bushlurker 45 Posted October 20, 2010 (edited) Actually the Latin "Arma" is a little looser than just "weapon" like it is today in all the latin-derived languages... In Roman days it could more generally mean "Warfare" (which was actually "bellum" if spoken about specifically), or, more like "Force of Arms"... the original quote a few people have mentioned is actually by Virgil... Arma virumque cano.- I sing of arms and a man. The opening line of the Aeneid - basically the Romans history of themselves, and how they came to be founded - by Trojan refugees - through the efforts of one man - Aeneas, and by "Force of Arms/War"... (big adventure story - well worth a read!) If the Romans sent out "Arma et virii" to some place, they weren't sending a few blokes with some wagonloads of swords - they basically meant The Legions - "The War Machine" - "The Armed Forces"... with the secondary implication that they weren't there for a holiday! Though in the another sense "arma" was a sort of blanket term for "Weapons of War" as well - as in the actual material items collectively - and non-specifically, since they all had individual names too... Heres another quote by Cicero (whose name, incidentally, means "chickpea nose" - who says the Romans had no sense of humour :D) - well known for talking a lot and fainting when being asked to actually hold a sword (he was a bigwig lawyer) "Silent enim leges inter arma" This basically means - when theres a war on, people pay less attention to the letter of the law... "Laws are silent in times of war"... But notice how he doesn't use "bellum" for "war", basically because its not a specific actual war he's talking about, its just "Times Of War" in general... Usually Ciceros cue to go hide in one of his country villas till it blows over :) It's a plural word, by the way... just to complicate things a little further :D (you can tell this stuff is my RL job ;) I'll talk all afternoon unless I shut up right now!) B Edited October 20, 2010 by Bushlurker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProfTournesol 956 Posted October 20, 2010 Interesting post, thanks Bushlurker. Pseudo-renaming makes more sense now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JSj 12 Posted October 20, 2010 (edited) I guess they need to change the forum headers then. They still say "ArmA 2 & OA". Edited October 20, 2010 by Johan S Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Neopas 10 Posted October 20, 2010 The same in Italian, since it's decending from Latin.kind regards Arma means chariot or tank in greek.Quite similar meaning also. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CarlGustaffa 4 Posted October 20, 2010 I guess they need to change the forum headers then. They still say "ArmA 2 & OA". Hahaa, true. Well spotted :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
max power 21 Posted October 20, 2010 ArmA, with the capital As, is a stylization and a brand trademark. It is not necessarily denoting some kind of weird contraction. It is probably also a hold over from Armed Assault, but visually it has a certain rhythm and symmetry. ArmA: Armed Assault was a clever play on words. If you read bushlurker's post you can see why. The meaning of Armed Assault doesn't actually change very much if contracted to ArmA. I think they dropped the Armed Assault part because it's a bit of a cliche and a pleonasm. I think the latin term Arma represents the brand better at any rate. As DM said, the CEO of the company said they dropped the Armed Assault moniker, therefore, ArmA 2 is not Armed Assault 2. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted October 21, 2010 As DM said, the CEO of the company said they dropped the Armed Assault moniker, therefore, ArmA 2 is not Armed Assault 2. Arghhh, its Arma 2!!! or ARMA 2 or ARMAII. You are just feeding the major confusion :D ;) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
[frl]myke 14 Posted October 21, 2010 "what does arma stand for?" Well, it stands for a unique game experience. :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muahaha 10 Posted October 21, 2010 Arma stands for "take that dragon what again" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CarlGustaffa 4 Posted October 21, 2010 (edited) No, you're both wrong. Arma is a gyro compass :p Okay, I seriously didn't expect to find that... If it had to be an ab., my vote goes to "World Society Of Dsylexctic People", or Arma for short :D Edited October 21, 2010 by CarlGustaffa Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ulanthorn 10 Posted October 21, 2010 (edited) "INTER ARMA ENIM SILENT LEGES" says it pretty good! "ARMA" is the word for the process of war in this latin proverb...modern: "warfare". "In warfare the laws keep silence!" Edited October 21, 2010 by Ulanthorn Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Dawg KS 6 Posted October 22, 2010 Too much spare time... that's what BI forums stands for. :rolleyes: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sparks50 0 Posted October 22, 2010 (edited) I emailed five gamingsites at the A2 release and got em all to change the name from Armed Assault 2 to Arma 2 in their databases. I actually think it was kind of annoying. In French too (precisely "Arme"), Which Im guessing is related to the english "armed". And then we are back full circle:D Edited October 22, 2010 by sparks50 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
max power 21 Posted October 22, 2010 Which Im guessing is related to the english "armed". And then we are back full circle:D The english term is probably derived from the french. In which case, they both come from the latin. The french certainly does. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
