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Names, Persephone!

Cru3l

Senior Member
Italian
She wrenched her hand from his and turned on him.
“You bastard!”
Hades suddenly felt completely ridiculous. His mouth tightened. “Names, Persephone.”
“Don’t you dare!

I'm not sure how to interpret this "names", as I'm translating this into Italian...
Obviously this is a heated conversation.
Is it something like "stay calm"? I know you can "call names" as to insult someone. Does it share that kind of principle? I'm a bit confused by that subsequent "don't you dare".

Thank you.
Please tell us where you saw this conversation, and give us some context. Who are these people, and what's going on?
It is from a book called "A Game of Fate". It revolves around the myth of Ade and Persephone. Ade has taken Persephone down in the underworld because of a contract he has stipulated with Aphrodite. So their relationship is very tense, but they like each other. In this part, Ade is showing the beauty of the underworld to Persephone. The paragraph immediately before the one I have quoted goes like this:

He tugged on her hand, and she followed him down the stairs into the garden below. He felt a thrill of excitement as he brought her to the edge where lavender wisteria wept, where inky roses and pink peonies bloomed, and purple and red slavia twisted like serpents from darkness. Would she find this just as astounding? His answer came as soon as her feet touched the dark stone path leading into the garden. She wrenched her hand from his and turned on him.
“You bastard!”....
She wrenched her hand from his and turned on him.
“You bastard!”
Hades suddenly felt completely ridiculous. His mouth tightened. “Names, Persephone.”
“Don’t you dare!

I'm not sure how to interpret this "names", as I'm translating this into Italian...
Obviously this is a heated conversation.
Is it something like "stay calm"? I know you can "call names" as to insult someone. Does it share that kind of principle? I'm a bit confused by that subsequent "don't you dare".

Thank you.
I believe “names” in this statement is like a question because the character was just called a “bastard “. For example, if the writer had placed a question mark…”Names, Persephone?”, then the following statement “Don’t you dare!” would be more conveying. Try it: Names, Persephone? Don’t you dare!
It just means "Don't use bad names, Persephone". Similarly, he could have said "Swearing, Persephone", meaning "Don't swear, Persephone".

It is often used as a short way of admonishing children when you have told them off on previous occasions. There is no need to repeat the full phrase every time - a single word is sufficient to remind them of what they should not do.

Example

Little Johnny has learned a new word from an adult and is trying it out.

Day 1
Little Johnny: Damn!
Parent: Don't say that Johnny. That is swearing. You mustn't say swear words.
Day 2
Little Johnny: Damn!
Parent: Don't swear! I told you not to to!
Day3
Little Johnny: Damn!
Parent: Swearing Johnny!
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I'd say that "Names" means "Don't use nasty names".

-----
cross-posted and agreeing with Chasint - who explains it much better👁 Smile :)
Yes, I agree, although the more usual admonition is 'Language!'
An admonition to stay calm could have been made in a similar way: 'Temper, Persephone!' That is, mind your temper.
Isn't it Persephone who says "Don't you dare"? I don't think we have enough information to know why she says that. We don't even know why she swore at him. Perhaps she resents his changing the subject.
For what it's worth, the character is Hades, not Ade.
It revolves around the myth of Ade and Persephone. Ade has taken Persephone down in the underworld because of a contract he has stipulated with Aphrodite.
Isn't it Persephone who says "Don't you dare"? I don't think we have enough information to know why she says that. We don't even know why she swore at him. Perhaps she resents his changing the subject.
It's not that clear to me, and it is not clear to Hades as well. Basically she seems to be upset because Hades is asking her to create life in the underworld. She seems to think the underworld is beautiful (as you can read in the paragraph that I have included in an earlier reply) and she feels that she can't compete with that, in terms of creating new life - as the whole book revolves around her magic, which is "blocked" within her and she is not able to free it.

For what it's worth, the character is Hades, not Ade.

Yep - sorry about that. I have used the Italian translation of Hades by mistake.
Then she says "Don't you dare" for the same reason that she called him a bastard: she is angry with him.
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