For science!

[momebie]

So, last night kel_reiley was musing over twitter about how she'd been reading a fic and a guy in his 20s had used the term 'mother hen', which she personally felt like some one of that demographic wouldn't do. That led to a discussion in which it was realized that lots of people about our age say 'mother hen', but then the question moved to whether it was generational and maybe picked up from OUR parents, or colloquial, or something of that sort. Since my favorite way to do science is with LJ polls, I'm here to pick your brains about several words and how you use them. Please indulge me. Also, I'm leaving this unlocked so she can send people this way. Feel free to do so with your own friends.

[Poll #1797600]

Extra credit essay questions:

1. How much of yourself do you think you project into a character's speech when you're writing?

2. If you are active in a fandom, do you think you pick up more words and phrases from that fandom or fandom as a whole than you do from your public life?

3. Do you converse often with someone from another country who constantly messes with your accent and ways of saying things, as well as word usage?

Comments

[citibyrd.livejournal.com]

Really, both of those phrases would be somewhere between sparsely and frequently, but I use "spoil sport" more than "mother hen", so that's why I chose that way.

[momebie.livejournal.com]

Makes perfect sense to me. Thank you!

[barbed-whispers.livejournal.com]

1. i have a LOT of trouble writing how other people speak, so all of the dialogue in everything i've ever written probably sounds like me.

2. i am a total word thief. i pick up accents and choice words/phrases really easily. the worst thing about lotr rps fandom was how much my brain wanted me to run around calling everyone cunting bastards, which is not really acceptable. but i pick them up everywhere- tv shows, fandom, friends, etc. so the only good thing about #1 is that if i immerse myself in a given fandom, i will start talking like i live there, and then i can write it!

[momebie.livejournal.com]

Are cunting bastards different than gentleman bastards? And are gentleman bastards ever cunting?

And also, have you seen the Snow White & The Huntsment trailer, and if you have, do you ALSO want to see Chris Hemsworth play Jean in the Gentleman Bastards movie? I need Locke Lamora icons. Do people make those?

[barbed-whispers.livejournal.com]

they are slightly different but there is definitely overlap!

yes! and i'm in! also fyi: ashley and i have cast jgl as locke. as far as i know, this is the only icon in the whooooooooole world! but there can be more.

[momebie.livejournal.com]

Mmmm...I can definitely make JGL Locke in my head. Also, YES PLEASE.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

3. Do you converse often with someone from another country who constantly messes with your accent and ways of saying things, as well as word usage? YES!! Nick has ruined me, and now that he lives in the UK, oh my. LOL. He is why I enunciate words more than the average Texan - my daughter mocks me for it, too.

[momebie.livejournal.com]

I stole your question and added it to the poll! Also, enunciation rocks. (That should be a whole new episode of School House Rock. Speech Pathologist Class Time Rock?)

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Oh good! Because seriously, that boy has messed me up but good. I have been asked if I was from elsewhere but no, I just mostly talk to him. I don't know why my daughter teases me about my clear pronunciation of words with 't' in them. I like crisp t's! Oh well, mock away, LOL.

[chiasmus.livejournal.com]

Some additional phrases I use that garner weird looks if I slip and use them: "big pimping, selling it on the street", "shit fire and save the matches", "take your clothes off and roll around in it", "kissing your cousin through the screen door don't make it right".

There's also the general carriage debate I and Bostonian BFF have frequently. Also disagreement over what constitutes a milkshake. I also probably wouldn't use the phrase "I am Tom Brady confident" outside of here.

1. I try not to, but I know I project a lot of snark into my writing. I also sometimes have to go back and rework the proper grammar when it makes things stilted (because I know in everyday speech most people aren't overly concerned with whether or not they are ending a sentence with a preposition). There are probably some other smaller things, but I'll go back and try to eliminate them if possible.

