Language questions for fanfictions

Malte279 · **Reply #20 on:** December 24, 2004, 04:55:46 AM

That would be the easiest way, however I hope to find a very short formulation as we are not talking of somebody splashing in the water for the fun of it, but of Cera pursuited by a whole lot of... But I don't want to tell the whole story already. At all events I'm going for the short "she could hardly stand" if this works out.

Malte279 · **Reply #21 on:** December 28, 2004, 05:43:53 PM

Again I'm not sure if a term is LBT-appropriate. Can you imagine a grownup LBT character (Ducky's mother to be precise) to shout "Oh my gosh!" in a moment of utmost surprise?
I want to avoid "religious" terms like "my god", "heavens" etc. So do you think that gosh is alright?
I'm not sure if "my godness" would work out too well in the scene I'm talking about.

Malte279 · **Reply #22 on:** December 28, 2004, 05:53:05 PM

And yet another question: I came across a few alternative words to dangerous. Can you tell me if perilous and hazardous sound stronger (more extreme) or weaker than dangerous? Does perilous imply a mortal danger?

Nick22 · **Reply #23 on:** December 29, 2004, 12:13:02 PM

Not always.'Perilous' , to me, usually implies dangerous, and normally very dangerous, but not always mortally so.
Nick

Malte279 · **Reply #24 on:** December 29, 2004, 03:17:43 PM

Thanks a lot.

If it is a danger stronger than the "ordinary" danger it will sure do

I've just "brought Cera home" in the context of my story, something I had planned to do before new years eve.
So how strong or weak is hazardous?
And do you think that "my gosh!" Is okay for LBT?

Petrie · **Reply #25 on:** December 29, 2004, 04:23:51 PM

hazardous implies it likely brings death
perilous implies it's going to be troublesome, not necessarily deadly

That's how I interpret those two.

As for "my gosh" Littlefoot says something on those lines in LBT 10 so I'd say it's fine to include.

Nick22 · **Reply #26 on:** December 29, 2004, 05:29:35 PM

Perilous is IMo more dangerous than hazardous. Hazardous represents something that is dangerous, but usually you have to do something wrong for it to affect you. For example, Bleach is hazardous to my health if I drink it, but if I leave it alone, it can't harm me.
Nick

Petrie · **Reply #27 on:** December 30, 2004, 09:40:34 AM

As you can see, not even native English speakers can agree on what words mean.

: We just interpret them differently.

Nick22 · **Reply #28 on:** December 30, 2004, 09:33:41 PM

It depends on what context you are using the word in. Words can have many different meanings.
Nick

Malte279 · **Reply #29 on:** December 31, 2004, 04:45:13 AM

Thank you two very much!

I guess I'll go with the perilous then and let the "gosh" remain in place.

Nick22 · **Reply #30 on:** December 31, 2004, 03:41:29 PM

You're welcome Malte. Any time you need help I will try to do my best to help you.

Nick

JojotheIncredible · **Reply #31 on:** December 31, 2004, 09:52:27 PM

"Gosh" is just a replacement word for "god" so I guess it shouldn't be used, but I can hear it being used in a fanfic. Perhaps meaning something else. I thought for sure Littlefoot said "gosh!" somewhere in the sequels.

I put the levels here.

1=Most Extreme 5=Least Extreme

1. Oh my god! (Something amazing or terrible happened!)
2. Oh my gosh! (Something great or terrible happened!)
3. Oh no! (Something bad happened!)
4. Oh dear! (Something wrong happened!)
5. Oh my! (Something inappropriate happened!)

Nick22 · **Reply #32 on:** January 01, 2005, 02:15:21 AM

Whatever you put in is fine with me Malte.
Nick

Malte279 · **Reply #33 on:** January 01, 2005, 07:11:51 AM

This is very interesting for me. Gosh is a replacement of god? I didn't know before, but there are many such replacement words in English.
Thinking about it, is "Gee" (frequently used in LBT) a replacement for the name "Jesus"?

Petrie · **Reply #34 on:** January 01, 2005, 09:57:00 AM

Well, mostly "gosh" is substituted for "God" if you're a devout Catholic. I've never heard on any scale that "gee" is a replacement for "Jesus" (though I have been known to write Geezus

).

Malte279 · **Reply #35 on:** January 03, 2005, 04:49:13 PM

Again I have questions for the fanfiction. This time it's about a scene which involves Hyp, Nod and Mutt. I want them to sound like they do in the movie, which proves sort of a challange as this is not the kind of language that is bound to strict rules or something.

I used "Yer" as a replacement for "You". "Ye're" for "you are". In one case I wrote "ya" for "you" and in one case "cain't" instead of "can't". And in one case "ain't" for "aren't". Does that sound like them?
Also I invented a word which is meant to be a derogatory, offensive word for "threehorns". The word is "pointyheads". Does that sound okay to you?

Nick22 · **Reply #36 on:** January 03, 2005, 04:51:42 PM

Sure, that sounds fine to me.
Nick

JojotheIncredible · **Reply #37 on:** January 03, 2005, 05:18:15 PM

I don't know about yer and cain't. Yer sounds like your. Are you trying to make them sound like they have a southern(U.S.) accent? Maybe you should listen to exactly what they are saying in the movie. I don't remember them having a southern accent. If you can somehow post a soundclip, I can help you. My copy got sold.

Malte279 · **Reply #38 on:** January 03, 2005, 05:21:41 PM

I did listen to the way they talk in the movie, but sometimes it is really difficult to figure out the differences. For example I didn't know that yer and cain't are especially associated with the American South. So should I rather stick to "can't"?
And as for the "Yer", would it make a strong difference to write "Ye" or "Ya" instead? What would you recommend?

JojotheIncredible · **Reply #39 on:** January 03, 2005, 05:25:33 PM

If you look, I updated my above post. I can help you a lot. About "ye" or "ya", I never heard "ye" used before except in Old English and pirate talk. Use "ya" and "can't".