Centinas and Pentinas

Summary

The website content proposes new terms, "Centina" and "Pentina," for 100-word and 50-word microfiction stories, respectively, to replace the existing terms "Drabble" and "Dribble," and introduces a new Medium publication called "Centina Pentina" dedicated to these short story forms.

Abstract

The author of the web content expresses a strong affinity for short fiction and advocates for a change in the nomenclature used within the microfiction and nanofiction writing community. Specifically, the author suggests replacing the terms "Dribble" and "Drabble" with "Pentina" and "Centina" for 50-word and 100-word stories, drawing on classical Latin and Greek roots to create more elegant and fitting names. The term "Pentina" is derived from the Greek word "penta," meaning five, and is extended to signify fifty, while "Centina" comes from the Latin "cent," meaning one hundred. The author justifies the use of the suffix "-ina" by citing its use in forming diminutives, collective numerals, and adjectives related to composition or color. To provide a platform for these microfiction pieces, the author, along with Bill Adler, has created a new Medium publication titled "Centina Pentina," which offers weekly prompts and featured columns to encourage and showcase the work of microfiction authors.

Opinions

The author finds the current terms "Dribble" and "Drabble" inadequate and unappealing, associating them with negative imagery.
"Twitterature" is also considered a poor term, though the author acknowledges the need to be selective in choosing battles over internet terminology.
The proposed terms "Centina" and "Pentina" are seen as more refined and classical, offering an improvement over the existing names.
The author believes that the new terms align well with the nature of microfiction, suggesting that the suffix "-ina" appropriately conveys the essence of small sizes, collective totals, or composition relevant to the genre.
The creation of the "Centina Pentina" publication is presented as a timely solution to the absence of dedicated platforms for microfiction, aiming to foster a community for writers of very short stories.

Flash fiction writers — let’s adopt some new terms for our micro-fiction

Purveyors and lovers of short fiction, microfiction, and nanofiction, it’s time to heed the call! Every once in a while, you have to stand up for what’s right.

I have an undying love for short fiction, but there’s a couple of terms that need to go away. In case you were unaware, there’s a common classification for short fiction based on word count. It goes something like this:

The Six-Word Story = 6 words Twitterature = 280 characters Dribble (horrible name) = exactly 50 words Drabble (also a horrible name) = exactly 100 words Postcard Fiction = up to 250 words Sudden Fiction ~750 words Flash Fiction = up to 1,000 words Short Story = up to 7,500 words Novelette = 7,500 to 20K words Novella = 20K to 50K words

I’m good with all of these terms except two: Dribble and Drabble. Those terms are just awful, conjuring images along the spectrum of drivel, boring literature, or drops of urine. “Twitterature” is pretty terrible too, but heck, it’s the internet and we gotta pick and choose our battles. And here’s mine: We need to kick “Dribble” and “Drabble” to the curb, where the other unwanted debris belongs.

The new terms I’m proposing are a little more elegant and classy. Okay — maybe classical is a better description, but I think an enormous improvement. I say we use Pentina for 50-word stories, and Centina for 100-word stories.

The Origins of “Centina” and “Pentina”

Take your brain back to classical literature (Latin and Greek). If you’re naturally good with stems, you’ll recognize the roots of these terms.

The Latin root word “cent” means “one hundred.” Penta is a Greek word, carrying the meaning “five.” We are going to fudge a little bit on the Greek and stretch its meaning to fifty. Before you get all fussy about that, just know the Bible does it. Remember “Pentacost?” That was fifty days after Passover.

What about the -ina part, you may ask? This is where Wiktionary helps us out. It’s a rather interesting suffix, and there’s at least three meanings that line up with our use of the term:

Alterative suffix used to form diminutives of feminine nouns.‎ Example: Mano (“hand”) + ‎-ina → ‎manina (“small hand”)‎.

Used to form collective numerals.‎ Example: Cinquanta (“fifty”) + ‎-ina → ‎cinquantina (“a total of about fifty”).

Used to derive adjectives denoting composition, color or other qualities.‎ Example: Smeraldo (“emerald”) + ‎-ina → ‎smeraldina (“emerald attributive”).

So, -ina can refer to small sizes, collective totals, or composition. I’d say that justifies our use of the suffix.

A New Publication

With the loss of several unique Medium publications, many 50 and 100-word stories are sitting stagnant, like sheep without a shepherd. We know there’s also a lot of amazing microfiction authors on this platform that are looking for a place to publish these tiny pieces. So, Bill Adler and I decided to create Centina Pentina in order to give your 50 and 100-word stories a home!

Don’t know what to write about? Have some weekly prompts as part of your complete breakfast. Also, we have featured columns where we pick our favorite prompted stories of the week. So go ahead and submit that Centina or Pentina that’s been burning the edges of your fingertips. We can’t wait to read your stories!