Even worse, since I always say that Naamah drives like an old man, now I can't help picturing her in a Volvo, driving down 44 at 30 miles an hour, wearing a bowler hat and a giant, twitchy handlebar moustache, for some inexplicable reason.
Let me first say that it makes me happy that some people (a woefully small percentage of fandom, alas) put thought into their "dirty" words. God knows I have trouble. Even the word "kiss" can get so repetitive!
Also.... Next time you read the word "vulva," you will picture an old man in a hat. See if I'm wrong. I hate you SO much right now. (And I laughed until it hurt.)
Of course, if you are writing in a pseudo-Victorian timeframe, language becomes even more important, since some terms may not be available -- on the other hand, some terms my confuse your reader (for example, some people may not know that "gamahuche" refers to both fellatio and cunnilingus and while "frig" can be both a verb and a noun, it does historically tend to refer to manual manipulation, not intercourse).
Yes, exactly. I knew the latter but not the former.
And even if they can infer its meaning from context, if it's so jarring or amusing that the target readership has to stop to wonder or to laugh, it's a problem.
I've adopted an extremely casual tone for this, but even so it presents a really weird challenge.
If the scene is hot enough, it can carry you through a little context inference. In Lost Girls there was lots of unfamiliar or strange language. I barely noticed. And then I had trouble turning the pages.
Oh yes, languages has changed. This page is filled with approximatley one gazillion excellent examples. Read it, ye curious, if you wish to fully understand such hypothetical passages as
Lord Redstart threatened the highwayman with his dick.
The terrific pirate captain brandished a naked brown sable he had withdrawn from his vagina, while the rest of his bloodthirsty and impressively garnished tangerines took guesses with their pernicious trombones.
Yesterday, his majesty’s urinator, Mr. Curtis, gave a demonstration of his special urination techniques. (This one is apparently a genuine period quote.)
At court, Lord Redstart approached the throne and told the queen that he was “Her Majesty’s humble and devoted prostitute.”
The Times reported that the noted sportsman Sir S------ was thrilled by an enraged bugle and died instantly. Witnesses stated that his attention had been distracted by a musket flying overhead.
I love this topic, and likewise what you say on it. It's something I do think on frequentlypart as the effort of finding the right word, part in the joy that there are so many words and that this aspect of language is so vibrant and flexible
( ... )
The writer of porn of course dreams of choosing the exact right words that will please the audience and provoke the desired reaction. (Okay, you could say that of all writers, but it's particularly important in porn/erotica.) And it's impossible. Absolutely impossible. It cannot be done. A word that sounds hopelessly un-sexy to me may have just enough of the thrill of the forbidden, just the right connotation, to really do it for another reader.
I like "cunt." I really do. It's dirty, it's sexy, it growls well, does well in dirty talk. "Pussy" is, for me, one of those invisible words, the ones you don't see because . . . well . . . that's just what it's called, so I default to it. Other people have different defaults, and the way this expresses itself and even the process by which those defaults are formed is fascinating to me, even if it often confuses me
( ... )
I don't think female anatomy was ever named, for me, the way that male anatomy was. Not literally speakingI was raised with a healthy sex educationbut colloquially there was an awful lot of talk of dicks and nothing at all of ... whatever word I was supposed to use for the other bits, they had no "just what it's called." Part of that was the fact that my social circle was predominantly male, but it also makes me wonder what sort of bias was operating there that it was perfectly normal to talk about a penis but a vulva was somehow ... not spoken of. And I wonder, too, if that's why "pussy" sounds embarrassing to mebecause I associated it with the word for those unspoken-of, and so implicitly shameful/embarassing, girlbits. "Cunt" by contrast was a term of empowerment, a term of intentional statement and sexualization, which may be one of the many reasons that I love and embrace it
( ... )
By the time I had graduated from the made-up gender-neutral baby words we used to using more descriptive terms, I had already heard what seemed like every swearword in the English language. I had a precocious sister who was furthermore eight years my senior, and neither my mother nor my father did much to censor their language around me. So I had a weird upbringing in that regard.
Male/male erotica. *thumbs up*
It's interesting in that (speaking for myself) writing m/m (or f/f) -- especially anything kinky -- I feel freed from a lot of the political and ethical baggage that comes with writing such material. Introducing someone of the opposite sex automatically adds all these layers of meaning.
I've read articles and dissections of gay slash fiction and the popularity of male/male erotic material among women that said similar stuff. I would link, but I can't even remember my own last name today, apparently. I just spent an hour trying to remember the word "fandom."
That disturbed me quite thoroughly, to be quite honest. That is not sexy at all. That is nightmarish. Now the only thing I can think of is the poor woman exploding. That... is quite a kink. I had no idea anyone would actually find that sexy.
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GODDAMMIT NAAMAH!!! Must you keep doing this to me?!?!?!?!?!?!!!! *headdesk*
^_~
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Also....
Next time you read the word "vulva," you will picture an old man in a hat. See if I'm wrong.
I hate you SO much right now. (And I laughed until it hurt.)
May I please metaquote you?
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And thanks!
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And even if they can infer its meaning from context, if it's so jarring or amusing that the target readership has to stop to wonder or to laugh, it's a problem.
I've adopted an extremely casual tone for this, but even so it presents a really weird challenge.
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Oh yes, languages has changed. This page is filled with approximatley one gazillion excellent examples. Read it, ye curious, if you wish to fully understand such hypothetical passages as
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I like "cunt." I really do. It's dirty, it's sexy, it growls well, does well in dirty talk. "Pussy" is, for me, one of those invisible words, the ones you don't see because . . . well . . . that's just what it's called, so I default to it. Other people have different defaults, and the way this expresses itself and even the process by which those defaults are formed is fascinating to me, even if it often confuses me ( ... )
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Male/male erotica. *thumbs up*
It's interesting in that (speaking for myself) writing m/m (or f/f) -- especially anything kinky -- I feel freed from a lot of the political and ethical baggage that comes with writing such material. Introducing someone of the opposite sex automatically adds all these layers of meaning.
I've read articles and dissections of gay slash fiction and the popularity of male/male erotic material among women that said similar stuff. I would link, but I can't even remember my own last name today, apparently. I just spent an hour trying to remember the word "fandom."
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Greasy... love... torpedo?
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That disturbed me quite thoroughly, to be quite honest. That is not sexy at all. That is nightmarish. Now the only thing I can think of is the poor woman exploding. That... is quite a kink. I had no idea anyone would actually find that sexy.
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Oh, Marillion album art. Stay fucked-up, please.
... well actually they kind of only made anything in that style on that album and the next. But ah well.
Um.
Oops?
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