When you want to shorten a word...

....
It's fun to write for an in-crowd, but a bit lonely. Local references mean nothing elsewhere. Only folks of a certain time and place know that 'spad' means 'retard'.

as does "spaz".

and us "retards" find all euphemisms for "neurologically different" offensive. Don't bother to make nother words, we know what you mean. We does have bad thinkings about you whichever words you use to insult us.
 
as does "spaz".

and us "retards" find all euphemisms for "neurologically different" offensive. Don't bother to make nother words, we know what you mean. We does have bad thinkings about you whichever words you use to insult us.

"spaz" comes from the insult; to call someone a Spastic.
 
Its pronounced "CAZ" over in England.

... not in my experience.

Looking at other responses here... in regards to using 'in' language.... worked fine for Clockwork Orange as I recall. I think our readers are smart enough to deal with an abbreviation of 'casual' without stopping to throw down their phones, screaming, 'What is this nonsense? I don't understand!'.

In regards to using 'local' language, I don't think US citizens realise how much slang they use. There's an assumption that the US way of speaking is universal, to which I say, 'piffle'. :p'

Come on folks, are you honestly so terrified of 'confusing' your readers that all language has to be stilted and formal or explained? Are you telling me that the great writers of the ages *cough* Shakespeare *cough* were a touch braver than a bunch of erotica authors?
 
Its pronounced "CAZ" over in England.

... not in my experience.

Looking at other responses here... in regards to using 'in' language.... worked fine for Clockwork Orange as I recall. I think our readers are smart enough to deal with an abbreviation of 'casual' without stopping to throw down their phones, screaming, 'What is this nonsense? I don't understand!'.

In regards to using 'local' language, I don't think US citizens realise how much slang they use. There's an assumption that the US way of speaking is universal, to which I say, 'piffle'. :p

Come on folks, are you honestly so terrified of 'confusing' your readers that all language has to be stilted and formal or explained? Are you telling me that the great writers of the ages *cough* Shakespeare *cough* were a touch braver than a bunch of erotica authors?
 
...

Come on folks, are you honestly so terrified of 'confusing' your readers that all language has to be stilted and formal or explained? Are you telling me that the great writers of the ages *cough* Shakespeare *cough* were a touch braver than a bunch of erotica authors?

Not stilted and formal but clear.

Shakespeare was unique in his vocabulary. Many English words first appeared in Shakespeare. Was it that he invented words? Or did he use words that existed that other writers had never used in a book?

Literotica readers shouldn't have to have a glossary of unfamiliar words. If we use dialect or slang or foreign languages, and we can, we should make it clear from the context what we mean.

As for dialogue? Written dialogue should be slightly more formal than the way people actually speak. It reads better that way. In normal conversations people interrupt each other, use meaningless interjections, and don't finish ALL their statements. Writing an exact version of a conversation would be boring.
 
Not stilted and formal but clear.

Shakespeare was unique in his vocabulary. Many English words first appeared in Shakespeare. Was it that he invented words? Or did he use words that existed that other writers had never used in a book?

Ah. See, what's the difference? Which does he get more props for?

Literotica readers shouldn't have to have a glossary of unfamiliar words. If we use dialect or slang or foreign languages, and we can, we should make it clear from the context what we mean.

HAHAH, first president of the Literotica-Readers Rights Protection League? Even if they paid me, which no one does, I'd still subject them to the odd bit of foreign. They've got two choices. Be confused (which is sometimes the intent), glean meaning from context (which is usually obvious) or use Google (like I do. I'm helping them learn new things).

As for dialogue? Written dialogue should be slightly more formal than the way people actually speak. It reads better that way. In normal conversations people interrupt each other, use meaningless interjections, and don't finish ALL their statements. Writing an exact version of a conversation would be boring.

Well, I mean, have you seen the.... I mean, The Office sort of championed the... well, I mean, broken sentences can be hard to deal with in large chunks, but... Ricky Gervais is still very rich isn't he?

(He is).

I both agree and disagree with all your points. And still maintain, that 'He might act all cas', but if you take care of him, he'll take care of you right back', which being a clunky sentence, and deliberately so (it's spoken by a non-native English speaker), is quite understandable by the masses.

Or, I could do a Douglas Adams and asterisk is, and explain it at the bottom of the page? ;)
 
In several of my stories situated in Ethiopia, I used sentences in the Ethiopian language, without translation, to emphasize the language-problems and isolation of the main character. No-one ever commented on that.

But do you think they angsted?* We wouldn't want the smut-readers of the world to angst. :(

*I had no idea 'angsted' was a word until right this minute. Thanks Google. :)
 
I was referring to 'angsted'; I also had to Google, although my suspicions were correct...

I saw one person putting the translations in the comments of his story; not my favourite option. It could be right after the word, between brackets like Hypoxia showed, or at the end of the story.

Or you can think; "I've already put enough effort in this story; screw Ruben, if he doesn't want to put even that little bit of energy in it..."

*chuckles*

If I were using something I honestly thought would confuse my readers, I would likely choose another word. Can't have them breaking the flow on my incredible masterpiece. *snort*
 
as does "spaz".
As mentioned, it derives from spastic. It is usually applied to clumsy folks, not epileptics.

and us "retards" find all euphemisms for "neurologically different" offensive. Don't bother to make nother words, we know what you mean. We does have bad thinkings about you whichever words you use to insult us.
The Spadra hamlet east of Los Angeles, near Cal Poly, housed the Pacific Colony, a state home for the 'retarded' (the usage then). Youths within a few miles of Spadra aimed the term 'spad' at each other, not at the Colony's residents, who were rarely mentioned. Neither were inmates at nearby Boy's Republic. But around there, 'republican' meant juvenile delinquent. (*)

A parallel: A bit further east at San Bernardino (San Boogaloo to locals) was Patton State Hospital, an insane asylum sited on the old family ranch of Gen. George Patton. Mentioning Pattons meant loonies, not generals.

