May I Have a Word?

Miss Jane Austen
(Wikipedia Commons)

What thought processes are set in motion by a simple polite question? “May I have a word?” or “May I speak with you?” "We need to talk." Can you tell the difference? 

I’m a big fan of Austen. But her prose is a little like Shakespeare’s. It takes time to get comfortable with it. Consider this passage, taken from Pride and Prejudice, Chapter Thirty-Six:

The extravagance and general profligacy which he scrupled not to lay to Mr. Wickham’s charge exceedingly shocked her; the more so as she could bring no proof of its injustice.

At first reading, it may be a difficult passage to understand. How polite a statement it sounds. Translate it into modern American English. While profligate used as an adjective means: recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources, the noun form means: licentious, dissolute. 

Synonyms for the noun profligacy: extravagance, excess, squandering, waste, recklessness, wastefulness, lavishness, prodigality, improvidence, immorality, depravity, debauchery, abandon, corruption, promiscuity, laxity, dissipation, degeneracy, licentiousness, wantonness, libertinism, dissoluteness, unrestraint. 

About halfway through this list of synonyms, you start to get the picture. And since I now know the book, I understand Wickham’s character very well. Austen’s “...he scrupled not to lay to Mr. Wickham’s charge,” tells us Mr. Darcy withheld some information and Elizabeth reads between the lines and sees far more. In this instant, the truth dawns on her, and she is embarrassed over her misunderstanding.

The word scrupled means he hesitated because of the impropriety of the truth. He held back because he was a gentleman, and she was a lady. In more modern times, he probably would not hesitate to tell her everything. She would see it on the news or read it on Facebook or Twitter. He may as well be the one to tell her of it.

So do you begin to get an understanding of what Elizabeth thought of Mr. Darcy in this passage? He was much too polite to bring the true charge against Mr. Wickham, because of its extremely immoral nature. The man Wickham was a depraved drunk who chased after skirts. But in proper society, a true gentleman (Darcy) never laid such a charge on another man in the presence of a lady. 

What a great burden is placed on us as writers to convey to our reader exactly what we want to say in a way that is clear to the modern reader, yet maintains the purity of the era we’re writing about. How do we start? By reading books written in the era and translating them to modern. Then you can begin to piece together a work that sounds like the past, but can be easily understood. Never “dumb down” your writing, but make it clear and concise, with your reader in mind. 

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Sherlock By Jennifer Hallmark

Historical words in December? Hmmm. While I searched for a good word, I was drawn to one of my favorite genres to read. 

Early twentieth century British mysteries.

Huh? Yes, I love writers like Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, and Agatha Christie. With sleuths like Lord Peter Wimsey, Albert Campion, and Hercule Poirot, what’s not to love? And who can forget Miss Marple?

In recently purchasing and reading The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers, I came across several passages alluding to Sherlock Holmes.

“I’m sure I don’t know,” said Mrs. Venables, gingerly examining the  objects before her. “I’m afraid I’m not a Sherlock Holmes…”

“A colleague, as Sherlock Holmes would say, after my own heart,” said Wimsey, as he unfolded the thin enclosure.

“…My dear Watson, it’s staring you in the face…”

There was also the term “sherlocking” used in another place in The Nine Tailors, referring to someone investigating in a way similar to Sherlock Holmes. I found it fascinating that this novel by Ms. Sayers written in 1934 referred to this character so many times, a character first introduced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887.

 I conducted my own investigation at dictionary.com.  Sherlock is an old English name meaning “fair-headed.”  
Also Sherlock-noun, informal.  1. a private detective. 2. a person remarkably adept at solving mysteries, especially by using insight and logical deduction: Who's the sherlock who can tell me where my pen is? A 21^st century slang for Sherlock means a clever and perceptive person.

 

Books, comics, short stories, television, movies, games, puzzles, radio, societies and screen plays have all sprung from a single character evolved in the mind of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Amazing.

What character names or phrases do you know that have taken on a life of their own?

Today's writing prompt:   Lila twirled a blonde curl as she winked at the young man in front of her. "Who do ya think you are? Sherlock Holmes?" Her laughter rang...

Pictures from Wikipedia Commons.

 

What the Dickens?

So, as I said last week, as an historical writer I have to take care with the words I use. If I'm not I'm bound to receive hundreds of emails pointing out my mistakes.

What the Dickens?

Yeah, really! I'm not fooling you. Readers, especially those who enjoy and know their history, aren't always forgiving. And since a lot of writers are readers too, that means they probably know their stuff, especially when it comes to slang.

You want to know something interesting? You probably already know it, but I'm going to share it anyway. Much of the slang I've encountered are creative exchanges for curse words. *GASP* I know, right!
 
Let's look at jiminy crickets. Do you know where it originated? No, not Walt Disney. According to the Internet, cause y'all know we believe everything we find there, jiminy crickets was used in England as a cursing word so as to not be guilty of taking the Lord's name in vain. Seems it was used in a few movies before Pinocchio even made the screen in 1940, but who knows when it actually came into use.

Remember the good 'ol days of Leave it to Beaver? Jeepers, Wally! Yeah, those were the days when children were respectful, moms cooked, cleaned and looked like they spent the day at the spa, dads used gentle discipline. It was real, right upstanding show with lots of moral values. Now, I'm not saying anything against the Beave, because I loved watching all the reruns, but Jeepers is another one of those words that exchanges our Lord's name so as to not take it in vain.  The word actually came into existence sometime in the 1920s. I imagine with the flapper era.

