Those two, all their crude arse jokes! Ron saying, 'Can I see your arse, Lavender?' And the way Gimli keeps calling him Legolarse.
Oh, please. We all know Gimli's the bottom.
If you take a peek at the intro to Through a Webcam, Darkly, I did exactly what you're suggesting.I've had Spanish, French, German, and Norwegian in my stories, all untranslated, all in italics. They weren't a huge part of the narrative, and whoever wanted to could use Google Translate to find the meaning (I consider them side quests for the reader).
In my current story, though, there's a LOT of French, and there will be much more once I'm done with it. I can't translate that, it makes no sense. But that's how the story is shaping up and that's how I want to write it, which is quite important. So the Author Note will explain that Google Translate is essential (it's gotten really good at inferring context in confusing sentences). Those who use it will be rewarded, those who don't will still have a good story, but incomplete. I'm not too worried about it.
If you're just doing "Ate" and a few words here and there, you should be good.
I also saw quick glossaries in author notes to explain a few words (@HelenL did it in Seaspray).
Also, you may need to have Google Translate available, though I promise that it will make sense without.
Hence the pleading, "Toss me, Legolas!"
Sounds more like a style issue than the dialect. HP is pedestrian prose for children with some made-up words, which works fairly well until the author tried to target an older audience and the worldbuilding fell down.
I must be misremembering that. I thought he was talking to Aragorn when he says, 'toss me', followed with 'don't tell the elf'. Gimli getting a little on the side.
Please share! You can DM me if you want. I'm always looking for good writing! I admit that I was soured by early exposure, and also didn't think of Douglas Adams, one of my favorites specifically because his writing is so good.
Could be. We hadn't sobered up from Christmas Eve yet. Ah for the times before parental responsibility, when you could be pleasantly tipsy for all of Christmas and sober up in the New Year...
Of course not. You've articulated it a lot better than I managed. While it isn't that common, I worry that some readers might be put off by it if it isn't handled in the best way.
Is there much of a UK/US divide in style? I mean, for a start I wouldn't put Harry Potter in the same style bracket at Tolkien.
It's the little details, not the big stuff. "Mum" versus "mom." Since they're so subtle, I never totally acclimate to them the way I acclimated to the vocabulary of A Clockwork Orange. It's like when I had a car in college and it started making a strange noise and it distracted me but it still ran fine.
Indeed, who can resist this gem?