My point is that much vernacular, including language of abuse, is very local, and unintelligible to outsiders without context or translation. That's all.
_____

(*) An early 1960's issue of MAD magazine featured a look at Southern California.

We see a white-robed, bearded man in sunglasses and propeller beanie roller-skating on the sidewalk carrying a sign on a stick, THE END IS NEAR!

One bystander asks another, "I hear that there are 7,492 "nut groups" in California. Which one does he belong to?"

The other responds, "Oh, he's a Republican. Wait till you see the NUTS!"
 
As mentioned, it derives from spastic. It is usually applied to clumsy folks, not epileptics.


The Spadra hamlet east of Los Angeles, near Cal Poly, housed the Pacific Colony, a state home for the 'retarded' (the usage then). Youths within a few miles of Spadra aimed the term 'spad' at each other, not at the Colony's residents, who were rarely mentioned. Neither were inmates at nearby Boy's Republic. But around there, 'republican' meant juvenile delinquent. (*)

A parallel: A bit further east at San Bernardino (San Boogaloo to locals) was Patton State Hospital, an insane asylum sited on the old family ranch of Gen. George Patton. Mentioning Pattons meant loonies, not generals.

My point is that much vernacular, including language of abuse, is very local, and unintelligible to outsiders without context or translation. That's all.
_____

(*) An early 1960's issue of MAD magazine featured a look at Southern California.

We see a white-robed, bearded man in sunglasses and propeller beanie roller-skating on the sidewalk carrying a sign on a stick, THE END IS NEAR!

One bystander asks another, "I hear that there are 7,492 "nut groups" in California. Which one does he belong to?"

The other responds, "Oh, he's a Republican. Wait till you see the NUTS!"
Mm - local context can be everything. For some of us the term SPAD is something else entirely and brings me out in a nervous tic just thinking I might have to work with any ever again. The only good thing about them has been to inspire some very funny comedy. See this link, although should warn you of possibly squeamish disposition, it contains a prominent image of Michael Howard .. http://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-25318719/spads-who-or-what-are-government-special-advisers
 
...



Well, I mean, have you seen the.... I mean, The Office sort of championed the... well, I mean, broken sentences can be hard to deal with in large chunks, but... Ricky Gervais is still very rich isn't he?

(He is).

...

The Office is a TV programme meant to be watched and heard, not a plain piece of text on a screen. The dialogue should be closer to that you would actually hear in conversations.

What works on TV isn't the same as print to be read on a screen. If you are writing a screenplay or play for theatre the way to write is very different.

Another point - if you write in whole sentences and complete words Google translate can produce a reasonable approximation of your story in another language. If you use abbreviations Google fails.
 
The Office is a TV programme meant to be watched and heard, not a plain piece of text on a screen. The dialogue should be closer to that you would actually hear in conversations.

What works on TV isn't the same as print to be read on a screen. If you are writing a screenplay or play for theatre the way to write is very different.

Another point - if you write in whole sentences and complete words Google translate can produce a reasonable approximation of your story in another language. If you use abbreviations Google fails.

I am always, always writing a screenplay. Just because it looks like a smutty story, doesn't mean it isn't also a screenplay.

He said... cas...ually. ;)
 
But the logical abbreviation of it doesn't read correctly.

Casual... I want to say 'cashz'. You know what I'm trying to say. Or, DO you? That's the question really.

Bloody dialogue. Cash, caz, cas... catʃdʒ...

As the totally self-proclaimed representative of the non-native readers (and writers) I clearly prefer 'casual' to any of the proposed abbreviations as it can get hard to understand.
 
As a result of my post #41 I decided to use Google Translate on one of my shorter stories.

Google translated it from English into French. I have already seen a couple of glitches, for example giving someone a lift became 'ascenseur' the French lift = elevator.

I am going to review it carefully and then post it as an experiment. If the Francophone readers don't criticise the language too harshly I might try another one or two translated stories. My aim, which might be overambitious, is to write a new Literotica story wholly in French from the start.

My French is more than 55 years old. :rolleyes:
 
As a result of my post #41 I decided to use Google Translate on one of my shorter stories.

Don't do that. It hurts. Really.

Do this experiment: Find a text in French and let Google translate it to English. This is the best Google can do. It has no idea of grammar and sentence structure in other languages than English.
 
Do this experiment: Find a text in French and let Google translate it to English. This is the best Google can do. It has no idea of grammar and sentence structure in other languages than English.
For fun, play Post Office with Gargle, translating an Anglish text into German, then French, then back to Anglish. Brace yourself.

A joke from the early days of computers: Scientists programmed their huge vacuum-tube Multivac to translate between Anglish and Russian. The text, "The flesh is weak but the spirit is strong," returned as, "The meat is rotten but the vodka is good." The text, "Out of sight, out of mind," returned as, "Invisible and insane."

No, those didn't really happen. It might be fun to write a translator that WOULD make those happen.
 
Don't do that. It hurts. Really.

Do this experiment: Find a text in French and let Google translate it to English. This is the best Google can do. It has no idea of grammar and sentence structure in other languages than English.

Google might not have. I have even though my French is very dated.

I have reviewed the translation since my earlier post. Apart from ascenseur the main problem is punctuation. Google turned some " into << and >> which isn't French.

It still reads like an Englishman writing in French. Why not? English is my native language.

After a few more hours of editing I will post it and see what the readership think, if they even notice.
 
I've just submitted the story in French.

I'm not convinced with some of the grammar but Word, although it SAYS it works in the French of France, doesn't seem very competent.
 
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