SEVERUSMAX
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It would otherwise be difficult to explain the continued reproduction of Brits.
Feedback for British stories
- Thread starter Chris7sw
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It would otherwise be difficult to explain the continued reproduction of Brits.
Aurelius_PG
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It's one of most beloved double-entendres, and British humour wouldn't be the same without it.
Can't see what you are getting at here. Yes Douse and dowse are interchangeable.
Pussy in a sexual context has been used in the UK for many years. In the 1970's we had a sit com called Are You Being Served? set in a department store. It was full of innuendo and made constant reference to Mrs Slocombe's pussy. Things like "Oh I'll probably just curl up on the sofa stroking my pussy" which is meant to be her cat but has the double meaning. If the use of pussy in a sexual context is indeed Irish-American in origin, then it was probably brought here by the GI's in the second word war.
We also use the word fanny for pussy, In the US of course it is used in place of arse. Incidentally we also use Beaver in place of pussy.
The hardest things to manage are the expressions and usage. For instance, if a man in a car pulled up to a young girl in England and said "would you like a ride?" he may well get his face slapped. In the US if a guy pulled up and used the English expression "can I offer you a lift?" he probably wouldn't be understood. This is the reason why I don't usually set my stories in the US and if I did I would try to get an American editor.
I believe readers generally accept that English characters in England speak differently to those in the US. I know British reader automatically adjust. Lit is not the only place I post and If I post on a UK site and have all my English characters using American words and terminology I would be laughed off the site. So am I going to rewrite my stories for the very few Lit readers who are either too lazy or prejudiced to make the adjustment? Not on your nelly.
oggbashan
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Pussy? Dictionary of Historical Slang has:
Puss - The female pudend: low C17-20 quote Cotton "Aeneas, here's a Health to thee, To Pusse and to good company" [additional information - that said Farmer & Henley's Slang Dictionary themselves give a 1664 citation: "Aeneas, here’s a Health to thee, To Pusse and to good company. And he that will not do, as I do, Proclaims himself no friend to Dido." This comes from the playwright Charles Cotton's "Scarronides" but there is no intermediary mention until they use it in their own work.]
[Og's Note - the scansion suggests that Pusse was spoken 'Pussy']
and
Pussy - see Puss
The poet and translator Charles Cotton (1630- 87) , best remembered as friend of Izaak Walton and co-author of The Universal Angler (1676) , was at the centre of a small literary coterie on the Derbyshire-Staffordshire border and was himself a prolific writer. His translations included the essays of Montaigne ( 1685) , which was frequently reprinted, and among his original verse writings his robust burlesque of Virgil, Scarronides (1664) , proved especially popular, going through numerous editions.
oggbashan
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Charles Cotton was centuries before that.
But 'cat' for a prostitute is 16th Century slang in English but is accepted as coming from the Dutch use even earlier.
British Writers
I find this a very interesting point.
I submit to Literotica and whilst I do get very kind public comments and reasonably good votes I think my fantasies win less approval because they include 'English expressions and words' like Mummy and knickers and stockings and suspenders.
I don't really want to change to the American versions as it is the English version that I find nostalgic and exciting.
I find this a very interesting point.
I submit to Literotica and whilst I do get very kind public comments and reasonably good votes I think my fantasies win less approval because they include 'English expressions and words' like Mummy and knickers and stockings and suspenders.
I don't really want to change to the American versions as it is the English version that I find nostalgic and exciting.
elfin_odalisque
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I think you may be wrong here. 'Douse' has become the general word for a soaking in the US and UK. I suspect 'dowse' - searching for water - is not an everyday word, even in the uk.
elfin_odalisque
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Webster is wrong.
Pus was Irish for lips and came to the US with the immigration of the Irish poor in the 18th century. There is a vague connection with old Norse but this isn't the origin for the word in the US.
elfin_odalisque
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Webster is wrong.
