o, hai! Iz u intrested?
February 10th, 2008 by MelanieWhile browsing icanhascheezburger.com for a good laugh, I came across this article:
It makes an interesting point about the evolution of our current language, particularly with the popularity of the lolcats images. Read it before going on and you’ll see what I mean.
Our modern English language is a culmination of generations of references from other languages and creative conglomerations of terms twisted by the internet.
What does this have to do with writing? EVERYTHING.
Language can date a story. Read the writings of William Shakespeare, Thomas Jefferson, Jane Austin, John Steinbeck, Mark Twain and compare them to the writings of futuristic writers and contemporary writers. You’ll see a distinctive vocabulary, spelling, and word use that is easy to place in time, location, and social status of the characters. Language is an amazing characteristic.
With the worldwide reach of the internet, the proliferation of these new variations on English has accelerated the process of language evolution. The internet has elevated these “geeky” terms and spellings to something new that has been widely accepted by people of various backgrounds and education levels.
It’s important when writing to be accurate in the semantics and vocabulary of language. It adds flavor to a fictional world of fantasy or the future and credibility to a story set in the real world past or present. Language can define a world or a character. So be careful. You wouldn’t have a fifteen year old modern high school student speaking like George Washington or Winston Churchill.
If there’s a point to all this it’s simple. Use language and sentence structure appropriate to the world you’ve created or you’ll yank the reader out of the story.
WordPress database error: [Can't open file: 'wp_comments.MYI' (errno: 144)]
SELECT * FROM wp_comments WHERE comment_post_ID = '148' AND comment_approved = '1' ORDER BY comment_date
