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GeneralBest and Worst mineral names
21st Dec 2010 20:22 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder
Note, I'm not interested in favourite minerals or least favourite, just whether you like the names or not!
For me, my favourite used to be Hexatestibiopanickelite, which is a truly awesome name. Unfortunately it's no longer a valid mineral species, so I'll stick with my second favourite, the magical sounding Kosmochlor.
My least favourite has to be the recent name 'Eurekadumpite' Ugh.
Jolyon
21st Dec 2010 20:47 UTCHarjo Neutkens Manager
The rest of the year it's Kolarite, because it sounds like a Japanese ordering a diet coke...
21st Dec 2010 20:49 UTCScott Sadlocha
Jolyon, I am with you on the Eurekadumpite.
I tend to not like mineral names with an entire person's name or a location in the name of the mineral. A first or last name, I can understand, but the entire thing just sounds silly to me. Nothing against the people who the minerals are named after, of course, I just think it sounds kind of corny to have something like "Johndoeite" rather than "Johnite". And if one of the person's names is already in use in a mineral, then it is time to come up with something better than the full name, while still sounding professional.
As far as favorites go, I am not sure, I would have to think about it a bit I guess. I have always liked mineral names that don't follow the "ite" naming convention, minerals such as cinnabar, copper, realgar, etc. Still, with regard to the "ites" I have always liked titanite (not sphene though).
I am sure there are quite a few others I can come up with.
21st Dec 2010 21:03 UTCRobert Meyer Manager
21st Dec 2010 21:09 UTCGerhard Brandstetter Expert
not so nice is weeksite - if you translate the german spelling it would mean "wankerite" in english.....
21st Dec 2010 21:12 UTCEugene & Sharon Cisneros Expert
Gene
21st Dec 2010 21:21 UTCMatt King
Bullachite
Beaverite
Belovite
Dickite
Fukalite
Welshite
:-)
21st Dec 2010 21:34 UTCSteve Hardinger 🌟 Expert
21st Dec 2010 21:39 UTCDavid Bernstein Expert
The other least favorite is the name of a group of minerals-the Smectite group.
21st Dec 2010 21:40 UTCJeff Weissman Expert
Lavendulan, cuprosklodowskite, and moolooite are some of my favorite names
21st Dec 2010 22:20 UTCRoger Lang Manager
for the elder statesmen amongst us .. if peeing hurts like fire
Pyropissite ;)
cheers
Roger
21st Dec 2010 22:26 UTCJason Evans
21st Dec 2010 22:59 UTCRonald John Gyllenhammer Expert
Worst: Preobrazhenskite, just try and say this ten times as fast as you can...
21st Dec 2010 23:27 UTCStephen Eglinton
Steve.
21st Dec 2010 23:27 UTCDean Allum Expert
Cylindrite is the most accurate mineral name.
Ramsdellite sounds like a goat's desert.
Cinnabar is where you go for cinnamon rolls.
Illite is almost a bar-code.
Alum-K reminds me of my aunt.
-Dean Allum
21st Dec 2010 23:33 UTCMaggie Wilson Expert
My least favourite, because I trip over the spelling EVERY time is fluorororororichterite - See? (:P)
22nd Dec 2010 00:00 UTCPeter Nancarrow 🌟 Expert
I like chemical mnemonics which sound pleasant e.g. bazirite and cavansite, but some just don't; e.g. nacaphite
My pet hates are those which sound as if they should be mnemonics but aren't; e.g. molybdomenite, phosgenite, zinkenite, which do not contain Mo, P, or Zn.
Pete N.
22nd Dec 2010 04:41 UTCSteven Kuitems Expert
My favorite is welshite which honors my mineral mentor Bill Welsh for whom I am grateful for his patience in teaching me about the joy of studying and collecting minerals as the gems of the creation around us.
Steve.
