Ghost of the English Language

Ghost of the English Language (#800) Level 10 Astral Spirit (NPC)

Ghost of the English Language (#800), the Level 10 Astral Spirit (NPC), is an official in-game character endorsed by the game admins. Armed with his trusty fez of etymology, wand of nagamar, penguin thesaurus, and alpha-mail pants (and currently sporting a jaunty disembodied smile, a silver tongue charrrm bracelet, as well as a handy dead guy's watch), the spirit runs The Altar of Literacy, barring people from the chat channels until they have proven themselves literate.

Until recently, due to the spectral nature of the ghost, he was apparently unable to sport a true tattoo, though he used to sport an Accordion Thief tattoo. For a long period of time, the ghost had a broken image for his emblem. When questioned, the Ghost would say:

"We are still uncertain how best to display a tattoo upon a spectral entity such as myself."

On May 28, 2007, it was noticed that he is now sporting a martini tattoo.

Notes

• The Ghost of the English Language's player number (#800) looks remarkably like the word "Boo". Additionally, in the Dewey Decimal System, 800 is the literature section.
• "Turns Played" is , and the ghost's favorite food and favorite booze are both Breathetastic™ Premium Canned Air , all of which are not normally possible.
• The Ghost has now elected to make his terrarium private, blocking viewers from seeing the three familiars inside of it. When questioned about it, the Ghost would say:

"Alas, my recent pets escaped me, and I have no body with which to retrieve them. I think my ambition of a menagerie was ill-considered."

• His tattoo was a broken image called "class8.gif". There is no 8th class.

Ghost of the English Language: Your mortal eyes are not capable of distinguishing my tattoo properly.

• At some times, the Ghost will join the chat. On April 1st, 2006 he was seen in numerous chat channels speaking Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and possible other languages. It is assumed this was a joke on the part of the person controlling him.
• On July 22, 2006, the Ghost came into /normal looking for something. He said it was his assistant whose name was Dylan or Charlie or Jack. He was also said to once be Willy and Red. A few minutes later, the ghost said, "There he is!" and a Spirit Hobo appeared in his profile. The Hobo's name switched between Dylan, Charlie, Red, Willy, and Jack.
• On September 19, 2006, the Ghost embarked on a new mission to discipline wannabe pirates in chat. Details and reasons still remain mysterious.
• On July 31, 2008, the Ghost appeared in /games and asked several trivia questions. The Ghost provided the age of passing and cause of death for several famous authors (Louisa May Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, Douglas Adams, and Jack Kerouac) and challenged players to name the author.
• On October 28, 2010, the Ghost appeared in /veteran and said, "I have come to ask you to clear the skeletons from the town!", and "Skeletons are just so untidy. Rattling around all over the place; a ghost can't hear himself moan."

References

• The account was created on April 23, 1616, the same day that William Shakespeare died.
• The Ghost's current familiar is a Pair of Ragged Claws named T.S., a reference to the T.S. Elliot poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", which contains the lines "I should have been a pair of ragged claws / Scuttling across the floors of silent seas."
• The Ghost's previous familiar was a Spirit Hobo named Jack, a possible reference to Jack London. "Charlie" and "Red" may refer to Charlie Chaplin and Red Skelton, both of whom were famous for playing hobo characters (in Skelton's case, "Freddie the Freeloader").
• Another of the Ghost's familiars, (Byron, the Ghost Pickle on a Stick) refers to the famous romantic poet, George Byron. However, when questioned about it, he claimed it was actually named after a famous pickle maker.
• The Ghost's terrariumed familiar, (simov, the Killer Bee), reads as "Asimov" if you include the Killer Bee's image. This is a reference to Isaac Asimov, a famous sci-fi author.
• He also has an Angry Goat familiar by the name of Cervantes, referring to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, who was a Spanish novelist, poet and playwright. Miguel de Cervantes also died on April 23, 1616.
• The Ghost appears to have picked up another familiar, a Scary Death Orb by the name of Poe, clearly a reference to Edgar Allan Poe.