2. Not really? Most of the phrases I pick up are from misquoted 80s song lyrics, Arrested Development, and Family Guy.

[momebie.livejournal.com]

I have heard/can make out every one of those except "shit fire and save the matches". PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS.

What do you feel DOES constitute a milk shake? And does your version bring more boys to the yard than a regular milk shake?

[chiasmus.livejournal.com]

My mother uses it quite frequently! But I've yet to really meet anyone else who does. It's kind of just a general exclamation of surprise and disbelief, occasionally a substitute when "oh hell" just didn't cut it.

I've always had milk shakes that include ice cream, milk, and possibly syrup. BFF claims that milk shakes are milk and flavored syrup, possibly not shaken. I'm not sure, but my Pokemon brings all the nerds to the yard, so that's something.

[momebie.livejournal.com]

Iiiiinteresting.

Also, no, your BFF has wrong opinions about milk shakes. Milk shakes have ice cream in them. Milk and syrup is just flavored milk, regardless of whether it's shaken or stirred.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

^this *nods*

[afavoritemelody.livejournal.com]

Extra credit~
1. I try to avoid that, when I'm writing I rather like the channel the character and think of what they would do/say in the situation or moment based on their personality. I really try to avoid putting myself into a character.

2.I definitely have been told I've been sounding incredibly British with the way I say certain words/phrases and I can ultimately figure I picked it up from the Doctor Who fandom.

3 I wish, but I don't.

[momebie.livejournal.com]

1. I do the same thing really. When we were talking on Twitter last night I was sort of wavering over whether I could say I did or didn't put myself into characters. On the one hand, a lot of my original characters have the same preoccupations with choice and confusion about what it takes to be a person that I do, but on the other they don't react the way I do? And they certainly don't all have my speech patterns. It's interesting to see where the line is drawn.

2. Doctor Who fandom is a boon to society.

[afavoritemelody.livejournal.com]

Like original characters, I do feel that sometime their speech patterns switches between mine, what I want them to have and a character from fandom, but otherwise I don't really notice any of 'me' in them.

And it's true.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

1. I try my best not to project my own opinions or responses onto them, but sometimes it's just HARD.

2. DEFINITELY. And not just in using them for writing fic, either, I start to feel more comfortable using them in everyday conversation (well... some of them, others are not so polite). Except 'mother hen'. That one is just so... foreign and awkward to me, I don't even feel comfortable writing it in fic. (Look, it just sounds old. Like little old ladies use that term.)

3. YES. And not just other countries, but other regions of the US. I pick up accents like my swiffer picks up dust.

The only other things I could think of were specifically Britishisms in American fandoms, and that wasn't really what I wanted this to be about, you know?

[phaetonschariot.livejournal.com]

On the internet and at Occupy camp when we have a lot of travelers I have to explain a lot of things because NZ English is a wee bit odd. It's got more in common with Australian English and British to a lesser extent, but also has Maori mixed in as well. We get a lot of "what the hell is koha?" type questions at camp and we have to scramble to give a good translation because while there's usually a word that people say is the translation it rarely gives the full meaning. That being why we use the Maori word to start with.

[ecosopher.livejournal.com]

1. A lot, and it's problematic because I do not talk like ordinary people. When I'm standing around talking to people I don't know that well (eg, picking up my son from school), I have to TRY so hard to sound normal. And I still don't.

3. M is from Yorkshire, Northern England. When we first met, we spent the first two weeks saying "What?!" to each other because we couldn't understand a word each other was saying. Most of the time we're on the same page now, but he'll still come out with stuff I've never heard of, and vice versa. Our children all speak with Aussie accents except occasionally they'll drop a completely Yorkshire pronunciation into a sentence and it's hilarious.

[i-smell-apples.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, that is sooo familiar ;) There are STILL instances when I will say something completely normal and Beth will give me a blank look.

Like last night when I had to google a Hills Hoist for her! I mean really.

