ops@ncsc (07/09/85)
From: ------ Operator <ops@ncsc>
When I was a little girl writing stories I used to make up
names for my characters by banging on the typewriter like
this --- wsdfgbhnjmkpoijuhgv --- and throwing out every other
letter so I'd have a character named wdghjkojhv (pronounced,
of course, wedge-koohdge-hahv). I would make up words like
ouejw (oh-eej-wa, I think) for that ytebdg on mcnhhf-mvhsx.
Sometimes I think that's what some authors do, too.
(Bring to a boil)
My point: Dialect is well and good when it adds to the story,
but when you have to skip over the word even silently because
it's unpronounceable, a line must be drawn. Authors shouldn't
give into the silliness I described above or, even worse, the
follow the growing number of authors basing their books on
Celtic and non-Western mythos by inserting 'welsh-ish', or
'japanese-ish' or swahili-ish' sounding words as a hook.
(Reduce to simmer)
Jessie@ncsc
-------brust@hyper.UUCP (Steven Brust) (07/11/85)
> My point: Dialect is well and good when it adds to the story, > but when you have to skip over the word even silently because > it's unpronounceable, a line must be drawn. Authors shouldn't > give into the silliness I described above or, even worse, the > follow the growing number of authors basing their books on > Celtic and non-Western mythos by inserting 'welsh-ish', or > 'japanese-ish' or swahili-ish' sounding words as a hook. > (Reduce to simmer) > > Jessie@ncsc > ------- Er, um, I can't tell you how sorry I am that you feel that way. Allow me to suggest that when BROKEDOWN PALALCE comes out you don't read it. -- SKZB