And who can forget The Fonz's 'sit on it'? *grins*

Now, here is an interesting one I found. Mainly because I see it a lot in 19th century historicals. And guess what? It's existence, according to dictionary.com, began in the 1920s. I'm sure I don't need to tell you what it means.

But here is one of my all time favorites. Mainly because I've been dinged (and if I'm to be honest I probably dinged a few writers too) for using it prior to the 1800s.

What the Dickens? Of course, at the time I hadn't a clue of the origination and it sent me on an adventure. I mean it only makes sense that this term is coined after Charles Dickens, right?

Wrong!

I cannot tell what the dickens his name is my husband had him of. What do you call your knight's name, sirrah?

Merry Wives of Windsor

William Shakespeare

1602

That's quite a few years before Charles Dickens was born. Over two hundred years to be exact. I'm sure you already know what it means, but just in case, it's what the devil.

I love discovering the origination of words, not just because I need to know them for writing, but because I find them interesting. Guess I'm weird like that. 

What slang did you grow up with or have used over the years? Do you know the origination or why it came into existence? Care to share?

 

May I Share a Word?

The English language is one of the most difficult on earth. I've heard it said and here is why: Well over 200,000 words in "common" usage, 20 - 25,000 estimated used by educated individuals.

Many of our "American English" words are combinations of words, derivations from other languages and underived foreign words. Think of the many types of bread you see every week in your local grocery. Baguettes, bruschetta, challah, tortilla, pita. . .and so many more. Because of the ethnic mix of races who call the USA their home, these have all been incorporated into our American English.

So how many words do you use in a given day? I admit my vocabulary is very limited. So I keep two books on my desk for reference, along with dictionaries and a thesaurus. (1) The Big Book of Words You Should Know, and (2) Endangered Words - A Collection of Rare Gems for Book Lovers. I read excerpts from these books from time to time, just to keep my mind working in a good direction. If you're a word geek like me, you'd love these two books as well.

One of my favorite words found in the rare words collection, is desipience: relaxed dallying in enjoyment of foolish trifles, according to Webster's Third New International Dictionary. Derived from the Latin desipientia and formed from desipere, "to be foolish." The word was found in use in the 17th century. These and other interesting facts fill this book.

Sometimes I think I understand and know the meanings of specific words. But when I'm put on the spot, I can't tell you without looking them up. And I have occasionally used a wrong word and been corrected by someone. So I'm not perfect, not by a long shot. It's never as funny as when Agent David blunders on NCIS. But I do try.

What's your favorite word? Drop me a line here and let me know. Also include the meaning, if you will. Happy Holidays!

Words, Words, Words

Hiya, Christina here. And I am super excited about this month's topic. Historical words. Why? Because I love words, and I love history.

 

Besides, without words there would be no communication, without communication what would we have? 

As a historical writer I have to take care the words I use.

Let's look at this rough draft of my current Work In Progress (WIP), The Chronicles of Janie Mason.

“Yo, Dudette, you's busted.” He cocked his ball cap to the side. His gaze shifted to the ink blotching her papers before piercing her with ice blue eyes. His right upper lip curled. So did her toes, right along with the roller coaster flipping around in her stomach. This dude was hawt to the bling, bling. Too bad he was four o four, like some wannabe gangsta.

 

So, it's obvious I need to brush up on my modern slang, but clearly this is a story set in 2012, because is sure wouldn't work in 1856 unless you are shooting for some sort of slapstick comedy steampunk. 

 

Let's look at the original piece.

 

“I hope that is not a habit, Miss Mason?” He lifted his felt hat from his head and laid it on the crude countertop. His gaze shifted to her work table before piercing her with his cornflower blue eyes once again. His right upper lip curled. So did her toes, right along with the waves tossing in her stomach. Why did God have to make a man with such abominable  character so very handsome?

 

That's more like it. At least for 1856. 

 

When I write, I just write. When I come across a word, I often leave myself a simple comment: check. Let's take abominable. When I wrote this piece I was uncertain of the origination date of the word. So, I left a little check beside it. When I start revisions I can do a quick check, usually on dictionary.com, to see what kind of information I can find on it. 

 

1325-75; Middle English (a time period during middle ages) dictionary.com

Now, what if I used the word grody instead of abominable? 

1960-65; Americanism (American 19th century) dictionary.com

 

Wouldn't work, would it? 

The four o four wouldn't either. Although I love the term. It seems to come from our technological age, 404. Yeah, you've seen it. Whenever you open an Internet page that's not working. Well, according to Modern Slang, it means somebody isn't where they mentally should be. Love it! 

 

For your reference, or maybe not ;) the following is how the History of the English Language is broken down. If you're curious about the history of our English language the link above is a good, short run-down.

 

Old English (450-1100 AD)

Middle English (1100-1500 AD)

Modern English (1500-1800 AD)

Late Modern English (1800- present day)

I, however, will also be sharing a word or two outside of our English language, because y'know that's how I roll. ;) Besides, I write historicals set in Old Testament times, so why not, right? 

 

Over the next month we will sharing some words, their history etc. I cannot wait to see what Betty and Jennifer come up with.

Have you ever thought much about the words you write? Have you ever come across a word you could not use because it was either too historical or too modern? What is one of your favorite words to use in your vocabulary? 

 

Mine? Discombobulate-1825-35 Americanism