Swearing in Other Englishs

[deird_lj]

I 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:

“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?

Comments

[deird1]

Okay, you know Crocodile Dundee? Or Steve Irwin? Or just about any other stereotypical Aussie racing round in the outback hunting things and saying "Crikey, mate!"?

They're ocker. And so's the way they talk.

Basically it means having a very broad Aussie accent, and being someone who's extremely Aussie. (In other words, almost the opposite of me...)

Interestingly, my accent - which usually gets fellow Aussies asking if I'm from England because it's so British - goes suddenly ocker if I start watching the footy. Most of us are capable of going ocker if we want to.

And klme's right. Steve Irwin saying "You old bastard" would be very friendly (and kinda creepy, since he's dead), whereas saying "such a bastard" in a more upper class Australian accent would sound much nastier.

[alwaysjbj.livejournal.com]

I think it really just comes down to context...I don't have an even remotely ocker accent (in fact most people here tell me I have an English accent), but I don't think anyone has any trouble knowing if I'm calling someone a bastard (or any number of other swear words that have different levels of harshness depending on the situation) in an friendly manner, or if I wish them condemned to the fiery depths of hell (generally saved for the Blues come State of Origin time *grin*).

[jl-in-the-lane.livejournal.com]

Most of us are capable of going ocker if we want to.


I believe there's a presenter called 'The Bush Tucker Man' who's as ocker as they come but whose accent when interviewed sans TV persona is unrecognisably posh.