Robert (robot name)

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Robots named Robert, Robbie/Robby, Rob, and the like, reflect an alliteration trope in science fiction in which robots are given names starting with the letter "r", and particularly with the phoneme "rob". Isaac Asimov noted this in-universe in the short story, "Christmas Without Rodney", in which a character says: "There's no law about it, but you've probably noticed for yourself that almost every robot has a name beginning with R. R for robot, I suppose. The usual name is Robert. There must be a million robot Roberts in the northeast corridor alone". [1] This trope has appeared not only in the English language, but also in languages such as German and Russian. Robots named following this trope include:

Contents

Actual robots

An early nonfictional "robot" named Robert was a briefly popular children's toy introduced at the 1954 New York Toy Fair, called "Robert the Robot". [2] [3]

Fictional characters

Other uses

See also

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References

  1. Isaac Asimov, "Christmas Without Rodney", Robot Visions (1991), p. 398.
  2. Steve Carper. Robots in American Popular Culture (2019).
  3. Sharon M. Scott, Toys and American Culture: An Encyclopedia (2009), p. 157.