Is alright all right?
Jan. 5th, 2012 05:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ash48When I Google the word "alright" I find that it's not considered acceptable English. The word doesn't sit too well with me when I read it and yet it seems to be acceptable and used a lot. Perhaps if it's used in the context of "it's ok" rather than "everything is right", then it's acceptable?? Is it something a beta should pick up when proof reading?
*head scratch*
And (whilst I'm on word usage)... why do I cringe when I see the word "cum" as opposed to "come"? "Cum" just doesn't look right. Is it? Does it matter? Hmmm... probably not. If the porn is hot enough a word shouldn't matter. But I tend to turn away more often when I see that word used for some reason.
(Yay, seeing Sherlock Holmes today. Hope it's good!)
*head scratch*
And (whilst I'm on word usage)... why do I cringe when I see the word "cum" as opposed to "come"? "Cum" just doesn't look right. Is it? Does it matter? Hmmm... probably not. If the porn is hot enough a word shouldn't matter. But I tend to turn away more often when I see that word used for some reason.
(Yay, seeing Sherlock Holmes today. Hope it's good!)
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Date: 2012-01-04 09:56 pm (UTC)Also? Cum is just ... no. I'm like you, it shouldn't matter but it does. I relate it to mouth movement in videos. Just. NO.
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Date: 2012-01-04 10:25 pm (UTC)Yeah - it should matter but.....damn, I'm getting so distracted by you icon.....
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Date: 2012-01-04 10:09 pm (UTC)As for cum/come-- I prefer come, but I think as a noun it's okay to use cum?
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Date: 2012-01-04 10:30 pm (UTC)And yeah, I suspect it works ok in terms of its usage. I suppose I'm curious about why there are two words for it. well, two spellings. Might be like the alright. Depends where you are from.
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Date: 2012-01-04 10:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-04 11:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 04:58 am (UTC)Just quietly, I always thought writers using "come" were in error. LOL at self wanting dirty nouns!
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Date: 2012-01-04 11:07 pm (UTC)(I didn't look to see if they had a recommendation of cum vs. come -- LOL!
And while ;D we're on the subject, it totally takes me out of the flow if I read SPN (or American-set J2) fic and see whilst instead of while. It's okay in Harry Potter fic though!
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Date: 2012-01-04 11:20 pm (UTC)Oooh. Makes me wonder if I used whilst correctly here. I'm pretty useless as this stuff. (Which concerns me greatly as I am pretending to be a fic beta at the moment../o\)
:)
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Date: 2012-01-04 11:20 pm (UTC)Also yes, the word 'cum' is awful and should never be used.
/Australian opinion - may not be true elsewhere/
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Date: 2012-01-05 05:41 am (UTC)Hee...from the response I'm getting here cum is the "dirtier" version of come. I prefer come though, I'd prefer the actual porn to give me the dirty. ;)
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Date: 2012-01-04 11:24 pm (UTC)I don't like "cum." It reads like a literary affectation to me. Reading the word pulls me out of a story for a nanosecond, too. Weird, I know.
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Date: 2012-01-05 05:44 am (UTC)"Cum" has the same effect on me too. It just seems... wrong, or forced maybe. I have to be really enjoying the fic to continue reading if I see that word used.
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Date: 2012-01-05 12:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 05:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 12:36 am (UTC)Personally, I'm pro 'alright'. Yes, Americans speak lazy English, but that slowly becomes its own language, even if it's just in the vernacular (case in point: google is now a verb in the Oxford English Dictionary, as of 2006). Especially in a fic setting, where even third person narrators take on the voice of one of the characters, I think it's perfectly acceptable to use, even if you have to make the admission that it's slang in order to use it. Also.... I thought it was a real word until today >.<
As for come... I like that version better, but I actually had a RL conversation about this several years ago with my best friend, and she liked the dirty connotations of cum. I liked that an every day word could have a second, more enjoyable meaning. I think cum is crass and filthy, but I'm willing to go potato/potahto on this one.
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Date: 2012-01-05 05:52 am (UTC)I'm really glad to read this. I want it to be ok to use and your reasoning here works for me. It a word the narrator uses (in this case Dean) and I think it works fine for him. But I was unsure if it's one of those words like "alot", often spelled incorrectly.
It might just be the crass nature of the word "cum" that I find..um...wrong. Which is completely contradictory, especially if the porn is meant to be crass. Perhaps I'm not so fond of crass porn as I am erotica. Or something. :/
Thanks hun. <3
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Date: 2012-01-05 12:37 am (UTC)English is such a strange language, man! I was (practically born and) raised with it but I will never get over its quirks.
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Date: 2012-01-05 05:54 am (UTC)xx
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Date: 2012-01-08 04:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 04:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 05:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 05:56 am (UTC)And your/you're is one of my biggest ggrrrrrrrrrrs when it comes (there it is again!) when reading fanfic.
:)
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Date: 2012-01-05 09:41 am (UTC)Also every single time I see the word 'cum' in a story, it kind of... detracts from the whole thing, you know? I realise it's snobbish of me but it pulls the whole thing down in my eyes.