[ecosopher.livejournal.com]

Doesn't she realise what a groundbreaking invention that was?!! LOL

I remember M telling me one time he was going to be put the same t-shirt on after he'd had a shower, and I said, 'Um-ahh!' (does that mean something to you? Or is that regional?) Anyway, he just looked at me as if to say, 'What are you ON?'

Then again, he described a huge truck the other day as 'jocka'. What?!!

[i-smell-apples.livejournal.com]

The best thing was, the first picture that came up had a kid swinging from it. And in my description I'd said it was the washing line that you swing from when you're little! Poor, deprived British person who has never played on a Hills Hoist!

UM-AAAHH!!!! OMG OMG OMG. I have not heard that since like grade 5! *cries with laughter* I HAVE TO USE IT ON BETH SOMETIME SOON I HAVE TO!!!

A what?!

[ecosopher.livejournal.com]

It means 'big' :) I can't believe we've been together almost 15 years and there is still language of his I don't know.

[i-smell-apples.livejournal.com]

I have to ask Beth if she knows it!

I also confused the hell out of her at first with "glad wrap" ;)

[pocketmouse]

I wouldn't say I use them, but I've heard of both of them and wouldn't think they're strange or regional, so I put sparsely. Though the definition of sparsely made me kind of uncomfortable, as it made it seem like using the word at all was a negative thing.

Essay questions:

1. I try not to project my speech patterns onto other characters. I pick up others' easily, though, so I think I'm pretty good at avoiding it. I worry more about projecting my emotions or characterizations than my word choice.

2. I don't think my public life has as many unique words as fandom does.

3. Oh my god, yes. When I had insomnia I watched two seasons of QI nonstop, and then went to work and heard everything in a British accent. Even my music. People constantly ask me if I'm from Minnesota or Canada because of how I pronounce my vowels, especially my O's. It usually happens shortly after I've said the word 'out.' I've never lived north of the Mason-Dixon line, but I've spent a good portion of my fannish time with Canadian media, and I have friends from Ohio. So basically, my accent and word choice are all over the place. Even before I was into fandom, I'd use words like 'grey' and 'gray' differently to distinguish between different meanings.

[dizzzylu.livejournal.com]

1. How much of yourself do you think you project into a character's speech when you're writing?

I try not to put any in at all, but I'm sure it slips in from time to time. I think it's easier to pass it off if the character is American (as I am). I'm much more aware (or try to be) of American slang if I'm writing a non-American character.

2. If you are active in a fandom, do you think you pick up more words and phrases from that fandom or fandom as a whole than you do from your public life?

Fandom definitely, definitely affects how I talk in real life. And I totally get weird looks for it sometimes.

3. Do you converse often with someone from another country who constantly messes with your accent and ways of saying things, as well as word usage?

I'm not sure what you mean by "messes with." I do have a knack for picking up the accents of the people I'm around; if I'm talking to southerners, I start talking with a twang, or if I'm talking to my cousins on the phone, I start talking like them. It even happens if I watch a tv show or movie. But I don't have people who tease me for my accent. I have actually been told it's cute *shrug*

In this same vein, I have a lot of Canadian and European friends, and when I'm chatting with them, I often slip into the european ways of spelling words, like colour or realise or theatre. I wonder what that says about me :/

Though, I totally tease my dad about things he says, most notably, when he talks about "warshing" something.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

Though, I totally tease my dad about things he says, most notably, when he talks about "warshing" something.

I think your dad and my dad are secretly the same person. AWKWARD! :p

[pocky_slash.livejournal.com]

First off, for both "spoil sport" and "mother hen" I would say I'm somewhere between "sparsely" and "frequently." I don't use them like, every day, or constantly, but I wouldn't feel weird using them and I've used them in the past.