22nd Dec 2010 05:12 UTCCasper Voogt
Erudite - because it doesn't exist and should
Marmite - because it's tasty
22nd Dec 2010 05:38 UTCStephanie Martin
I always thought corundum was missing an i, it would sound much more robust as corundium
quartz, always so drab, needs another syllable too, like quartzon
aragonite - sounds pretty in Spanish but not so much in English
orpiment - that's what I just stepped in
Ones I like are vesuvianite, molybdenite, zircon, topaz, neptunite, uranium (almost anything with ium)
I won't mention the x-rated ones, trying to keep this a family show! lol
cheers
steph
22nd Dec 2010 07:47 UTCHans Kloster
Potasium-ferrimagnesio-sodanagaite and similar are advertisement for chemicals.
Ellingsenite is the honour of the only member of Stonefriends in Copenhagen, who got the honour.
Neptunite in honour of the God of Sea.
22nd Dec 2010 09:25 UTCMarcus Voigt
Worst: Marcasite ! (td)
Merry Christmas and a sucessful good new 2011
Special Thanks to Jolyon and the mindat Team
Marcus
22nd Dec 2010 10:57 UTCRick Turner
The name is (should be) pronounced ah-sees-ite as the mineral is named after the locality where it was first found, the Kombat Mine, which lies in the farm Asis (ah-sees) West. The farm itself lies in what is most politely described as 'high grade scrubby desert' on the southern fringes of the Otavi mountains in Namibia. It's pretty barren, as hot as the proverbial third hell, and was pretty well devoid of anything - including vegetation, but most importantly, water. The story locally goes that the farm got it's name when the first settler - an Afrikaaner - first saw the piece of land that he'd been allocated, and said 'Ach, Sis!' - which is pronounced 'ah, sus' - and is the local expression for 'oh sh*t'. This stuck, and became 'Asis' on the maps.
The explanation of the name that you can sometimes see in the the literature - that it is named after the local (Nama) word for watering place - is simply wrong, though understandably so. The Nama word for water is 'Ais' - as in the Ai-Ais canyon, meaning burning water, an allusion to the temperature in the canyon. The word Ais is pronounced in the same way as the English word 'ice' so the canyon name is pronounced 'ay-ice'.
Merry Christmas to all!
Rick Turner
22nd Dec 2010 11:20 UTCEric D. Fritzsch 🌟
22nd Dec 2010 14:45 UTCGerhard Niklasch Expert
-------------------------------------------------------
> My least favourite, because I trip over the
> spelling EVERY time is fluorororororichterite -
> See? (:P)
Gee, that's definitely an advanced one.... I can't even spell Flourite! 8-)
No strong preferences on my part, but I have a soft spot for some of those old learnéd alternate names. "Vesuvianite" sure rolls off the tongue so smoothly, but it pales against a sharp-edged, well-terminated "Idokras!" - which sounds even more definite in its Græco-German form than "Idocrase".
Season's Greetings!
Gerhard
22nd Dec 2010 15:52 UTCAlex Homenuke 🌟 Expert
Also widgiemoothalite (sp?) - the Aussies do have the catchy names
Edit - widgiemoolthalite - should have looked it up before posting
22nd Dec 2010 15:58 UTCRudy Bolona Expert
22nd Dec 2010 18:33 UTCAnonymous User
22nd Dec 2010 20:55 UTCJohn Magnasco Manager
Dislike: Chloro-potassic-ferri-magnesiotaramite and all of the others following this ridiculous naming convention. I want a NAME that I can call the mineral and then look up the formula and structure information when I need to.
22nd Dec 2010 21:34 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager
22nd Dec 2010 22:01 UTCRudy Bolona Expert
22nd Dec 2010 23:02 UTCWalter Kellogg
least favorite - Ferri-clinoferroholmquistite - come on, this is just too dang long - and on to top it off - the IMA approved the name it even though the mineral is only theoretical and has never actually been found to be naturally occuring.
23rd Dec 2010 02:22 UTCMark & Linda Mahlum
Least favorite- celestite
23rd Dec 2010 02:25 UTCMark & Linda Mahlum
23rd Dec 2010 03:00 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder
I think Mike Rumsey's away for Christmas, but I know he's particularly fond of the name hydrombobomkulite. What's not to like.
23rd Dec 2010 04:36 UTCMichael Adamowicz Expert
Most favorite is Uranothorite... it sounds tough. Just say it, doesn't it sound awesome>:D<?
