Slang vs Street Talk vs Colloquialism
I recently read a novel which scattered clichéd colloquialisms throughout the dialogue. In this case, I found it annoying and distracting. To write dialog where a particular character's traits are illustrated by his speech alone misses the mark for me.
We all know that if you were to hear the same sentence spoken in New Jersey, California or Great Britain it may sound very differently. You may even remember a famous commercial where the characters only had two words, "Was Up?" We all knew what was meant and it worked to make the product stick in our minds, or at least the expression.
If the author wants to show the reader that a particular character is from the gritty streets of a big city, is it necessary to have him speak in a certain manner? Let's examine these examples:
"Hey (expletive) git yer (expletive) off the hood of my ride."
"Dude, park it someplace else."
"You there, please remove yourself from the bonnet."
You can probably guess that these sentences were from three completely different people. Simply the word choice is enough to indicate that the speaker hails from a certain location. If the author overuses the slang it can become tedious to read. This exception to this would be historical fiction, wherein you must stay true to words which would have been used at that point in time.
Be aware of this when reading different genres. YA (young adult) will incorporate different word choice but well-written pieces will not resort to slang, street talk or colloquialism to get the point across.
Happy Trails,
Leslie
Visit my website
We all know that if you were to hear the same sentence spoken in New Jersey, California or Great Britain it may sound very differently. You may even remember a famous commercial where the characters only had two words, "Was Up?" We all knew what was meant and it worked to make the product stick in our minds, or at least the expression.
If the author wants to show the reader that a particular character is from the gritty streets of a big city, is it necessary to have him speak in a certain manner? Let's examine these examples:
"Hey (expletive) git yer (expletive) off the hood of my ride."
"Dude, park it someplace else."
"You there, please remove yourself from the bonnet."
You can probably guess that these sentences were from three completely different people. Simply the word choice is enough to indicate that the speaker hails from a certain location. If the author overuses the slang it can become tedious to read. This exception to this would be historical fiction, wherein you must stay true to words which would have been used at that point in time.
Be aware of this when reading different genres. YA (young adult) will incorporate different word choice but well-written pieces will not resort to slang, street talk or colloquialism to get the point across.
Happy Trails,
Leslie
Visit my website
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