Why Did Luke Call R5-D4 An R2 Unit?.

why did luke call r5d4 an r2 unit.

 

Could be worse. He could have called him a robot

 

I always thought it was cos the original units were called R2's and the name just stuck to all subsequent models. Then again, they were probably originally called R1's.

 

Probably the same reason people call CDs 'albums' or refer to the graphite in pencils as 'lead'.

 

The album is the collection of songs... calling a CD a 'record' might be a better analogy.

 

I agree that that's what it's come to mean and what it usually means now, but the reference seems originally to have been to the vinyl record itself. The OED, for instance, says only:

6. A long-playing gramophone record or a set of such records.

 

As far as the thread question, all droid units were probably known as "R2" units in those days.

 

What are the first 5 definitions? Because the vinyl albums are in turn named after photo albums. The word as such refers to a collection of some sort IIRC, so it's not wrong to call CDs albums - except they lack the resemblance to photo albums.

Which is why it's fine to call an R5 unit an R2 unit. It becomes more debatable with the huge bulky R1 units.

 

Yes, during the making of the first movie they were less nit picking and hadn't formed different designations for all the droids yet.

 

I call all the ones that look like that R2 units. No idea why, I just do....

 

Did any other astromech droid have a name other than R2-D2? Or did the names come later along with all the toys? I don't recall hearing another astro-droid's name mentioned, which is probably why the script never made the distinction.

 

Yup. Calling a CD an album is fine - that's like calling an R5 unit a "droid". Calling a CD a "record" is debatable as record is short for recording. But I think LP is synonymous with vinyl.

 

The first five definitions are tablets, books, photo albums, and the like. But I agree with your logic, and I suppose the OED's definition can be put down to vinyl records being the only format around when the entry was written. The graphite/lead example is better.

 

because he's not called R5 D4. In my first edition novelisation of the OT movie - he's a "red artoo unit"..... R5D4 came from the Kenner toys and just stucl i guess.

 

He is just a farmer he could easily mix it up.

 

Yeah, I think that they were all "R2" is the original script.

 

There was probably no need for there to be more droid names than "R2", so they left it at that because R2 was the only important astromech droid in the entire movie. "Red" (as Luke calls it) was not.

 

The different names for the different "type" of astromech - R2, R3, R4, etc., was a system invented by the Lucasfilm marketing department, not by Lucas himself. He names the astromechs whatever he wants since, of course, like all things EU, he's never paid attention to it. That is why he named Obi-Wan's droids in the prequels "R4," even though they don't have the pointy "R4" dome type, and why, in the new CW series, we've seen astros named R3, R6, and R7, even though they all have "R2" style domes.

I think to him they are all "artoo" units, and the different domes make as much difference in their functionality as their paint schemes.