Second choice is Uraninite. Just say it" I got a piece of Uraninite", now that gets peoples attention, then the worried looks all around:).
Third favorite is Aquamarine, it is a great name. You got to admit it, its a great name isn't it? Its a name that really bring an image to your mind. Most mineral names conjure little about how the mineral is to look, with Aquamarine you see what you expect, with a name like that.
Least favorite: Specularite. It sounds like they were not sure about the mineral when they named it. Annoying name. Really, really annoying.
Michal.
23rd Dec 2010 04:55 UTCCraig Mercer
23rd Dec 2010 05:48 UTCGreg Toomey
it is very pleasing to the senses, and a word is a "speech sound"). I do like Leaverite - but I strike it down for being a vernacular and unscientific word...but, dang, it is a great word!
My least favorite - Hemimorphite. Call it the politically correct American in me, but it sounds like a word an American wingnut politician would cite as an example of the degradation of Western Civilization, or, in American speak, "UnAmerican!!" I don't need that crap in my apolitical mineral world!
Greg
23rd Dec 2010 06:46 UTCBen Schumer
Other favorites include cryolite and phosgenite because they sound tough and pitchblende (OK, it's a varietal...) and plumbotsumite because they roll off of the tongue well. The German designation "uranglimmer" (for autunite, torbernite, zeunerite, etc.) also sounds neat, like some kind of uranium disco.
Least favorite in order: tsnigriite, kinoshitalite, and walpurgite (it reminds me of the sound of a compressed air jet under water).
23rd Dec 2010 07:00 UTCRobert Simonoff
Least Favorite: Any mineral starting with Arseno
The least favorite may seem dumb, but it is because so many people mispronounce Arseno as Arsenio, like it was names after a comedian or something. Arseniosiderite ... ugh!
23rd Dec 2010 07:54 UTCHarjo Neutkens Manager
Also Poppiite, isn't that what the Afghani grow on their fields?
Titanite too, as in "no, sorry honey, I only touch one tit-a-nite..."
23rd Dec 2010 08:51 UTCDavid Bruno
23rd Dec 2010 13:31 UTCRuth Raubenheimer
23rd Dec 2010 13:34 UTCEvan Johnson
23rd Dec 2010 13:50 UTCMaggie Wilson Expert
25th Dec 2010 00:37 UTCNorman King 🌟 Expert
I'd like to add my name to the list of those who are partial to eurekadumpite and cummingtonite. It seems people either love those or hate them.
Some of my favorite names I haven't seen mentioned are kobokoboite, fangite, hummerite, margaritasite, and mushistonite (you know--mushy-stone-ite).
Names that should be, but aren't, include one similar to leaverite called expensivite. But the "ought-to-be" name that is my favorite is (drum roll): favorite!
Once I looked up "brass" in mindat, and found this casual mineral name (look it up!): "brass balls." It is reported to be a synonym of pyrite, referring to nodular pyrite. Is someone pulling my leg?
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
26th Dec 2010 19:35 UTCAdam Kelly
Alexandrite is my second favorite, it just sounds regal, and is rare and beautiful.
Least favorite... Wad, I mean, is that the best they can do?
26th Dec 2010 22:00 UTCHarjo Neutkens Manager
23rd Dec 2013 04:02 UTCLucky_318
23rd Dec 2013 07:42 UTCFrank K. Mazdab 🌟 Manager
I don't mind the sometimes long chemical-list type mineral names others here don't care for... to me they're unpretentious, saying what they mean and meaning what they say... take potassic-chloro-ferropargasite, for instance... with only knowledge of the periodic table and some Finnish geography, one instantly knows it has Cl, K, Fe2+ and the TL for the eponymous root is Pargas... no fuss, no muss, and wow, packed with so much info! And of course, I'm a fan of franckeite... this one should be obvious... :)
My least favorite are the 10% or 20% or so that I simply find unpronounceable. I realize that list is highly subjective, and likely a function of one's familiarity with the language the name was derived from. I'm also not a fan of false-friends that are similar enough in spelling or pronunciation that confusion can arise, like berthierine and berthierite, reinerite and renierite, or sericite and cerussite. As previously noted, minerals with the appearance of an element, when that element actually isn't present (in some attempted clever but ultimately confusing nod to a Greek or Latin root) I also consider unfortunate name choices.
