(Untitled)

[slidellra]

I wrote up and never quite completed a longish bit of due South language/communication meta/musing, and think I'm not going to a) finish all the trains of thought I started, and/or b) find my point, so instead I'm going to post it. I love the internets.

(What I wrote ended up very Kowalski and F/K-centric. Shocking.)

Comments

[slidellra]

Erg! I resist this. I much prefer Ray being placating there.

Yay! Glad you enjoyed. Agreed on the fun with language. There's so much of it that it's totally overwhelming, and gets to the point where I can't tell the difference between choice-of-word misfires and general communication misfires (now I'm obsessing on Kowalski and Stella's possible and rejected breakfast date).

In conclusion, effortless communication is LOVE and our show is a VERY good show. Well said.

[snarkyducky]

heee! i like this post a lot! ♥

i got nothing to contribute but i love how in this fandom we have our own special language such that you can write this sentence without specifying last names while confident that no one will think it's a typo -- even though the Rays are not snowmobile parts, sometimes it don't matter whether they're interchangeable:
But it's so pervasive in the show--with Ray, Ray, Frannie, Turnbull, Welsh, and probably others participating in communication

and i wanna know what you think of that Beth Botrelle episode where she says "you're here because you're here because you're queer" (or is it "I'm" instead of "You're"?) and RayK just totally didn't react at all. i always wondered what the writer was thinking slipping that line in there..

[slidellra]

*beams* YAY.

I do get a thrill out of saying Ray and Ray and assuming a level of intimacy, that you guys will of course follow. It's almost comparable to fics where Fraser is fucking them both but they know which he means b/c of his intonation.

I LOVE that bit. I LOVE it. I LOVE it. I LOVE it. And I do think it is "You're." I think it deserves another post or possibly a book all on its own. B/c Ray uses "queer" so much that it could be a link between them, furthering their weird, tragic bond. Or it could be him projecting somehow. Like, he owes her and feels like she's one of the great weaknesses of his life, and somehow calls his own weakness (in the public/force eye bla bla) out of her mouth. Or she just knows that he wants to jump his hot Canadian partner or was fucking his hot/scary boss/friend, I DON'T KNOW. Did I mention I love that bit?

[china_shop]

And then there's Mountie and Soul, and Ray trying to talk street slang and Fraser totally failing to.

This is a fun post! I enjoyed it a lot. :-)

[slidellra]

*shudders*

I try not to think of it. But, yes. This does fit in the same space. And, god, despite the DESPERATE embarrassment factor, it is really interesting as another example of Ray schooling Fraser (and revealing his own UTTER FAILURE) and Fraser failing at U.S./city/Chicago/(not to mention non-white)-speak. I see Fraser making a joke or resisting, at best, and Paul, really (also known as at worst). Mostly, I see my fingers as I shield myself from the horror.

Thanks! Yay!

[china_shop]

another example of Ray schooling Fraser (and revealing his own UTTER FAILURE)

See, I think we as viewers recognise Ray's failure, but I don't know if the show agrees with us or not. He manages to talk their way into the gang HQ, after all. *is in two minds*

[green_grrl]

Yeah, I pretty much read RayK as communicating just fine with the gang kids. With the body language and the way they deal with him, they seem to accept him as cool.

[isiscolo]

The transcripts are often completely wrong. It's not the Beauford Sea, for example. :-)

Um, I'm too tired to give this post the attention it deserves, but, yay language! More later, maybe.

[green_grrl]

Oh, yes! The one that drives me nuts is in Mojo Rising, where Ray's description of Fraser's driving is written as "auntie style" rather than "anti-style."

[slidellra]

I am Very Torn between loathing that one and kind of loving it. Auntie style, c'mon! It's a great image, for one thing. And, okay. SUCKS.

[green_grrl]

*pictures Fraser in a bonnet* Gah!

:-D

[green_grrl]

Oh, thank you for this. I've always wondered a bit about the malapropisms. Like, wait, how come today, Frannie's blowing the vocabulary and Ray corrects her, but tomorrow Ray's the one who doesn't know the right words? Or the scenes where Ray doesn't understand Fraser's vocabulary, versus the ones where he "translates from the Canadian" for others. I like the idea that they're all communicating imperfectly.

I've also always liked the idea that Ray's very, very bright, but a few too many boxing/policing blows have left him unable to find the correct word, on occasion. *smooshes him*

(In BDtH I've always thought, and I just rewatched it to be sure, that RayK says, "Yeah, sure ... it's a posture.")

[slidellra]

Oh, god, yeah, (lack of) continuity in the show will always make me want to bite somebody in the not-nice way. But I would love to help suggest a reason for understanding the weirdly criss-crossing misunderstandings throughout the show.

Hee! I have mixed feelings about that one. It can be very tempting and nicely done, but. I haven't been hit on the head all that often or all that recently, and I've gone much further in school than RayK, but I am So Not articulate and So prone to malapropisms of my own. I find it endearing and normal and reassuring. Also, Ray is really cute. Did I get distracted again?

(That is the one I want to be true, yes. *endorses*)

[dessert_first]

Me too! I've always wondered about that whole malapropism and misunderstandings deal. Seems like everyone does it at some point and I'm never sure who will be aware of the correct word/word usage and who won't. Between that, the famous-names running joke, *and* Ray's aphasia or whatever one decides it is, language is just such a big deal in this show. I love, love, love this interpretation of it:

everybody speaks their own personal language

and how it points to everyone's isolation.

All in all, a fascinating and exceedingly shiny-brained post, slidellra. Mmmm, meta.

(And I'm sorry to say I was also in the "What's a posture?" school of thought. I'll re-watch to make sure. Darn Callum with the low talking!)