I got this off SM Stirling’s Facebook page. I’ve always enjoyed word games and especially reframing certain sorts of content in completely inappropriate contacts. I did at least a dozen columns in this way at the old Alien Side Boob, and Threshy, from the Dave novels is an example of the technique transferred to fiction setting.
But there was something about this that I found a bit, I dunno… disturbing? It spoke to a fear I sometimes have that we’re all getting so dumbed down by the internet that one day a stupid tweet will seem like a PhD thesis. A grotesque exaggeration, for sure. But if we all spoke or wrote like this all the time, there would never be anything worthwhile ever written again.
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
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!
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.
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.
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.
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...
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
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!
Jeebus. I can’t even get past the chapter title without my brain imploding.
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.
fuck moi I sure hate that zoomer talk...
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.
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…?
Just read a Morse or a Dalziel and Pascoe, and call me in the morning
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.
That's quite ...something, isn't it. Well as long as that TERF isn't making any more money out of it.
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...