23rd Dec 2013 14:12 UTCReiner Mielke Expert
"Once I looked up "brass" in mindat, and found this casual mineral name (look it up!): "brass balls." It is reported to be a synonym of pyrite, referring to nodular pyrite. Is someone pulling my leg? " No I think they are pulling on something else. LOL
23rd Dec 2013 15:21 UTCLászló Horváth Manager
How about lovely names like kukharenkoite, qaqarssukite, daqingshanite?
23rd Dec 2013 15:33 UTCLászló Horváth Manager
23rd Dec 2013 15:38 UTCEd Clopton 🌟 Expert
One of my favorites has always been strashimirite for its exoticness (exocitiy?), although (thank you Peter Nancarrow for reminding me) moschellandsbergite is hard to beat for euphoniousness.
There are lots of candidates for least favorite, but the adamite-eveite pair and scrutinyite have always struck me as particularly silly names.
The spell checker is having a grand time with this message--look at all the red squiggles!
23rd Dec 2013 16:01 UTCMaggie Wilson Expert
I, Maggie Wilson, Reiner's wife say the same thing! You are making that up!!!
It's funny, though, now into my 6th year of mineral collecting, the names don't sound as odd as they once did!
23rd Dec 2013 16:49 UTCChester S. Lemanski, Jr.
The nicest mineral name, in my opinion, is Turquoise.
Thank goodness that there was never a new mineral species found in the boron mineralization in Sodom village, New York (lost serendibite locality). Paul Moore once quipped that if one were ever to be found, he would readily name it sodomite!
23rd Dec 2013 19:41 UTCTom Tucker
Just taking the list of new species that Marco posted today, there are 33 new species and I'm heartened that the great majority of the new names being very acceptable. The exceptions, on my "really bad mineral names" list would be: ferro-ferri-nybøite, Hydroxycalciomicrolite, Chromo-alumino-povondraite, Caesiumpharmacosiderite. I understand the intent of this kind of nomenclature, but as an old chemist, I don't need these systematic chemical names for mineral species. We ought to be honoring people and places with our new species names.
By far, my favorite of the new names, bluelizardite. Of course the authors could have called it something like clinonatrohydro-something-or-the-other-uranyl -Cl, but fortunately they didn't. Nice job Joe Marty, et al. Other especially appropriate names: philrothite, marshallsussmanite, and most of the other couple of dozen new names.
23rd Dec 2013 20:25 UTCeugene reynolds
and have 60 to 75 in my tn.collection gene reynolds
23rd Dec 2013 22:19 UTCEd Clopton 🌟 Expert
23rd Dec 2013 22:26 UTCMaggie Wilson Expert
Cheers!
24th Dec 2013 13:09 UTCChris Rayburn
At the risk of breaking the rules, I'll put a vote in for amethyst as my favorite. Not a mineral, technically, but one of the most beautiful words in the English language.
Least favorite: Pumpellyite. There's no good reason it should grate on me so much, but it does. Sounds like a soft tissue growth.
Happy holidays everyone!
24th Dec 2013 13:35 UTCTom Tucker
24th Dec 2013 19:21 UTCChris Rayburn
24th Dec 2013 22:28 UTCPaul Brandes 🌟 Manager
25th Dec 2013 02:30 UTCDavid Garske
Dave
25th Dec 2013 03:24 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager
25th Dec 2013 09:16 UTCErik Vercammen Expert
25th Dec 2013 13:15 UTCSusan Robinson
Susan Robinson
25th Dec 2013 13:29 UTCPaul De Bondt Manager
I dont like analcime and parkinsonite either.
Take care and best regards.
Paul.
25th Dec 2013 13:54 UTCTom Tucker
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Copyright © mindat.org and the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy 1993-2024, except where stated. Most political location boundaries are © OpenStreetMap contributors. Mindat.org relies on the contributions of thousands of members and supporters. Founded in 2000 by Jolyon Ralph.
Privacy Policy - Terms & Conditions - Contact Us / DMCA issues - Report a bug/vulnerability Current server date and time: May 9, 2024 23:29:49