English – the “common” language

As we near the end our first year of blogging at Rule of Three, we have figured out that life still happens. We get sick or go on vacation (or is that on holiday, ladies) or take on a few more responsibilities. And sometimes that means we just can’t post. So we have asked for someone to come in and pinch hit for us on those days. Luckily Karen Fainges responded and is here today to post for Narelle.

When asked to describe herself, Karen Fainges says teacher, wife, mother and writer, though not necessarily in that order. The Shaytonian chronicles were born one day as a story to keep her cousin and sister from being bored. The spark grew through many retellings, some in short stories, some in role-play. All those years of games, tears and laughter are distilled into a much more adult version than that long ago tale. Still, the childlike wonder of life, the fierce need for acceptance that we all can feel and the belief that the universe really does revolve around us; all comes through in this irreverent stab at all those old B movies. What if out there, there really was a race of beautiful slave looking for a male with whom to rebuild the species? And what if he said, “Sure, why not?”
Here is what Karen has to say about a subject that comes up often here at Rule of Three: English.

When George Bernard Shaw said that, “England and America are two countries separated by a common language”, he never spoke a truer word. Even in this world of constant online communication, this is still true. One question every Australian writer has to answer for themselves is, “Will I leave the ‘u’ in flavour?”

For some, the characters are Australian or English and then it is easy to say yes, it’s part of the character. As a writer of science fiction/fantasy, I have to decide for characters that learnt their English at the turn of the century (and I’m talking 1300’s).

But there is more to it than that. It’s not just different countries. I have found differences even in other states in Australia. What do you call a roll of pressed meat made to put in sandwiches? Is it spam, luncheon, deli meat or one of a dozen other names? And if I call it spam, do I have the characters spend five or six lines explaining that it is meat for sandwiches, and not annoying unsolicited emails? Actually, now I think of it, that gives me a great idea for a scene, I should write that down.

http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/ gives some wonderful examples of the differences in English and American. Chips, are they hot or cold? Is being made redundant becoming obsolete or losing your job?

I have found more and more that I have to pass my work on to three or four different nationalities to see if it means the same thing to all of them. I am amazed how often the same words can invoke a completely different reaction.

Some of it is tone. To an Aussie, “yeah right” is often spoken sarcastically. For us, it can mean, pull the other one, it’s got bells on. For others reading those words, the tone of voice sounds a lot different, it means agreement.

So where is the line between making your writing clear and adding way too much explanation? I guess I can post this blog and see if anyone “gets” it.