Human! I mean sentient, I mean... mortal?

So, the one problem I randomly come across is the word that we commonly know as "human."

for instance, "It's only human nature." or, "I am only human."

Things like this cause a bit of a problem when humans are only a small sect of the playable races.
Sentient is also a problem because Aepas still thinks the forest is sentient but Mhaldorians do not.
Mortal is problematic because almost everything is technically mortal.

What is the word you use in these situations?
Replies the scorpion: "It's my nature..."

Comments

  • VayneVayne Rhode Island
    I use mortal too in place of the more broad cosmological usage of the word. Though human nature is probably fine in the metagame, even though the races all have very different natures despite their relative similarities in most other ways.
    image
  • Iocun said:
    Most of the time "mortal" fits, as the term "human" in such sentences often serves to describe a certain fallibility which would distinguish them from gods. I guess technically gods aren't "immortal" either, as they can die, but from the perspective of an Achaean adventurer, they still qualify as beyond the normal mechanics of life and death.

    Mortal is also a simple, short word which I find generally sounds more natural than using a construct like "sentient being" in a light phrase as "It's only ... nature".
    The problem I have with "Mortal" is actually its meaning in general, being subject to death.

    However, as I check the defenitions via dictionary.com, it seems that mortal also has the direct relation to "human".
    (of a living human being, often in contrast to a divine being) subject to death. (dictionary.com)

    Sooo, I'm right intentionally, wrong wrong in usage.  Problem I have is that I still see mortal as simply "subject to death" and less "human"
    Perhaps I will start using this though.

    I also agree greatly with Blujix, Idioms are something that are very strange in acheaa, and using proper ones that are Ic make a huge difference.
    Replies the scorpion: "It's my nature..."
  • edited November 2013
    Mortal works best in my opinion - not for the meaning, but the implication of 'as opposed to [an] immortal.'
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  • "Mortal" is a common word in classical mythology as an antithesis to the gods, even when "being subject to death" isn't particularly relevant to the context it is being used in. "Being subject to death" is, in this sense, simply a "pars pro toto": a symbol for the general imperfection of humans, such as lacking in knowledge, wisdom, or power.
  • LiancaLianca Fire and Spice
    I like Sapient for this sort of thing, it defines PCs from NPCs too, for the really pedantic people who try to bring that sort of nonsense up in debate.
    The sweltering heat of the forge spills out across the land as the rumbling voice of Phaestus booms, "I want you to know, the Garden reaction to that one is: What?"
    The voice of Melantha, Goddess of the Seasons, echoes amid the rustle of leaves, "That's the censored version."
  • Many npcs are sapient though...
  • DaslinDaslin The place with the oxygen
    Lianca said:
    I like Sapient for this sort of thing, it defines PCs from NPCs too, for the really pedantic people who try to bring that sort of nonsense up in debate.
    Sounds like you dealt with a certain Cyrenian when Phaestean....
  • Speak for yourself, traitor.
  • ShirszaeShirszae Santo Domingo
    I think saying "Mortal nature" is enough. I think the meaning gets carried that you are talking about sentient mortal nature.

    And you won't understand the cause of your grief...


    ...But you'll always follow the voices beneath.

  • DaslinDaslin The place with the oxygen
    Hey now. Ease on the traitor bit. I still live an hour from you. I can go to the mall in your area and scream FAUR ILL GET YOU! Till you show up.
  • Ha, good luck. I don't go to the mall.
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