Parla Inglese?

[blamebrampton]

frantic_mice  pushed me in the direction of fanficrants  (which I can see lasting another week on my watch list, if that). One of the more interesting of the many rants was from someone who, in essence, said 'Look, we live in a globalised age, is it really the case that reading American spellings in a fic set in the UK and vice-versa is worth making that much of a fuss about?'

And I have to agree. I can easily overlook gotten and alright if  no one over the age of 20 cries and if people only talk about their deepest feelings when they are in extremis. But for some, including a long list of commenters, there are certain Americanisms that are like a dictionary to the 43rd President of the USA and have them running at first sight.

I can somewhat sympathise, because I can find it very hard to read when characters start acting American, talking at great length about their emotions and so on. While I adore my American friends, my closest ones know that they will receive one brief hug on meeting and departure, and I will probably never tell them any of my deepest feelings. Which is not because I don't love them, but because deepest feelings are only for personal perusal so that no innocent souls will become aware of the full extent of my inner lunacy.

But for spelling and so on ... well, I regularly read books and magazines published in America and sometimes set in the UK or elsewhere in the English speaking world, and I cope with them. In fact, the YA novel I just finished changed spellings depending on whether scenes were set in New York or Sydney and it read as very very odd indeed (though it's a good novel). Dealing with such spelling anomalies is commonplace: most of you do the same.

I do like a good Britpick for things like truck/lorry, stall/cubicle, Christmas eggnog/three bottles of decent whisky and hiding in the stables, and were I writing fic set in the US, I would make certain that my characters said Dude and asked for the check. However, my authorial voice would still sound like me, which I believe is appropriate. Wodehouse and Conan Doyle both have long sections of novels (Psmith, Journalist and The Valley of Fear respectively) set in the US where they follow this rule, and these were great successes on both sides of the Atlantic.

All of which is my lengthy way of saying, I can cope perfectly well if you're an American and you write alright, color and aluminum. But if you could hold off on having the lads say 'I love you so much, sweetie, that sometimes I just want to cry'*, I would take it as a personal favour.
 

Finally, HAPPY BIRTHDAY suonguyen !


*If you have actually written a fic that contains this line, obviously it worked well in the incredibly clever context you created for it.

Comments

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

They will all be "unique" people, that's for sure. We will need to keep the Luddite away from our machines. My fantasy is that they will all be creative in some way. People who are not creative (most lawyers I've met, not you Shiv dear) seem to have no soul.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Knowing kids' propensity to rebel, one will be a gourmet butcher ...

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

That's what I keep telling Georg about the consequences of forbidding things. He does not want to celebrate secular Christmas, as both of us did with our families, and I have told him that if we ban Christmas, we will end up with a disturbed adult who wears those gaudy reindeer and jingle bell sweaters throughout December. (Which is how my mother ended up when her family wouldn't allow a Christmas tree, so I have proof).

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

You're quite right. I slept with a Conservative to annoy my mother.

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

I bet it worked, too! :)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Certainly did! Erk, bedtime. Nighty night!

[romaine24.livejournal.com]

Er, was this a brammers cracky comment about 3 or a fact? *gulp*

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

It's no joke... there are 3. :)

[romaine24.livejournal.com]

Wow, I totally missed knowing this. Did I miss making the filter?

Congrats and no wonder you were so sick the first few months. I hope you're feeling a bit better now.

Amazing, just amazing!

*major hugs*

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

You're on the filter now! *hugs* Click the tag "pregnancy filter" on my LJ for the whole story.

I am still sick, exhausted, and have little appetite, but I have medication preventing me from excessive vomiting and I am starting to feel better. Next week is the 10th. :)

[maya231.livejournal.com]

Triple congrats to you, wow! And I am curious about that math problem! *noses out*

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And perhaps I will post the math problem if I can find it. :)

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

AHA!

I know lots of creative lawyers. English barristers are always doing Stuff

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

:D

Perhaps your American brethren tend to be duller types.

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

Maybe. I don't know that solicitors tend to do much, but the quiet thoughtful end of both professions tend to be great readers and followers of art. And I know a lot of writers and painters amongst them.

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

I know mainly litigators, who are neither quiet nor thoughtful, so that may explain it.