Pus was Irish for lips and came to the US with the immigration of the Irish poor in the 18th century. There is a vague connection with old Norse but this isn't the origin for the word in the US. The change from the mouth to the labia in the USA is not documented.
I can only quote a previous poster.
It having been many years since I went to school I use the words that I learned there. The dictionary lists both words with the same meaning for both. Dowse has the additional meaning when the s is pronounced as a z, in which case it is a mystical method of searching for water.
The point made was that the commenter claimed the writer was illiterate for using a word that was in the dictionary. I hope he never reads any Shakespeare, He used to make up his own words. But that's brits for you.
Don't be so silly. We probably use a few different expressions and the general stories are more descriptive and not so brash. Soft porn I suppose but it is nicer.
Mary
Handley_Page
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On Dowse or Douse
Of course, it could be that I'm thoroughly confused, but:-
There's a great difference between these spellings (at least, according to my on-line Oxford).
Douse.
Drench, saturate, wet,
Immerse in the Wash tub, submerge, dip, dunk
Extinguish (especially the light)
Dowse
Search for hidden (sub surface) water (usually with some sort of 'divining rod').
Of course, it could be that I'm thoroughly confused, but:-
There's a great difference between these spellings (at least, according to my on-line Oxford).
Douse.
Drench, saturate, wet,
Immerse in the Wash tub, submerge, dip, dunk
Extinguish (especially the light)
Dowse
Search for hidden (sub surface) water (usually with some sort of 'divining rod').
Advanced English Dictionary
Dowse
1 Douse, Dowse to wet thoroughly
2 Dowse , Use a divining rod in search of underground water or metal
3 douse, dowse slacken as in douse a rope.
Please, let's not get into a "My dictionary is better than your dictionary" argument. The point really isn't worth it.
Sammael Bard
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Yes, it was. The OP isn't exactly asking for Feedback on a particular story/stories (See the new rules of SF). It would've stayed there unless someone bumped it back up.
I thought this general discussion on British/American English usage was better suited for the AH, despite what the thread title claims.
If not, I apologize beforehand.
sr71plt
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I think you're overstepping your function on that. Addressing the problem of readers assuming incorrectly that Briticisms are mistakes is square in the wheelhouse of story feedback discussion and business, I think--and that's where the OP put it.
lovecraft68
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Brits use the word cunt a lot, speaking of expressions. In the US cunt is not used all that much in the sense of sexual organ, but in a derogatory term towards women (especially on lit
) but in the UK it is used for sex purposes.Years ago I met a woman from London at a party and hooked up with her. I heard "cunt" more times that weekend than the rest of my life combined.
lovecraft68
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I'd agree with you if the OP linked some specific stories to discuss, but they didn't. S
o its more a discussion on two different dialogues in stories in general, so I can see it being here.
I have much less of an issue with this being moved to the AH than I do the endless news threads that have nothing to do with writing people continue to post here, at lest this does involve writing and editing.
jsragmanus
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Omnisicient Narration Sucks
The one thing I've noticed only in (or at least far more often) in British writers is the use of an omniscient narrator.
"Marla was excited that today was her birthday. She was turning 18, and little did she know, but today would be the first of an amazing sexy adventures with her Mummy wearing knickers!"
Sorry, had to throw the last bit in. Anyhow, I think omniscient narration, particularly where the narrator is foreshadowing (or just plain telling you) what's coming up is super weak.
The one thing I've noticed only in (or at least far more often) in British writers is the use of an omniscient narrator.
"Marla was excited that today was her birthday. She was turning 18, and little did she know, but today would be the first of an amazing sexy adventures with her Mummy wearing knickers!"
Sorry, had to throw the last bit in. Anyhow, I think omniscient narration, particularly where the narrator is foreshadowing (or just plain telling you) what's coming up is super weak.
lovecraft68
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I agree its weak, but not limited to British style, trust me on that one.
sr71plt
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Yep, third-person omniscient has continued being popular in the UK long after it became not-so-popular in American writing.
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