whyndancer:

strangelock221b:

justgot1:

stardustedknuckles:

newmainolddead:

mamapluto:

theoriginaljordge:

randomingoftherandomness:

thenegoteator:

frownyalfred:

tricky words I always see misspelled in fics: a guide

• Viscous/vicious–Viscousis generally used to describe the consistency of blood or other thick liquids. Viciousis used to describe something or someone who is violent. 
• Piqued/Peaked/Peeked– To piquesomeone’s interest is to catch or tease their attention. When something peaks,it reaches its total height or intensity. To peek(at) something is to look briefly, or glance. 
• Discrete/Discreet– this is a tough one. Discretemeans to be separate, or distinct, i.e., two discretetheories. Conversely, when someone is discreet,they are being secretive or cautious to avoid attention. 
• Segue/Segway – one is a transition between things, the other is a thing you can ride at the park and definitely fall off of.
• Conscious/Conscience/Conscientious – to be consciousis to be awake, i.e., not unconscious, or to be aware of something. Your conscienceis the little voice in your head telling you not to eat the entire pint of ice cream. Finally, to be conscientiousis to be good, to do things thoroughly, to be ruled by an inner moral code. 

Hope this helped! Please add more if you think of them!

Counsel/Council-counsel is advice, the advice giver, or the verb form of giving said advice. Council is the group of people who come together to discuss and/or make decisions.

Desert/Desert/Dessert-desert is a barren landscape where little precipitation occurs. desert - abandon (a person, cause, or organization) in a way considered disloyal or treacherous. dessert - a usually sweet course or dish (as of pastry or ice cream) usually served at the end of a meal.

OH MY TIME IS HERE! I HAVE MADE A POST I KEEP FOR THIS EXACTLY

Taunt/Taut-Taunt is a jeer or provocation, taut means to be pulled tight, or not slack

Weary/Wary-wearymeans tired and warymeans cautious

Rogue/Rouge-rogue is a person who has unaffiliated themselves from what they were before (is the general understanding); a person or thing that behaves in an aberrant, faulty, or unpredictable way - rouge is red

Wonton/Wanton - a wontonis a dumpling, wantonis (of a cruel or violent action) deliberate and unprovoked and/or sexually unrestrained

Haphazard/Halfhazard-haphazardmeans to  have a lack of plan, order, or direction - the other isn’t a word

Corporal/Corporeal-corporalis a lack of plan, order, or direction and corporealis to have a physical existence: to be tangible: of a person’s body

Peck/Pec - the first is a kiss (peck) and the second is the shortened version of pectoral (pec)

Virile/Viral - to be virileis to have strength, energy, and a strong sex drive (typically said about men) and then this last year (2020) has personally taught us, is how virala plague can really be, so of the nature of, caused by, or relating to a virus or viruses

Vulnerable/Venerable-vulnerablemeans being susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm, and if a person is venerablethey’re accorded a great deal of respect, especially because of age, wisdom, or character (or if you’re religious, holy)

Dyedis something that is colored, and diedis deceased

Chalk (it up to something) ; chock (-full of something); choked (to cutoff air).

toaffect is the action,theeffect is the end result

If something doesn’t bother you then you weren’t fazed by it. If you are between two states of being that is a phase.

Please. For the love of all things holy. I beg you.

Loose: the opposite of tight

Lose: to misplace something or the opposite of win.

I BEG YOU.

breath is the noun, breathe is the verb

This is a particularly tricky one.:

Passed-is a verb, the past-tense of the verb “to pass”. Passed is ALWAYSa verb

• Shepassed her test.
• The days passedquickly.
• Hepassedher in the street and never even noticed. 

Past - can be several different things
It can be a noun - 

• Leave it in the past.
  
• Museums often house relics of the past.

It can be an adjective-

• Thepast12 months have been especially difficult.

It can be an adverb -

• He drove pastus in his car.
• He walked pasther in the the street and never even noticed.

It can be a preposition-

• The coffee shop is just pastthe library.
• The time is half pasttwo.

Past is NEVERa verb.

Coiffure/coiffeur - coiffure is a fancy word for hairstyle, coiffeur is the person who does the hairstyle

Reign/rein/rain - reign is ruling over others (eg. the queen’s reign), rein is to control or guide a horse by pulling on its reins (eg. rein in your emotions, hand over the reins, etc), rain is water falling from the sky in drops

tartapplesauce:

betweencrossedblades:

ok so after having read a few fics in the silmarillion fandom for the first time in literally years…. I remember now why I could only very rarely find fic I liked. it’s the language.

there’s always the danger when you’re writing fic for something where the author has such a distinctive voice: you can either try to emulate it - and potentially fail - or not bother, and potentially sound odd and anachronistic. I get it! it’s hard!

but. guys.

