Re: British and American dialogue -- Better Buffy Fics

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Date Posted: 12:52:25 11/26/02 Tue
Author: Gyrus
Subject: Re: British and American dialogue
In reply to: lakrids 's message, "Re: British and American dialogue" on 12:30:46 11/25/02 Mon

>Here is link where some of discussion is about your
>question

Thanks! I'm not surprised that at least some Brits have complaints about the way Americans write dialogue for British characters, especially in the HARRY POTTER fandom. At least, in BTVS/ANGEL fic, American writers can always make the excuse that most of the English (and Irish) characters have been in the States for a long time and could have picked up some local speech habits.

Anybody know if there is some kind of on-line guide to Britspeak out there?

>I do not register, if a writer as English or
>American, except if they come with dr. Who jokes
>(Defiantly a sign to me that the writer is English).

Clearly, you don't know enough nerdy Americans. :)

>Bye the way, my comment on the thing"I can't believe
>this hasn't been recced before", I hope that you
>didn�t take it as insult to you.

Not at all. I was just trying to say that there may be times when the "I can't believe..." comment is appropriate.

>I have found that I
>can be a little Anya in my comments ( Same region so
>perhaps do I have ancestor in common with her�

Ha ha ha! (Translation: Ha ha ha!) (Apologies if you haven't seen "Selfless" yet). :)

-- Gyrus

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Replies:

[> [> [> Re: British and American dialogue -- Louie, 10:09:27 04/22/03 Tue

The Buffy writers don't write typical British dialogue. So when you're trying to write as Brit Buffy characters, you have to write atypical English too.

However, these aren't typical Brits, are they? Giles went to Oxford - and there really are people that speak like him there. It's an affectation on their part - but Giles is playing a role too, trying to paper over his violent past with china cups and tweed. Posh Giles is a fiction, as far as I'm concerned.

Wesley went to the Watcher equivalent of Winchester (where Joss Whedon went, so, he's writing from experience - even if it's out of date). A Very Posh School.

And Spike....well, he's not lived in England for a very long time. And he spends his days watching American soaps. So he's transatlantic? That's perfectly plausible.

The Mockney accent he adopts as a vampire is a nice touch - exactly what any public school ponce would do if he wanted to establish his street cred.

The only inexcusable accent is Drusilla. One word example: "Spoike". A bad hybrid of Dickensian tart-with-a-heart and Pat Butcher off of Eastenders.

As to writing Americans...it's kinda easy to like slip into total parody mode - with, like, the valleyspeak. I think it's harder to write Yank than Brit. Cos Brits adopt American slang, but Yanks don't usually return the favour.

Louie

>>Here is link where some of discussion is about your
>>question
>
>Thanks! I'm not surprised that at least some Brits
>have complaints about the way Americans write dialogue
>for British characters, especially in the HARRY POTTER
>fandom. At least, in BTVS/ANGEL fic, American writers
>can always make the excuse that most of the English
>(and Irish) characters have been in the States for a
>long time and could have picked up some local speech
>habits.
>
>Anybody know if there is some kind of on-line guide to
>Britspeak out there?
>
>>I do not register, if a writer as English or
>>American, except if they come with dr. Who jokes
>>(Defiantly a sign to me that the writer is English).
>
>Clearly, you don't know enough nerdy Americans. :)
>
>>Bye the way, my comment on the thing"I can't believe
>>this hasn't been recced before", I hope that you
>>didn�t take it as insult to you.
>
>Not at all. I was just trying to say that there may
>be times when the "I can't believe..." comment is
>appropriate.
>
>>I have found that I
>>can be a little Anya in my comments ( Same region so
>>perhaps do I have ancestor in common with her�
>
>Ha ha ha! (Translation: Ha ha ha!) (Apologies if
>you haven't seen "Selfless" yet). :)
>
>-- Gyrus

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