Saturday, November 12, 2011

What's in a name, if there is no P in it?

This is my letter published in Daily Tribune on 12 Nov 2011
Reviewer's response published on 13 Nov 2011

Regarding your Friday review of the movie ‘The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn’, (DT, 11 Nov), I have one commendation, and one correction.

The commendation is for the way the review is written. The style and terminology used is such that any reader and admirer of the comic-book reporter-character called Tintin can easily and quickly relate to.  Not only were the visual aspects of this animation magic explained, but also the appeal of the plot and the music effectively analyzed.  Well written. Thank you.

The correction is for the way the names of the duo of detectives, the twins, were spelt. They were spelt Thomson and Thomson in the review.

It is perhaps a very minor typo. But to me, a die-hard Tintin fan who has read all the adventures of Tintin several times over, it is sacrilegious!

So, even if you think I am making a mountain out of a mole hill, please allow me this elaborate explanation.

Thompson’ and ‘Thomson’ is the correct way the names must be spelt. To be precise, one is with a P. One is without a P. In fact, in many books the twins go to extreme lengths explaining the difference between both of them.

Thompson explains he is the one with a P, as in Philadelphia. The other twin Thomson explains he is the one without a P, as in Venezuela. Of course, being the blundering detectives that they are, they often jump to their own confusions. Like the time whenThompson tells on phone that he is the Thompson with a P, as in Psychology!

Whatever it is, please let it also be known that the twins are actually identifiable; by their‘moustaches’.

If you have read enoughTintin Comics like I did, you will know that Thomson has a pointy moustache that curls outwards. And Thompson has a droopy moustache.

If you wish to argue with me, you can. But please verify with this link first : http://tintin.eugraph.com/tqsect/feature/tvst/index.html

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