I mean this gently. but so much fic attempting to copy some hint of tolkien’s style fails so very miserably. so. so badly. you can use your own voice - that’s absolutely fine, and often indeed the wiser choice - but if you do choose to try and sound like tolkien….here is a post tailor made for you.

first of all, let’s look at the difference. why does this -

But Annatar paid heed most of all to their lord.

sound more tolkien-y than this -

To their lord the most ardent of his attentions were given.

?

(the second is a real sentence from a fic. the first is one I have ‘tolkienised’ myself.)

*deep breath*

tolkien was VERY aware of the provenance of certain words and has characters talking in VERY distinct registers at different times for specific purposes. and different styles of speech and word order and language (french/latinate vocabulary versus old English/germanic vocabulary). any unsuccessful attempt is thus extra jarring, because language isn’t only a signifier for specific social groups in-universe - he also uses it at the level of the text.

and yes maybe I’m extra salty about this because I’m a linguist and have Actually Studied the history of English as well as old English and an EXTENSIVE amount of comparative germanic languages…but here goes.

to highlight the difference in how tolkien uses different words from different sources, I’m going to compare the difference for example between the language used in the lament for the rohirrim vs the song of eärendil

Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?

VS

In panoply of ancient kings,
in chainéd rings he armoured him;
his shining shield was scored with runes
to ward all wounds and harm from him;
his bow was made of dragon-horn,
his arrows shorn of ebony;
of silver was his habergeon,
his scabbard of chalcedony;
his sword of steel was valiant,
of adamant his helmet tall,
an eagle-plume upon his crest,
upon his breast an emerald.

maybe not the best comparison because significant parts of the latter also exhibit a) very germanic vocabulary ‘to ward all wounds and harm from him’ and b) lots of fun alliteration / stress / metre / cool half-rhyme/assonance stuff and c) VERY germanic syntax ‘he armoured him’ where ‘him’ = ‘himself’ - but compare the words for talking about armour, for example.

panoply, habergeon, ebony, valiant, adamant, eagle-plume, chalcedony versushelm, haubert, horse, horn, hand…

when tolkien uses excessively germanic old-english-y things he does so deliberately. when he uses excessively middle english french chivalric language he does so deliberately.

he’s making a point. do you think that people really spoke like that when he was writing the books? compare the language merry and pippin use to that in the oath of fëanor! he is aware of the effect different words have, and the power language holds. if he uses a word like puissance,it’s going to be used to deliberate effect, because the majority of the REALLY archaic vocabulary in his works is germanic, not latinate. (and I’m not talking first age, I’m talking…early stuff, things like the story of kullervo, which uses a different ridiculously archaic word for ‘fence’ or ‘glade’ every single fucking page and is written with syntax that hasn’t been used for hundreds of years). not latinate. it’s not french. it’s GERMANIC.

and this is difficult because it goes against everything most of us are used to in daily life. the majority of most ‘higher’ vocabulary came from the dual sources of the liturgical (latin) and the socially superior (norman french). to this day we can find many examples of ‘simple’ vocabulary like handortoothand more specialised, more formal vocabulary - like the equivalent manualordentist.and of course tolkien uses french and latinate words like the rest of us - it’s impossible not to. there are different levels of loanwords, and powerreads far more naturally than puissance.

but tolkien chooses often instead to use might.

we’re..less familiar with this. we are! there’s no question about it. every book or article we read is stuffed full of french and latinate stuff. so I think what people aim for is like…Vaguely Old-Worldly. but the problem is they don’t think about what that means. it doesn’t mean the same for tolkien as other writers. he isn’t chaucer. he isn’t shakespeare. he can and he does wield germanic vocabulary for incredibly specific, often archaic purposes. most fic writers will struggle with that.

similarly important and very related: one of the things that marks Tolkien’s writing as so spectacular is his use, at times, of INCREDIBLY SIMPLE narration. he can and does do otherwise, but SO much of his writing has this clarity to it. a simplicity. and this is deliberately stylistic too! look at this passage when théoden leads his armies into battle:

