7

In Persepolis Rising, book 7 of the Expanse series, there is a character named

Payne Houston

This name makes

Drummer

cough "with contempt and laughter" and say "I'm assuming that's his own choice and not what his mommy called him."

What makes the name funny? Is it because Payne sounds like "pain?" Is Houston a reference to the space center in Houston, Texas?

I haven't read the whole book yet and even if I finish it, I assume others coming to this question won't have read it, so if the explanation for the name requires reading the rest of the book, I'd appreciate it if such answers used spoilers.

Lexible
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user
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    Probably because Payne sounds like "pain". – Dosco Jones Jun 03 '23 at 22:33
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    +1 Welcome to SFF.SE! I hope my edit to the title is acceptable, if not happy to roll back. – Lexible Jun 03 '23 at 23:43
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    @Lexible Thanks (for the welcome and the title change). I guess there's a difference between the name only being funny to the reader but not the characters, and the name being funny to the characters (but possibly not us) – user Jun 03 '23 at 23:55
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    As a purely wild guess, "Payne Houston" might sound to a Belter a bit like "peeing on Houston" – Andrew Jun 04 '23 at 00:54
  • Given the Houston part and the politics of Freehold, one might have expected someone named Paine. So why the 'y'? Spelling error or a desperate need to set him apart from all the others Paines on the planet? – o.m. Jun 04 '23 at 05:12
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    @o.m. Payne is used a first name in the real world. – Spencer Jun 04 '23 at 15:08
  • @Spencer, but someone who emigrated to a world like Freehold would surely think of Thomas Paine. – o.m. Jun 04 '23 at 16:14
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    Also, I applaud your judicious use of spoiler tags! I am one of the folks who finds zealous use of spoiler tags to be worthy of down-voting (not everyone shares this value), but I feel you hit the balance perfectly. Kudos! – Lexible Jun 04 '23 at 17:41
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    @Lexible Thanks, but I just realized both Payne and Houston are included in the body of the question, making the first spoiler less useful. Oh well, I'll leave it as is, at least people will only see the name if they bother reading the rest of the question - it's not the first thing they see if they're skimming it. – user Jun 04 '23 at 18:25
  • Looks like an example of Awesome McCoolname or just an Unfortunate Name because Who Names Their Kid "Payne Houston"... (WARNING: ALL TV TROPES LINKS) – Skooba Nov 27 '23 at 20:38
  • @Skooba - My dentist is Doctor Payne, my accountant is A. Fiddler. Sometimes people just have funny names... – Valorum Nov 27 '23 at 23:27

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