Nonsensical game names interpreted by online dictionaries

PenPen Trilcelon

Dictionary.com suggests: Penmen (a person who writes or copies; scribe; copyist)
Dictionary.com suggests: Trailsmen (people who follow a trail)

Merriam-Webster.com suggests: Pampean (of or relating to the pampas [grass-covered plains] of South America or their Indian inhabitants)
Merriam-Webster.com suggests: Triathlon (an athletic contest that is a long-distance race consisting of three phases)

LOST IN TRANSLATION

Real words! No meaning to the majority of people reading them!

Katamari Damacy

Actual Japanese translation: Clump Soul

Dictionary.com suggests: Katmai (an active volcano in southwest Alaska)
Dictionary.com suggests: Daman (a rare name for the hyrax, any of several species of small mammals of the order Hyracoidea, of Africa and the Mediterranean region)

Merriam-Webster.com suggests: Catenary (the curve assumed by a cord of uniform density and cross section that is perfectly flexible but not capable of being stretched and that hangs freely from two fixed points)
Merriam-Webster.com suggests: Admass (mass-media advertising)

Shin Megami Tensei

Actual Japanese translation: True Goddess Reincarnation

Dictionary.com suggests: Magma (molten material beneath or within the earth's crust)
Dictionary.com suggests: Tense (in a state of mental or nervous strain)

Merriam-Webster.com suggests: Megohm (one million ohms)
Merriam-Webster.com suggests: Teensy (very small or diminutive)

Herzog Zwei

Actual German translation: Duke Two

Dictionary.com suggests: Wei (any of several dynasties that ruled in North China, especially one ruling a.d. 220265 and one ruling a.d. 386534)

Merriam-Webster.com suggests: Zori (a flat thonged sandal usually made of straw, cloth, leather, or rubber)

What about "Herzog Zwei"? Dictionary.com suggests: Hoosgows (a slang word for jail)

Odama

Actual Japanese translation: Great Ball

Dictionary.com suggests: Adama (another name for Admah, one of the cities that was destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah)

Merriam-Webster.com suggests: Edema (an abnormal infiltration and excess accumulation of serous fluid in connective tissue)

Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring

Actual German translation: Ambition

Dictionary.com suggests: Elegize (to lament in an elegy)

Merriam-Webster.com suggests: Erotize (to invest with erotic significance or sexual feeling)

Suikoden Tierkreis

Actual Japanese and German translation: Water Margin Zodiac

Dictionary.com suggests: Sudden (happening, coming, made, or done quickly, without warning, or unexpectedly)
Dictionary.com suggests: Terries (the loops formed by the pile of a fabric when left uncut)

Merriam-Webster.com suggests: Studding (the studs of a building or wall)
Merriam-Webster.com suggests: Traitress (a woman who is a traitor)

Meaning at last

So, would you play any of these dictionary-approved games? Metal Gear Rising: Refinance, where Raiden must allocate funds? Bourbonist Joe, Capcom's spotlight on a young man's extremely conservative politics? Let us know in the comments if we missed any of your favorite made-up game names, and how those chumps at Oxford would interpret it.

And if you're looking for more ridiculous features, check out 23 everyday words and phrases used by gamers, that non-gamers think mean something VERY different and the 40 least interesting images from Sony's Press Event.

Lucas Sullivan

Lucas Sullivan is the former US Managing Editor of GamesRadar+. Lucas spent seven years working for GR, starting as an Associate Editor in 2012 before climbing the ranks. He left us in 2019 to pursue a career path on the other side of the fence, joining 2K Games as a Global Content Manager. Lucas doesn't get to write about games like Borderlands and Mafia anymore, but he does get to help make and market them. 

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