11 Comments
Dec 6, 2021Liked by John Birmingham

let me guess - there's an ad break on page 2? (probably reminding you to watch the bachelor on tuesday night). I did read Barry Trotter and the philosophers scone, known as the magic biscuit in the US

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Dec 6, 2021Liked by John Birmingham

Well it is true that English is an ever evolving language - compare our version with say, Chaucer, Shakespeare, or thee play Everyman (The Summoning of Everyman). Gotta say though, I hope we don't go too far down this path!

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Dec 6, 2021Liked by John Birmingham

Jeebus. I can’t even get past the chapter title without my brain imploding.

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Dec 6, 2021Liked by John Birmingham

A few of Ben Elton's novels explore this issue as well. On the other hand, there's a whole generation or two that values written communication (be it text, tweet or IM) ahead of the telephone, so maybe the kids are going to be alright.

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Dec 6, 2021Liked by John Birmingham

fuck moi I sure hate that zoomer talk...

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Back in the day (1969 to be precise) Henry Beard and Douglas Kenney published Bored of the Rings. An act of parody that's never been followed quite so well.

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It shits me. Although ‘all fax and no printer’ is not bad. Reminds me of ‘all hat and no cattle’. Didn’t Keating say that about someone…?

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Just read a Morse or a Dalziel and Pascoe, and call me in the morning

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Well, that's the thing, isn't it? Nobody is actually speaking like that. It's a cash-in by some 35-45 year old dipshit in a suit who figures if they just translate into what they think Gen-z speaks like - which they appear to think means they speak a whole other language, so that they don't have to think about the fact that they're now just too old and out of touch to keep up with contemporary slang - so they can make a shitload of money. (They won't.)

This is basically the equivalent of your parents trying to imitate the slang they've heard you use, in an attempt to seem cool. Except it's novel length, and costs money.

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That's quite ...something, isn't it. Well as long as that TERF isn't making any more money out of it.

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Sounds a lot like A Clockwork Orange to me. Pretty sure you can write literature (or at least a ripping yarn) in any language. The other book it reminds me of is Ian Banks' "Feersum Endjinn" which was admittedly pretty difficult to read...

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