Growing up with Sci-Fi loving parents like mine, you not only are subject to strange creatures on television, but you begin to love and cherish the characters.  There are, however, a number of characters that will make your skin crawl and if you ever came upon one in real life, you might want to turn around and walk away…very quickly. One such creature is the Ferengi.  It’s not because they’ll bite your head off, but it’s because they are greedy, misogynistic, and generally untrustworthy.  In general, they’re a nuisance.  They are all about commerce and money making, it’s all about the bottom line and doing whatever they need to do to increase their profits.

A Ferengi:  Isn’t he dashing?

So, imagine my surprise to find the word “Ferengi” in a Novel about Istanbul by Orhan Pamuk.  I don’t think I’d ever really questioned where the name came from, just figured it was made up.But it turns out that it’s an Arabic word for European Traders (or Westerners in General).

Great. This means I’m going to be a Ferengi in Istanbul.

Jean Luc Picard does NOT approve.