this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2026
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Linguistics Humor

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[–] RotSteinFinke@feddit.org 32 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Many people don't know this, but that was intentional! Laputa was invented by the English author Jonathan Swift. In his book Gulliver's Travels, the floating city of Laputa oppresses the country below it (literally). The oppressed finally manage to ground it by having the towers of their capital collapse inward when Laputa descended on it. The place where it happened is called Lin Lin. Lin Lin = double Lin = Dublin. The oppressed country is Ireland and Swift was calling his own England "the whore".

[–] tryagain@sopuli.xyz 1 points 5 days ago

That's awesome, but I would add that Jonathan Swift was born and raised in Dublin, not Laputa ;)

[–] imaqtpie@sh.itjust.works 17 points 2 weeks ago

Wow, that is an insane trivia pull. I didn't even know Castle in the Sky was partially based on Gullivers Travels, let alone the additional lore. I gotta put some extra respect on Jonathan Swift's name. I had previously mainly associated him with A Modest Proposal, which is an incredibly clever satirical work in its own right.

[–] cantstopthesignal@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Is this the sequel to the much beloved Lacabrona?

[–] nyakojiru@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago

When I talk about it to my child, I say just "castle in the sky" or "castillo en el cielo", because yes, I know in Japanese the original name of the castle is Laputa, but when it was brought to the West... I mean, come on, guys.

[–] CubitOom@infosec.pub 3 points 2 weeks ago