discussion post: words and italics
when should this be done to words?
think freely...use references if you like (but refs are not required)
Many of us use italics to indicate emphasis, or that you're stressing one particular word.
But what about in language? What then?
one aside first: italics should indicate when a word is being given a new meaning, right? like "oh man, that is so far!" to replace "bad" and "wicked" and "cool" and "awesome".
Should italics indicate one's familiarity with a word? Or should it be there to tell the reader what you mean?
ie, saying that "this is kosher" can refer to an event, a food, even an attitude. but if I type "this is kosher," then that tells you that I mean the food & not one of the meanings that've attached themselves to the word.
examples -
In Rome...
If the soldier Lucius Vorenus says "ave," should it be italicized? Or does it depend on who he's talking with? (is it written as Latin because he's talking to an unlettered Germanic who doesn't know the language? is it Latin to show that Vorenus is trying to impress upon a Consul that Vorenus isn't an uncultured street idiot?)
***not unlike in Farscape - if you have two characters with translator microbes & one without microbes, do you use italics for the pair with microbes & plain text when they talk to the one without microbes?***
or if Gaius Julius Caesar starts muttering in Gaulic under his breath, should the words be italicized to indicate that the reader - but not those around Caesar - can know what he's saying?
"oh you odious old men, how good it is that I've arranged to have you all taken out and crucified after this party is ended." (thus the reader can't say "that ending to the story, it came right out of left field!")
Or in Numb3rs...
might we see a progression with familiarity?, such as -
Don's rabbi: "this is treif"
Don: "this is treif" (a word he doesn't often use)
...as opposed to when Don quotes the Talmud - as he does in a few eps this recent season - with some familiarity, it wouldn't be italicized. but if Charlie or Colby say the same passage - even if they're quoting Don, it would be italicized.
likewise -
Alice: "ni hao ma?"
Colby: "ni hao ma?" (italics would probably depend on if he's out of practice)
most anyone else: "ni hao ma?"
(that's "how are you?")
Similarly, in Harvest, Amita says she never really learned much Tamil...so her speaking Tamil would, at least early in the show, would be in italics...and probably around s5 or so, no italics. unless its a word she'd just learned.
referenced fandoms:
* Numb3rs
* Rome
think freely...use references if you like (but refs are not required)
Many of us use italics to indicate emphasis, or that you're stressing one particular word.
But what about in language? What then?
one aside first: italics should indicate when a word is being given a new meaning, right? like "oh man, that is so far!" to replace "bad" and "wicked" and "cool" and "awesome".
Should italics indicate one's familiarity with a word? Or should it be there to tell the reader what you mean?
ie, saying that "this is kosher" can refer to an event, a food, even an attitude. but if I type "this is kosher," then that tells you that I mean the food & not one of the meanings that've attached themselves to the word.
examples -
In Rome...
If the soldier Lucius Vorenus says "ave," should it be italicized? Or does it depend on who he's talking with? (is it written as Latin because he's talking to an unlettered Germanic who doesn't know the language? is it Latin to show that Vorenus is trying to impress upon a Consul that Vorenus isn't an uncultured street idiot?)
***not unlike in Farscape - if you have two characters with translator microbes & one without microbes, do you use italics for the pair with microbes & plain text when they talk to the one without microbes?***
or if Gaius Julius Caesar starts muttering in Gaulic under his breath, should the words be italicized to indicate that the reader - but not those around Caesar - can know what he's saying?
"oh you odious old men, how good it is that I've arranged to have you all taken out and crucified after this party is ended." (thus the reader can't say "that ending to the story, it came right out of left field!")
Or in Numb3rs...
might we see a progression with familiarity?, such as -
Don's rabbi: "this is treif"
Don: "this is treif" (a word he doesn't often use)
...as opposed to when Don quotes the Talmud - as he does in a few eps this recent season - with some familiarity, it wouldn't be italicized. but if Charlie or Colby say the same passage - even if they're quoting Don, it would be italicized.
likewise -
Alice: "ni hao ma?"
Colby: "ni hao ma?" (italics would probably depend on if he's out of practice)
most anyone else: "ni hao ma?"
(that's "how are you?")
Similarly, in Harvest, Amita says she never really learned much Tamil...so her speaking Tamil would, at least early in the show, would be in italics...and probably around s5 or so, no italics. unless its a word she'd just learned.
referenced fandoms:
* Numb3rs
* Rome