Question about Holminster Switch.

So something piqued my interest the other day, when I got Holminster Switch in a leveling roulette. What does the "switch" in the name mean?

It's clear from the Japanese name, that the village is just named Holminster. So then, why was switch added to the English name? One of my FC mates suggested, it's called switch because "the story switches things up". That's not a bad theory, but it hardly has any weight to it. I believe the switch in the title refers to a whip used for torture. This fits with the rest of the mechanics in the dungeon that are named after torture devices.

But then that still begs the question, why switch? Is it a nice way of saying the "Torture of Holminster"? I mean the Japanese title is literally, Village Massacre Holminster, so maybe. Or was the town used as a prison? We know the Lightwarden was a former prisoner, but Holminster was there home town, I believe, not where they were imprisoned.

Does anyone have any insight on this? Like are the French and German names any different? Or was there any dialogue that might explain things a bit more?

I... don't think we ever got an explanation, it just was. Unless it was a phonetic translation of something else, but I admit I have absolutely no idea. Sounds like a question for a Fanfest! :D

I had in mind that it was a synonym for "woods" but I can't remember if I had the idea from elsewhere or if I guessed it based on the dungeon name and never got around to confirming with a dictionary.

Having looked for it now, it doesn't seem to be a valid meaning, although apparently the etymology does possibly originate from "twig".

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Originally Posted by Iscah

I had in mind that it was a synonym for "woods" but I can't remember if I had the idea from elsewhere or if I guessed it based on the dungeon name and never got around to confirming with a dictionary.

Having looked for it now, it doesn't seem to be a valid meaning, although apparently the etymology does possibly originate from "twig".

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A "switch" is slang for a stick that you punish children with. I had always thought that it was a combination of "you're about to be emotionally beaten" and a reference to the forest surrounding Holminster.

That's sort of what I was thinking of, I think. "If 'switch' can mean a wooden rod, maybe the word can also mean a small tree, and from there a small forest, so that would add up as the forest outside the village of Holminster."

Wrong guess, apparently, but it made sense at the time.

Having double-checked the quest dialogue for The Lightwardens it seems more that Holminster Switch is the name of the village itself (I may have previously misread the "village lies beyond" line about the staging point), so whatever the exact meaning of it is, the whole dungeon title is just a place name and not "something happening to Holminster".

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Originally Posted by Iscah

Having double-checked the quest dialogue for The Lightwardens it seems more that Holminster Switch is the name of the village itself (I may have previously misread the "village lies beyond" line about the staging point), so whatever the exact meaning of it is, the whole dungeon title is just a place name and not "something happening to Holminster".

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That's what I thought too. But while Lyna initially calls it Holminster Switch, the Exarch later just says Holminster. So Switch isn't needed to identify the town.

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Originally Posted by Eloah

That's what I thought too. But while Lyna initially calls it Holminster Switch, the Exarch later just says Holminster. So Switch isn't needed to identify the town.

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Yes, but we say "Limsa" all the time and I'm pretty sure the characters do too. Shortening it to the recognisable part instead of saying the full name every time is just automatic.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

Yes, but we say "Limsa" all the time and I'm pretty sure the characters do too. Shortening it to the recognisable part instead of saying the full name every time is just automatic.

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True, but there is the fact that in Japanese it's just Holminster, so Switch is an added part in at least English.

I'll need to keep an eye out for the next Q&A so I can ask this question, if I remember, lol.

Might they have named it "Switch" in reference to the crossroads in the center of the village? That's the closest thing I can think of to a "switch" here, and it wouldn't be the first time the localizers have chosen a "that's not what this word usually means but it's close enough and it might sound cool" word for something.