Swearing in Other Englishs
Feb. 4th, 2010 09:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deird_ljI recently realised something about writing different dialects.
You see, I’m an Aussie. My English is (sort of) a mixture of British English and American English – with a lot of Australian slang thrown in. It makes me a pretty reasonable Britpicker for American writers, and also a pretty good Ameripicker for British writers. But there’s one area I’m not very qualified to handle: swearing.
It’s not that I don’t know plenty of swear words. If you asked, I could list plenty of swear words for use by all kinds of American characters, or British characters, or pretty much anyone. But… I’m not entirely sure what they mean. Or – more precisely – I don’t entirely know what the characters mean when they use them.
A bit more explanation might be required. (Otherwise you’ll all think I’ve just got a crap vocabulary.)
I was betaing a fic for someone recently, in which she had an Australian character talking about an ex-boyfriend and using the term “that jerk Mike”.
I pointed out that Aussies don’t really say “jerk” that much, and after consultation with another Australian, offered the following alternatives:
You see, if an Aussie calls someone a “bastard”, it’s not really that big a deal. Somewhere else? It might be hugely insulting – I have no idea.
American insults and swear words don’t tend to be ones I’d hear over here, except on TV. So I can generally (mostly) figure out how harsh they are, comparatively speaking, and when they’d be likely to be used.
British insults, on the other hand, are quite often the exact same insults used by Australians – but in a different hierarchy, with different ones being used to friends, strangers who cut you off in traffic, and deadly enemies.
I’m rather worried that, if I wrote a British character swearing, I’d end up with a swear word that was way too harsh – or, alternatively, extremely cute, but one way or the other, it just wouldn’t fit.
Thoughts?
You see, I’m an Aussie. My English is (sort of) a mixture of British English and American English – with a lot of Australian slang thrown in. It makes me a pretty reasonable Britpicker for American writers, and also a pretty good Ameripicker for British writers. But there’s one area I’m not very qualified to handle: swearing.
It’s not that I don’t know plenty of swear words. If you asked, I could list plenty of swear words for use by all kinds of American characters, or British characters, or pretty much anyone. But… I’m not entirely sure what they mean. Or – more precisely – I don’t entirely know what the characters mean when they use them.
A bit more explanation might be required. (Otherwise you’ll all think I’ve just got a crap vocabulary.)
I was betaing a fic for someone recently, in which she had an Australian character talking about an ex-boyfriend and using the term “that jerk Mike”.
I pointed out that Aussies don’t really say “jerk” that much, and after consultation with another Australian, offered the following alternatives:
“that idiot Mike” – which implies a very harsh opinion of Mike, and possibly a fair amount of bitterness, too
“that retard Mike” – still harsh, but she’s mostly over the whole thing
“that dickhead Mike” – she doesn’t really like him anymore
“that tosser Mike” – doesn’t like him, but more in an eye-rolling sort of way than a nasty way
“that bastard Mike” – affectionate, and possibly said with a smile
You see, if an Aussie calls someone a “bastard”, it’s not really that big a deal. Somewhere else? It might be hugely insulting – I have no idea.
American insults and swear words don’t tend to be ones I’d hear over here, except on TV. So I can generally (mostly) figure out how harsh they are, comparatively speaking, and when they’d be likely to be used.
British insults, on the other hand, are quite often the exact same insults used by Australians – but in a different hierarchy, with different ones being used to friends, strangers who cut you off in traffic, and deadly enemies.
I’m rather worried that, if I wrote a British character swearing, I’d end up with a swear word that was way too harsh – or, alternatively, extremely cute, but one way or the other, it just wouldn’t fit.
Thoughts?
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no subject
Date: 2010-02-04 10:41 am (UTC)As in, "PANTS to you!"
Or, "Well, that's a bit pants."
Hehehe.
Sooo weird. I loved it.
......................................................
The ones that spring to mind are 'sod', 'bloody' and 'bugger'. 'Sod' doesn't get used here at all, but the other two aren't even seen as a problem, which gets our advertisers into trouble.
(...remember the 'Bugger' ad? Hehehe.)
I don't think we really use 'balls' or 'bollocks', either.
As for Americans, a few years back a US president touring here stuck two fingers up at some protesters and there was an enormous ruckus over it. I gather it was explained to him that Aussies see that one as a bit more serious.
And then there's the obvious comments like, "Sit on your fanny and root for your team!"
Um.
Yeah.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-04 12:14 pm (UTC)JL is Australian!
Date: 2010-02-04 12:41 pm (UTC)Hang on... which country is the 'here' that you're writing from?
*looks at own comment* Darn. Perhaps I should have specified that I'm an Aussie?
"Sit on your fanny and root for your team!"
And I was writing that from an Aussie perspective making fun of US usage that sounds *doubly* appallingly dreadful here.
(I have no idea what 'fanny' means in the UK.
I don't believe they use the verb 'to root' similarly to USEnglish or AusEnglish. Their usage of 'to barrack' differs interestingly from Aussie usage, but it's not relevant to a discussion on swearing.)
Re: JL is Australian!
Date: 2010-02-04 12:47 pm (UTC)Re: JL is Australian!
Date: 2010-02-04 01:02 pm (UTC)Similar, but they definitely aren't synonyms. 'Fanny' is a tee-hee, slightly juvenile sort of word, which (to get technical) implies the vulva/female genitalia fairly generally. 'Cunt' is much more ugly and explicit word for the vagina, more equatable with a particularly harsh inflection of something like 'gash'.
Re: JL is Australian!
Date: 2010-02-04 10:26 pm (UTC)Re: JL is Australian!
Date: 2010-02-05 04:33 am (UTC)