2. I try not to do this myself, but I have totally, 100% noticed it. In more than one fandom I've come across a word/phrase I've never heard of before and then seen it in fic after fic after fic in that fandom, but no where else. Also, I've noticed that certain turns of phrase that aren't necessarily vernacular get re-used. I remember...maybe it was TWW?...but one fandom had one character "carding their fingers through [another character]'s hair" in basically every fic, for example.

3. I don't think that I pick stuff up from talking to people, but I definitely pick stuff up from being in particular fandoms based in other areas. After two/three years in Torchwood and Doctor Who, I've noticed that my sentence construction when I talk to people sometimes has a very British bent, totally not on purpose.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

2. I've also noted that in certain fandoms - an action or certain description gets repeated in multiple fics by multiple authors.

3. HO YEAH. There is a subtle difference in sentence structures, but I especially notice it now (and reading in an American fandom).

[reddwarfer.livejournal.com]

Leaned/Leant. I use both, depending on context. I also use both in writing, depending on fandom. Leaned for american ones, leant for british ones.


1. How much of yourself do you think you project into a character's speech when you're writing? Some. I do try to get a character's cadence down.

2. If you are active in a fandom, do you think you pick up more words and phrases from that fandom or fandom as a whole than you do from your public life? I've been told I speak like an academic journal, but without sounding purposefully pretentious...in other words, I speak like a book, but I do it so naturally people don't think it's forced.

3. Do you converse often with someone from another country who constantly messes with your accent and ways of saying things, as well as word usage?

Not really, no. However, I've always have tried to avoid the local accent and elocute properly.

[seratonation.livejournal.com]

For the where I grew up question:

I grew up all over the place. we were in the middle east till i was 8, then i came here to new zealand, where i was taught english (and picked it up from tv as i went along) and then we went back to the middle east, but this time in an english based school (and all the teachers where american alums) and then when i was about 16 we came back to new zealand and stayed. thats about the time i moved to the internet too.

I dont know how much help that will give you but there you go :P

and now for extra credit \o/

1. How much of yourself do you think you project into a character's speech when you're writing?

probably a lot? especially when writing bandom, but mostly because they are about the same age as i am. I think in xmen, im more cautious to make sure it sounds more like them and less like me.

2. If you are active in a fandom, do you think you pick up more words and phrases from that fandom or fandom as a whole than you do from your public life?

lol yes, definitely. i picked up dude and awesome from some one in a fandom and it stuck. now i notice once something gets repeated often enough, i find myself repeating it. tumblr is probably the worst for that. "all the things" and "i do what i want"

3. Do you converse often with someone from another country who constantly messes with your accent and ways of saying things, as well as word usage?

my friends are all multicultural, and the customers we get are such a wide demographic, that even though i dont talk verbally with people in other countries, i still get contact with different accents and ways of saying things.

[sobota.livejournal.com]

My father is American and my mum is German, and I grew up speaking 3 languages, and I speak quite a few more fluently so it's all very confusing in my brain. Sometimes when I'm speaking English, French phrases and words slip in. I have a strange accent, which is literally half American/half English (for some reason--I think it's because of the influence of my English teachers, who were all English).

Also, since my father was in the US Army and my mother is a diplomat, I have lived in the following countries: USA, Germany, England, China and Japan, along with short stays in France and Australia, so Who knows what sort of phrases I picked up and where.

My favourite is "God willing and the Creek don't rise," emphasis on "the Creek" being the tribe of Native Americans and NOT a body of water. It's such a quaint thing to say, honestly.

[chebonne.livejournal.com]

I would like to add that I use both mother hen (hönsmamma) and spoilsport (glädjedödare) frequently in Swedish, and most people do. As far as I know, in Sweden, they're not generational words. It's when I start using the English versions of those (which I frequently do with spoilsport because it's just easier to say than glädjedödare) that people look at me funny. THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND MY CRAFT etc.

Bonus trivia! Glädjedödare literally means "killer of joy"!

[mrsquizzical.livejournal.com]

this science is awesome. i am probably not in the demographic so i won't respond. but it's fun to watch!

