Narmenian??

**Bogdan** · December 16th, 2009

Hi. I've just finished Blaze and I really enjoyed. I'm from Romania, thus I have read the Romanian edition. There was a word that puzzled me: "Narmenian", refering to the nationality (?) of Joseph Gerard's wife. In the original text it goes like this:

And then there was the young Mr. and Mrs. Gerard. The young Mr. Gerard was Joseph Gerard III, and he really was young, just twenty. His wife was a Narmenian. George said that made her a spic. Blaze had thought only Italians could be spics.

I really have no idea what that's supposed to mean and I haven't found that word in online dictionaries. In the Romanian edition, there is a note from the translator, saying that "Narmenia is a fictional country from which the fighters of the Narmenian Regiment come from in the game Warhammer 40.000, which lead to a series of SciFi novels".

I feel that the given explanation really has nothing to do with the whole context of the novel, yet I could not find a better one. Does anyone know what Mr. King meant or what we should understant of it?

My apollogies if the answer is obvious and this post is worthless. Thank you!

**Bev Vincent** · December 16th, 2009

I suspect it is a Blaze-ism for "An Armenian"

**Wanderer From Ys** · December 16th, 2009

Bogdan, can you give a page number, or a chapter number, I'd like to look it up in my edition. If it's the same, I suspect it's a typo. "An Armenian" might have ran together.

**Bogdan** · December 18th, 2009

Well, in the Romanian edition the word appeared more than once, so I doubt it was a typo. I did not have access to an US edition, but I did find a PDF preview of the first 2 chapters hosted right here, on the oficial site: link. There you can find the word on page 16. Thanks!

**Amosrn1** · December 21st, 2009

In my edition (Simon & Schuster hardcover), it is Chapter 2, page 19, and the wording is the same "His wife was a Narmenian. George said that made her a spic." I'm not sure what that is about. Does anyone else know?

**Moderator** · December 21st, 2009

I believe that Bev Vincent (post #2) has it right.

**Bryan James** · December 21st, 2009

Page 26 of the paperback. Pocket Books/S&S.

No doubt that it was Blaze jamming words together. No doubt a'tall.

**Lencho_of_the_Apes** · December 21st, 2009

George said she was "an Armenian." Blaze misunderstood and thought she was "a Narmenian." Because of the thing where "a" becomes "an" in English when the noun starts with a vowel. It's a little joke, like a pun, to show limited Blaze's knowledge/understanding is.

We all float down here.

**Bogdan** · December 23rd, 2009

I guess that's a reasonable explanation, even though the naration is not in first person, from the character's perspective. Still, to better reflect his personality, the narrator's voice could use some of his wording or mental processes. Thanks to all who replied.