But a Jape

“Yes, I know what ‘the usual stakes’ are. That’s why they’re called ‘the usual stakes’ – you don’t need to explain it to me.”

– What Al-Ehet is really trying to keep himself from saying

Did you know the Latin word “bella” can translate to either “wars” or “beautiful?” Also, there doesn’t appear to be a shared etymological root that explains why the same word applies to two completely different concepts.

According to at least one source, the best etymology for “bellum,” as in “war,” stems from the older word for “war,” “duellum,” which somehow stems from “bonus,” meaning “good.” I don’t get it either, but I assume it’s the same sort of language logic that got the name “Jack” out of “Johnathan” (I actually do know the origins of the name “Jack,” but I’ll save that bit of trivia for another comic that’s slightly more tangentially relevant).

Keen readers might now understand that Bonabell’s name means “good war,” although I named him that long before learning the above etymological theory. I just thought it would be funny for a war god to be named Bonabell.

– James