly a technical term though.

Why do you need it to be intimidating? When you need intimidation, just give them a demonstration. If they value their lives, they'll understand why they should be somewhere else.

This may not apply to the mang-gus, but I always liked the term "beating-stick."

Beating-chain, then. That's what it is, except when you decide to strangle people with it.

On a tangent, depending on what part of town I'm in, I can often disguise my manriki-gusari (or manriki-gusai, depending on who you talk to) as a piece of odd jewelry.

~J

I think you should call it the Pain Chain

Howabout chump-rope?

I second Zazen. Pain Chain is purrfect.

Man-sari...now that...that's friggin' golden. Rare lapse into netspeak: ROFL.

Have a nice day.

You mean a garment worn mainly by women of India and Pakistan, made up of a length of cloth with one end wrapped around the waist and the other draped over the shoulder?

Yeah. I got it. Hysterical.

Oh, in that case, you just have the sense of humor of an autistic 80-year old with Alzheimer's and AIDs.

Lay off it, Kakkaraun. Your flaming's unnecessary and rather devoid of wit.

That said, Smiley, it may not've been hilarious, but it was cute. Wasn't necessary to flame him over it, in any case.

Now, get back on topic. Manriki gusari?

Oh yes, because the concept of a MAN sari should make any NORMAL person douse their drawers with side-splitting laughter.

[edit] Fair enough. Arethusa has a point. Moving on...

Don't pout.

Yes, because my response was SO different from yours. Could you stop posting 2-word irrelevant replies, now?

I could...

Pain Chain gets my vote...heh heh heh. Pain Chain.

gusari, 'sari, sorry. "i said" *thwack* "i'm sorry!" *thwack*

I like Pain Chain. I like it a lot.

Eh? "Pain Chain" sounds like something that would just make me point and laugh. "Oooh, you're pulling out your 'pain chain,' huh? What's next? You're going to pull out your 'gripe pipe' or 'strife knife' too?"

Like BitBasher, I'd just call it a chain and be done with it. As far as the vast majority of humanity would be concerned, that's all it is anyway.

Gripe pipe really has a viciously comic tone to it. Little place in a serious game, but it has promise. Pain chain and strife knife are too overstated, really, and don't have the same wit.

I picture "pain chain" to be used by a troll ganger or such. Those types aren't known for their razor wit. Same for gripe pipe, etc.

Y'know, someone else said "whirly thing," and it got me thinking.

There's an Australian Abororiginal insturment called a bullroarer. It basically consists of a cord with a heavy leaf-shaped air foil on the end of it. You perform with it by swinging the airfoil on the cord in circles above your head, where it produces a sound that's pretty much uniquely its own, a moan run through a flange if you will.

I could imagine, quite easily, the manriki might make a sound very similar to this.