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Date: 2012-01-05 11:19 pm (UTC)I totally guilty of being a bit of a cum/come snob. I really just don't like it, which is a shame because some fics that I really love have that spelling in it. Though, I've found most peeps I like to read us "come".
:)
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Date: 2012-01-05 10:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 11:20 pm (UTC)But yeah..... that!
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Date: 2012-01-05 12:39 pm (UTC)But in saying that I'm an old fuddy duddy who likes well written English, who still favours the distinctions between the written and spoken language, who still goes totally up the wall when no one seems to differentiate between "bring" and "take" any longer and doesn't care, it makes me want to cry, or sling a dictionary at people. I know language is a living thing, that it evolves, but come on! What's next, no difference between "came" and "went"? Oh, wait, I'm seeing that often too now and if I have to see one more "he was stood/sat in the corner" I think I'll throw something at the computer! And don't even mention the "lay" "lie" thing or I'll be forced to dig up my Dean graphic. What people "say" or however they may speak, is never an acceptable excuse for not writing the narrative correctly, keep your colloquialisms for dialogue.
Um, I'm not reading a lot at the moment, eep, sorry, rant over. Hehe...
Hope you enjoy the film.
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Date: 2012-01-05 11:29 pm (UTC)And I'm with you on "cum".
Ha! And I'm glad I'm I don't write. My word usage is pretty bad. I mean, there's plenty that really annoy me (misuse of your and you're for example), but there are times I know I use words incorrectly. I'm a work in progress on that though. I think I'm getting better the more exposure I have.
*hugs* ya.
xx
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Date: 2012-01-06 09:11 am (UTC)English is a minefield, especially in fan fic where you're dealing with many forms of the spoken language inside each country never mind continents and then you have to balance that to a specific show that requires it's own identity reflected in the language.
Exposure - yes, see that's the one that worries me the most, while I do understand that fan fic is for fun and relaxation etc., there comes that tipping point where if badly written stories are all some people are reading? Then so much of the instinct of just "knowing" something is wrong as soon as you write it down is then being lost. That instinct from years of exposure to good grammar, reading well written books can never be underestimated in being heard, being understood clearly and it makes me sad to think we are losing our individual voices is the watering down of such a rich and complex language.
Don't worry too much about it, you have a real gift of communicating about problems that comes from your heart, you'll do just fine. ♥
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Date: 2012-01-05 02:26 pm (UTC)"Alright" may be used a lot, but just because a lot of people spell it wrong . . . doesn't make it right. And it's certainly not "acceptable," not in my neck of the woods. Hell, "alright" is not even considered a real WORD in my neck of the woods. :/
Is it something a beta should pick up when proof reading?
Yes. At the very least, a beta should know how to spell. ;) Then again, as a beta, I've called people out on that particular usage and they then go and use it anyway, so . . . *shrug*
"Cum" . . . I tend to turn away more often when I see that word used for some reason.
I'm certainly with you there. You're right about a single word not mattering if the porn is hot enough, but to me, "come" is a happy thing while "cum" is a sleazy, skeevy, negative-connotation spelling that tends to throw me right out of the scene. That usage makes me itch.
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Date: 2012-01-06 01:34 am (UTC)I think I will mention to her and she can then choose what to do.
Oh yes..."itch" is the right word.
xx
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Date: 2012-01-05 05:59 pm (UTC)I can't stand the word "cum," even though logically I think it makes sense to have a word that means "the actual product of an orgasm" as opposed to the act of orgasming itself. I hate to see "cum" used in a fic, but I've also heard people express the exact opposite: they think it should always be spelled "cum." Ugh. I feel dirty for having typed it so much. So there you have it.
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Date: 2012-01-06 01:42 am (UTC)This is why I've been confused about "cum". It does make sense that there is another word but when I see it it often brings me out of the story. I have no issue with "come" whatsoever, so it make more sense that that is used. Hee... so there you have it. :D
xx
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Date: 2012-01-05 07:42 pm (UTC)alright seemed pretty standard when I lived in the UK, and all right more standard in the US. but like a lot of words there is starting to be usage bleed.
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Date: 2012-01-07 11:50 am (UTC)It's been interesting to hear about the difference between the UK and the US when it come to all right/alright. That's certainly something I've learned since posting this.
*hugs*
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Date: 2012-01-05 09:50 pm (UTC)The evolution of language doesn't bother me at all. I like the way it changes, the way we adapt and use words. It's cool.
Amd OMG - Sherlock was awesome. I watched it on New Years Day and then again last night. So, so good.
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Date: 2012-01-07 11:53 am (UTC)I ended up not watching the film because when I got there they want $20.50 for a ticket, which is outrageous. So I'll have to wait to get back home and watch it for $10 like I normally do when I go to the cinema. I'm looking forward to it. It's great to know you enjoyed it.
<33
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Date: 2012-01-07 12:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-08 12:42 pm (UTC)<3
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Date: 2012-01-06 04:26 am (UTC)(That's a useful community if you're betaing or suggesting corrections after the event, BTW — I send people links to particular posts there frequently.)
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Date: 2012-01-07 11:55 am (UTC)xx