[glass-houses.livejournal.com]

What? Everyone must respond!

[nyghtrain.livejournal.com]

1. Probably 10%. I try to make sure my characters have distinct voices, but sometimes I use words like Besides blah, bla, Now blah, bla and Of course blah blah. And I have to go back and remove them.

2. Hmm, I do pick up words from my fandom, but I actually pick up more words from my sister and her friends. They all talk so interesting and sometimes I find myself using their phrases.

3. I converse often with people from other countries, but they are usually trying to learn english from me, so I'm the bad influence instead of the other way around.

[saint-viticus.livejournal.com]

Just as an additional! I rarely use Mother Hen unless it's as a joke, however spoil sport I possibly use a little more frequently. I used it more as a child, less so now I'm older.

Also because I'm from the North of England, and currently live in London, there're a lot of slang phrases which I use on a day-to-day basis which my housemates (who are all born and bred Londoners to some degree or another) have had to become used to. A lot of the slang I use is scouse slang, which is to that they're all terms I've picked up from my Liverpudlian relatives, but some are more Cheshire based terms. It ranges from saying 'ta' instead of 'thanks' to a word like 'gippo' (pronounced gy-ip-po) meaning 'gravy'. :D

[loolaa.livejournal.com]

Do you use the awesome North Western phrases:

"love the bones of" to say how much you like something.
And:
"made up" to convey how happy you are about something?

I used to live in Widnes and worked in Fazakerly and Warrington and I loved those phrases so much!

[saint-viticus.livejournal.com]

Yesssss! I love those phrases, haha. Christ, Widnes and Warrington is right near where I grew up, in Runcorn. :)

[loolaa.livejournal.com]

1. How much of yourself do you think you project into a character's speech when you're writing?

The characters I write that are from the same place as me I'll write similar or the same as how I talk. Some characters may swear more or less though, or have different attitudes depending on their personality. Some may be long winded, others short. Or in the case of one where he's not very literate I have to ensure I use more basic language and remember he won't use long words. On the other hand I have some upper class character whose speech patterns I have to research.
So the short answer: Not a lot, but a bit!

2. If you are active in a fandom, do you think you pick up more words and phrases from that fandom or fandom as a whole than you do from your public life?

No. I'm not massively active in fandoms and though I've dabbled I don't write fanfiction.

3. Do you converse often with someone from another country who constantly messes with your accent and ways of saying things, as well as word usage?

No. I've never really spoken to someone in another country. Unless *this* is included!

[glass-houses.livejournal.com]

1. How much of yourself do you think you project into a character's speech when you're writing?

Um, way too much. The main character's usually dangerously close to being myself. Especially my current one. It's like a diary. I need a padlock!
Ok, maybe he's snarkier than I am. :D

As for some of the phrases others are confused about:

Sunshower: It's raining while the sun is out.
Packie: Liquor store (I see some Mass peeps up in here! Represent!)
Awesome blossom: Totally rhymes. But it's stupid.
Innit: Innit short for "isn't it"?
Jelly: Jealous

[remembering.livejournal.com]

I actually never associated those phrases with "yokels" but I don't say them often enough to warrant clicking on frequently?

I'm not sure what that means.

[darkmachines.livejournal.com]

no one should listen to me speak, because i sound like a weird mix of a ghetto hood rat, total hispanic and person who stutters a lot. and i say "and she was like, and i was like, and she was like, and he was like" way too often in conversation.

in fact, just stick to talking to me over the internet, you won't be disapointed.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I am a yokel, but I don't use the second phrase that often because I just don't.

1. All of me. Well, not really. I try to really listen to their voices and duplicate them. In AUs, I pick a voice to riff on.

2. Yes. Oh God yes.

3. Not lately. When I was RPing I stripped a lot of slang from my language because I'd have to explain it to the ESL players (not that I minded that, I just didn't like confusing them).