tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4690119989265676870.post2449476533583052958..comments2023-03-25T15:32:51.744+02:00Comments on Mine for the Taking: Countdown: 6 - Attitude with no HistoryFreeFoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00096319447345952569noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4690119989265676870.post-86489104221516735382010-11-22T04:10:17.722+02:002010-11-22T04:10:17.722+02:00Because you mention quite early that your mom'...Because you mention quite early that your mom's not in England, I think there are hints that prepare your reader a little for the "non-standard-English style". I didn't really think much of it until seeing the other comments here.<br /><br />But come to think of it, there are some places that do feel inconsistent in tone. Again, that's style, or can be, as long as it is conscious and it is a choice (and as long as you don't lose reader-attachment because of it).<br /><br />This section reminded me of a day when I was a teacher. Three boys out in the yard were throwing each other around a little. More rough than it had to be.The school had the usual no-touch-policy. All three in turn made eye-contact with me, smiled the biggest smile they could and went back to scrapping. I couldn't find it in my heart to stop them. Some people just live physically. (Didn't exactly help that I was reading Gates of Fire at the time, about Thermopylae. And yea, I didn't last long as a teacher... :-) )Andrewhttp://godwillbegod.com/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4690119989265676870.post-12564483659826413802010-10-30T21:53:53.607+02:002010-10-30T21:53:53.607+02:00I like an eclectic voice, much less pedantic. Writ...I like an eclectic voice, much less pedantic. Writers who over focus on generationally appropriate idiom often become less convincing (how's that for irony?). By the way, you can still here the police referred to as rozzers in certain parts of the country.<br /><br />I have a tendency to scatter bits of Latin & French throughout my writing, partly because I used to do it when I was a snotty kid but partly to break things up a little.<br /><br />MalcolmMalcolmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16750431202226062206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4690119989265676870.post-40779859529014311802010-10-10T23:08:56.714+02:002010-10-10T23:08:56.714+02:00um - yeah - listen to nerstes. i meant good - you ...um - yeah - listen to nerstes. i meant good - you know? quirky,uncanny,unheimlich ;)Changelinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16971293660092708835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4690119989265676870.post-21031724487131732442010-10-08T12:05:18.119+02:002010-10-08T12:05:18.119+02:00OMG. Did you just compare me to Joseph Conrad. I s...OMG. Did you just compare me to Joseph Conrad. I shall faint. ^_^<br /><br />It is the only voice I have. I never could express myself worth shit in German. German is the tongue of my voicelessness. Of me having to hit peeps bc I can't talk to them.<br /><br />But I take this as a big encouragement to keep mangling English and trying to have my say.<br /><br />Shukrān.FreeFoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00096319447345952569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4690119989265676870.post-7624597954991971492010-10-08T11:43:33.386+02:002010-10-08T11:43:33.386+02:00well, as a non-native speaker of english to anothe...well, as a non-native speaker of english to another, i think changeling meant this sort of not right quality to be good? I think? I like it, because it gives the telling a voice and a quality of sth more polite and antique and structured and it could be like u know,a Joseph Conrad kind of thing? I think sometimes non-native speakers can come up with a language that is pleasantly...arcane-sounding, or sth. do i make any sense? Hmmm...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4690119989265676870.post-67861988589991933442010-10-07T07:55:00.572+02:002010-10-07T07:55:00.572+02:00My mum's tongue is sorta pink, I think, unless...My mum's tongue is sorta pink, I think, unless she's got a cold. But I haven't really studied her tongue that hard, since doing so would give me the creeps. She's my mum for christ's sake. ;)<br />My mum speaks German. My dad spoke English, but I hope I didn't learn too much from him in the few years he was with us.<br />If you say there is a "not quite right" quality to my english, that sounds a bit like a literary death sentence. Please say that it is not so?<br />What makes you think of the bad 50s actor? The rozzers? I hate the word cops. I always feel like I'm in an American TV show. And the Heat or the Fuzz, I dunno. Maybe I just don't like the police. Haha, that could be it.<br />But I learned a lot of English from trying to understand stuff like William Golding or Denton Welch. Or The Catch Trap by Zimmer Bradley, that wasn't written that early but was set around the 50s (if in America).<br />I don't really have "my" language. Mostly it is English, but the English of a non-native. It's been ages since I spoke German to anyone, but I still do numbers in my head in German (if I must do them at all.) There is some Arabic in my life, and there have been other languages, but none of them were mine.<br />Who are they Krays?FreeFoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00096319447345952569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4690119989265676870.post-9709832394117038102010-10-07T03:25:14.636+02:002010-10-07T03:25:14.636+02:00i think, after some consideration, it's probab...i think, after some consideration, it's probably best not to kick the police. or bite them.<br /><br />i haven't read everything here yet but fighting can be stupidly hot & your voice is intriguing me some. like there is some - I don't know - slightly antique and not quite - right - uh quality like you inherited yr english from some out of work actor in the 1950s, pretending he knew the Krays<br />i like it <br />- tell me what yr mother tongue is<br /><br />mischaChangelinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16971293660092708835noreply@blogger.com