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Wednesday 25 May 2011

The origins of Cordeguay

When I was thinking about a name for my South American FUNNY LITTLE WARS imagi-nation, I remembered using the name Cordeguay many years ago, and so I decided to reuse it.

Its derivation is quite obvious. My surname is Cordery, and there are several countries in South American that end in '-guay', so it made sense to call my imagi-nation Cordeguay. Imagine my horror, therefore, when I discovered that someone else had also used the same name for a South American country. It appears that the country is featured in one of the Net Force Explorers books, THE ULTIMATE ESCAPE (No.4) by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik.

Now I cannot prove that I came up with the name before either Tom Clancy or Steve Pieczenik, but I hope that neither of them will be offended if I continue to use it.

8 comments:

  1. Hi Bob,

    Great minds thinking alike perhaps?

    Knowing TC's books I am rather pleased that your version of Cordeguay is a little less hi-tech or drug fuelled!

    I am looking forward though to the back story to your great nation as and when you are able to do so.

    All the best,

    DC

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  2. David,

    I hope to spend some time in Cordeguay over half-term; if I do, then some of its back story may well emerge!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  3. Bob,

    perhaps an accent on the will be sufficient for the é will be enough for the ©.

    Have you read John Buchan's 'The Courts of the Morning.' A very good take on the Chaco war.

    As ever
    Paul

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  4. Paul,

    Thanks for the suggestion regarding the accent. I will leave the name as it is for the present, but if I need to change it, I will add the accent.

    I have read most of John Buchan's books, and 'The Courts of the Morning' is one of my favourites.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  5. Bob, the real question is "Did they take the name from you?" Maybe royalties are in order! Probbaky best to let sleeping dogs lie.

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  6. Ross Mac,

    I suspect that it is pure coincidence ... although I happen to know that Harold Robbins used a similar name - Corteguay - in his book 'The Adventurers'.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  7. And I thought I had read all of Buchan - thank you Reverend.

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  8. Conrad Kinch,

    It is well worth reading. Richard Hannay appears in the novel, but the main characters are from other Hannay books, including Sandy Arbuthnot, John Blenkiron, and Archie and Janet Roylance. For more details, have a look here.

    All the best,

    Bob

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