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Reminds of of Project Hail Mary. Never heard the word "carapace" before that book...

DeathArrow 2y ago
In Romanian "carapace" means shell. It seems to mean the same in English, too, but I presume is seldom used: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carapace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carapace
- logicprog 2y ago
  It's pretty commonly used in my experience, but that might just be the types of books I read perhaps.
- drcongo 2y ago
  It's not uncommon in English, though I suspect it's most often used in technical fields like entomology.
  - madmountaingoat 2y ago
    I'm pretty sure you encounter in in science fiction as well, where some bug like alien has a carapace or a soldier has some armored exo-skeleton described by the word. Though I cannot think of any specific examples.
    - myrmidon 2y ago
      Quite common in videogames, too. A specific example would be the Carapace (armor) upgrades in Starcraft 2 (one faction, the Zerg, are basically insects). Also sometimes used for (humanoid) armor crafted from shells (fantasy settings). I think this is MUCH more prevalent in scifi/fantasy targeted at male audiences, and the data confirms it [1] [1]: https://osf.io/g4xrt/# https://osf.io/g4xrt/#!
      - sevagh 2y ago
        The Dota 2 hero Nyx Assassin (beetle-like creature) has a skill called Spiked Carapace.
- Y_Y 2y ago
  Carapace is rarely used outside a zoological context, but people may be more familiar with the derived word "scarab", being a beetle with a notable shell. It is unfortunately unrelated to the delicious dish carpaccio, which is named after a man.
- Symmetry 2y ago
  It's the biggest solid piece of shell in English. Like the stuff over a crabs pincers is still shell but only the stuff that surrounds the main body is the carapace. Often used as an analogy for other sorts of armor, like a knights breastplate being his carapace or a tank's hull armor.
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Aachen 2y ago
I suspected Brandon Sanderson made it up for his Mistborn series until hearing it in Project Hail Mary also. This is actually why I clicked the thread: was curious if anyone would make the reference!

In Romanian "carapace" means shell. It seems to mean the same in English, too, but I presume is seldom used: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carapace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carapace

logicprog 2y ago
It's pretty commonly used in my experience, but that might just be the types of books I read perhaps.
drcongo 2y ago
It's not uncommon in English, though I suspect it's most often used in technical fields like entomology.
- madmountaingoat 2y ago
  I'm pretty sure you encounter in in science fiction as well, where some bug like alien has a carapace or a soldier has some armored exo-skeleton described by the word. Though I cannot think of any specific examples.
  - myrmidon 2y ago
    Quite common in videogames, too. A specific example would be the Carapace (armor) upgrades in Starcraft 2 (one faction, the Zerg, are basically insects). Also sometimes used for (humanoid) armor crafted from shells (fantasy settings). I think this is MUCH more prevalent in scifi/fantasy targeted at male audiences, and the data confirms it [1] [1]: https://osf.io/g4xrt/# https://osf.io/g4xrt/#!
    - sevagh 2y ago
      The Dota 2 hero Nyx Assassin (beetle-like creature) has a skill called Spiked Carapace.
Y_Y 2y ago
Carapace is rarely used outside a zoological context, but people may be more familiar with the derived word "scarab", being a beetle with a notable shell. It is unfortunately unrelated to the delicious dish carpaccio, which is named after a man.
Symmetry 2y ago
It's the biggest solid piece of shell in English. Like the stuff over a crabs pincers is still shell but only the stuff that surrounds the main body is the carapace. Often used as an analogy for other sorts of armor, like a knights breastplate being his carapace or a tank's hull armor.

deleted 2y ago

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Aachen 2y ago

I suspected Brandon Sanderson made it up for his Mistborn series until hearing it in Project Hail Mary also. This is actually why I clicked the thread: was curious if anyone would make the reference!