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

[vaysh11.livejournal.com]

Ei is egg, yes. But "ei, ei, ei" is also baby talk like "ey, lookie, it's so sweet and cute and adorable."

Horrible yellow stuff, yes!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

HOW CAN GHASTLY LIQUOR BE CUTE? Strange drinks, public nudity, you Germans can be so odd ... ;-)

[vaysh11.livejournal.com]

With our fractured national identity, how can we not be odd. But we are cute in the nude, on occasion. ;-)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Well, that's true ;-)

[pingrid.livejournal.com]

Did I ever tell you about my traumatic experience with coming face to, well, cock with surprisingly naked people while swimming underwater in a German hotel pool when I was 14? I wish they'd have sent us some cute ones! :D

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Oh Ping! Only you ...

Sends hugs! (Any flat news?)

[pingrid.livejournal.com]

Hey you - you're up! Too hot again? I was wondering about that, actually: wasn't the point of having houses that are uselessly cold in winter that they would be good in summer? I would have thought that good insulation would fix both those problems. But then again I've never built a house!

Flat news are unfortunate. :/ I dropped out when the bid came up to 2,3 mill. BUT! If it stopped there I might still be interested, and I completely lack the English vocabulary to explain how I might still snag it but it has to do with maybe having been a member of something that may or may not translate as a building society for longer than the winning bidders. Phew, long sentence! Certainly longer than the mentioned cock. (See how I cleverly brought us back to the original topic in a smooth and effortless fashion? :D )

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It was morning! I went out and did things, whole new world!

You would think that my house would manage to be either warm all year or cool all year, alas, manages both at the wrong times. And because we went out, the air conditioner is not installed and a new heatwave is expected this week. Expect whining!

BUGGER about the flat, but fingers crossed that it either comes to you in the end or is because a much better one is lurking around the corner for you!

Also, penis!

[pingrid.livejournal.com]

But it was early morning, and it's the weekend! Very odd behaviour, this waking up early and doing things. ;)

Mm yes, well insulated houses tend to do the opposite and be warm in winter and cool in summer. I blame the Brits for your plight - for some reason that trick where you put enough things into the walls and roof has never seemed to catch on over there. But those draughty houses, of course, must be why British women appear to be more or less fine with walking about virtually naked in winter, and so the male-dominated building industry lacks incentive to change! ;)

And thanks, darling! It's no catastrophe about the flat - I'm not desperate to move, so it's all good. That balcony was nice, though!

Penis!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I think that you are right about the cultural allergy to insulation, which I don't mind so much in winter but which may kill me this summer. I think I will throw on some washing then throw myself into bed.

I will keep my fingers crossed for your real estate good fortune!

Willy!

[pingrid.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Fortune is right, unfortunately. ;)

And, pikk! Never let it be said that you have not been given the tools to make your way in Norway. ;)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

HEE! I knew that one, that's why Pik Botha used to make me laugh so much.

[pingrid.livejournal.com]

Oh, good! Kuk, then. :D

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Wang!

[pingrid.livejournal.com]

Stake!

I'm going to run out of words much sooner than you, I'm afraid. This is why I only write porn in English!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Maybe we should collaborate on an international list of euphemisms?

[pingrid.livejournal.com]

It would be very useful. It would enable me to read all the important bits of any work of literature! ;)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Hee! Do you want to make the lj post asking for submissions or should I?

[pingrid.livejournal.com]

If we actually want any replies, best be you!

[raitala.livejournal.com]

Hee, I'd never made the link between the british aversion to proper insulation and the tendency of British girls to stagger around town centres scantily clad at weekends. You are brilliant!

[pingrid.livejournal.com]

I'm almost positive that must be it! They make no bones about walking around nearly naked, all exposed flesh pale blue like skimmed milk - there has to be SOME reason for it! :D

Actually I'm quite serious. It just doesn't sound that way. ;)

And, you're BACK! Was it wonderful, was it fun? Are there mysterious bruises?

[vaysh11.livejournal.com]

OMG no, you never did!!! That sounds very much like trauma material. In a hotel pool, you say. Hm, I never heard of nudity in a hotel pool. Perhaps it was a nudists' hotel?

Yeah, "cute German men". It's almost an oxymoron. Germany badly needs a broader genetic pool.

[pingrid.livejournal.com]

I did! And it wasn't a nudist hotel at all, it was a Holiday Inn where we lived for a couple of months while waiting for our house to get finished. That was the only time I encountered naked people in the pool, so it must have been a one-off. Lucky me! :D

I remember my cousin was all excited about all the cute guys in Düsseldorf when she came to visit - maybe it's all a matter of novelty? ;)

[vaysh11.livejournal.com]

I am shocked: the Holiday Inn!!!!

You know that Düsseldorf is the fashion capital of Germany? I bet all those cute guys your cousin mentioned were gay ;-).

[pingrid.livejournal.com]

Aaaah, that explains it! :D