Blue Moon Fans

Small Talk - What is the original meaning of "Blue Moon" ?
Lachwurzn - Mi 29 Dez, 2004 15:07
Titel: What is the original meaning of "Blue Moon" ?
Dearlove, do you have any background information on why the game is called "Blue Moon" after all ?

There is currently some discussion in the German language sections ofthis Forum (http://www.blue-moon-fans.com/viewtopic.php?p=12752#12752) including some English language explanations to the term.

This is interesting in case the "Blue Moon" has some role in the background story of the game, which (as you sure will not fail to mention Wink we haven't seen to the full extent yet...
Allen Doum - Do 30 Dez, 2004 23:13
Titel:
A "Blue Moon" is the second Full Moon in a single month. This doesn't happen often, so the saying "once in a Blue Moon" is used to describe something that rarely happens.

I, of course, have no information as to why the Blue Moon is worshiped in the games world.
Dearlove - Sa 01 Jan, 2005 19:41
Titel:
Allen Doum hat folgendes geschrieben:
A "Blue Moon" is the second Full Moon in a single month. This doesn't happen often, so the saying "once in a Blue Moon" is used to describe something that rarely happens.

I think this is backwards, finding a moon related rare event to apply the phrase to (not by you, I have seen this before). Standard British usage is that "once in a Blue Moon" is a rare event, we don't use it as specifically as you indicate - nor any of the other "moons" I've seen discussed (Fritz Leiber used to mention many different sorts in a column in Locus he once wrote). My copy of Brewer's (Dictionary of Phrase and Fable) just says "Very rarely indeed" without a source - certainly in British usage your case (which usually happens once a year) would be a bit common.

As for the game, see my other posting (when I write it next).
Dearlove - Sa 01 Jan, 2005 20:05
Titel: Re: What is the original meaning of "Blue Moon" ?
Lachwurzn hat folgendes geschrieben:
Dearlove, do you have any background information on why the game is called "Blue Moon" after all ?

There is currently some discussion in the German language sections ofthis Forum (http://www.blue-moon-fans.com/viewtopic.php?p=12752#12752) including some English language explanations to the term.

OK, I haven't read that, and have deliberately chosen to reply before deciding whether to.
Zitat:

This is interesting in case the "Blue Moon" has some role in the background story of the game, which (as you sure will not fail to mention Wink we haven't seen to the full extent yet...

Well, first, anyone British is going to be familiar with "Once in a Blue Moon" indicating rarity (but see my other posting). So there is some familiarity with the term.

Next, in his eulogy to David Farquhar, in addition to many other accomplishments, Reiner Knizia credited David Farquhar not just with the major playtesting and many contributions to the game Blue Moon, but with actually coming up with the name. So the credit belongs there, and alas some of the reasoning is possibly lost. I haven't discussed the details of this with Reiner.

Within the game - or more precisely within the Legend (so this really belongs in that topic) there is a Blue Moon which is referred to as a personality. I'm not going to do all the work for you, but see for example the Tome of Wisdom (Hoax 20) text. For what the current situation is, Blaze (Vulca 06) should provide the answer. For the future ... who knows?

(Incidentally I know of at least one other game with a Blue Moon, Greg Stafford's Glorantha has a Blue Moon in addition to a Red Moon and a future White Moon. But there's no connection here.)
Allen Doum - Sa 01 Jan, 2005 23:45
Titel:
From a CNN story:

Zitat:

It was not until the year 1999 that the origin of the calendrical term "Blue Moon" was at long last discovered. It was during the time frame from 1932 through 1957 that the Maine Farmers' Almanac suggested that if one of the four seasons (winter, spring, summer or fall) contained four full moons instead of the usual three, the third should be called a "Blue Moon."

But thanks to a couple of misinterpretations of this arcane rule, first by a writer in a 1946 issue of Sky & Telescope magazine, and much later, in 1980 syndicated radio program, it now appears that the second full Moon in a month is the one that's now popularly accepted as the definition of a "Blue Moon."


Of course, this is the USA usage.
Dearlove - So 02 Jan, 2005 00:22
Titel:
Allen Doum hat folgendes geschrieben:
From a CNN story: It was not until the year 1999 that the origin of the calendrical term "Blue Moon" was at long last discovered. It was during the time frame from 1932 through 1957 that the Maine Farmers' Almanac suggested that if one of the four seasons (winter, spring, summer or fall) contained four full moons instead of the usual three, the third should be called a "Blue Moon."

At best I'd suggest this indicates a possibility. The vagueness of the timeframe indicates that no one has hard evidence of a specific suggestion in a specific issue. And unless one has the actual article, with a specific suggestion to make an existing vague term (because no one is going to invent such a concept and an irrelevant phrase to describe it together) definite, it's not good evidence. And that's before you factor in that the press do not have a good reputation for conveying technical information outside their core areas of expertise accurately.
Zitat:

Of course, this is the USA usage.

Is it really? What proportion of the people who use the phrase "once in a blue moon" are thinking of something so arcane? Someone said that Trivial Pursuit popularised this definition, and it may have done. But it wouldn't be the first (or second, or ...) completely bogus answer I've seen in that game. (House rule though, whatever the card says is right, even when its wrong.)

Getting a little off topic here though, so we probably ought to wrap it up (I know, everyone says that in order to try to unfairly claim the last word) or move to something more specific. If I remember I'll ask Reiner the next time I see him, and if there is time (so no promises).
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