And darkness was removed and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them

thisand, and, and…is a very common structure in old oral epic: a lot of epics would start every new line with and. it’s simple, but incredibly powerful: and terror took them, and they fled, and died. isn’t that enough? doesn’t that say everything? terror took them, and they fled, and died. what more is there?

another thing is sentence structure. you guys. my dudes. once again, much of tolkien’s sentence structure is far simpler than you think. I don’t mean all of it - think again of the oath of fëanor - but most of it really is quite simple. what makes it ‘hard’ and ‘confusing’ is similarly its germanic-ness: structures like yet naught was seen orto the mountains they had fled feel archaic to us, but all they are is ever so slightly more germanic than we are used to. which in turn is not the same thing as complex - as all readers of modern day German with its love of 12-comma sentences and paragraphs spanning more than one page know.

look at this description:

All about them were small woods of resinous trees, fir and cedar and cypress, and other kinds unknown in the Shire, with wide glades among them; and everywhere there was a wealth of sweet-smelling herbs and shrubs. The long journey from Rivendell had brought them far south of their own land, but not until now in this more sheltered region had the hobbits felt the change of clime. Here Spring was already busy about them: fronds pierced moss and mould, larches were green-fingered, small flowers opening in the turf, birds were singing. 

yes, it’s long. yes, there’s a lot going on. but look at the structure. if you simplify it it’s something like there were trees; and there were shrubs. the journey brought them south, but not until now had they felt the change of clime. here spring was busy; plants were X, and birds were Y.

this is literally just coordination - the most basic of structures. the not until now part is the sort of thing that throws people off, because it’s not a structure we’re so used to seeing. but this is nota complex sentence structure, it’s just ordered a bit different.

with all that in mind, I want to revisit quickly a few of the sentences to give a proper example of what I mean. here are some parts - just a few examples - of what bugs me about much fic

But where ordinarily such words would have stung, they would have seemed barbed and venomous and Celebrimbor would have replied with acrimony in kind, …

One subtle curl of puissance and he could have this elf lord on his knees.

To their lord the most ardent of his attentions were given, and often he could be found at Celebrimbor’s side if he was not otherwise occupied. Though at first they fenced about each other, their conversations thrust and parried as do all fledgling friendships forged in uneasy times, as the days rolled by a true sense of camaraderie began to unfurl between them.

I’m not talking about the quality of the writing, let others judge that - I’m talking SOLELY about the types of words used. notice anything about the words I’ve bolded? yeah. those are all latinate/french.

let me rewrite a few of these sentences. I’m Not Saying look I can write better but guys. if you are trying to write Like That then…take a few of the tips above, and it might just sound less anachronistic.

Such words from another would sting; but Celebrimbor’s answer would come swift and sharp.

But Annatar paid heed most of all to their lord. Often they walked together through the great forges of Eregion, and took delight in each other’s wit.

As the days passed the friendship between the two men grew.

once again. I’m not saying these are Better Writing. but they exhibit the principles I talked about.

which are:

1) utilise words that stand out to the modern reader, yes, but for specific purpose and effect. if you’re going to use puissance,recognise that it stands out and is oddly formal, and use it in an appropriate context. where you don’t want that effect, use something more neutral (powerormight)

2) archaic words are germanic more often than latinate/french. obscure latinate/french vocabulary, as above, is used for very specific purposes.

3) simple narration, simple sentence structure and simple vocabulary. write with clarity. write as if it’s meant to be read aloud. look at the landscape description above; it’s measured, and well-balanced. there’s no need for purple prose.

4) germanic sentence structure - yes! very complex sentence structure - no. look at the sentence you wish that I had gone in his stead orhe paid heed most of all to their lord. the separation of those two elements - and therefore greater flexibility - is more representative of an older stage of the language. more archaic canmean ‘sentence with twenty clauses’, but it usually doesn’t. not here.

5) pay attention to the conventions of epic and oral story-telling. you can start sentences with ‘and’ and ‘but’ more than your english teacher probably allowed.

6) where are your characters from? if you are trying to use regional language or slang - do your research. the hobbits use a lot of West Country Somerset / Wiltshire language, for example

….

thank you for coming to my ted talk.

Puissance is absolutley the wrong word there, might is what is needed.  It’s hard to express what the difference it - don’t they both mean power? - but it’s a real difference, and this post is a marvellous resource in explaining why.

From an unsent draft of a letter in response to criticism of ‘archaism’ in the prose style of The Lord of the Rings:

But a real archaic English is far more terse than modern; also many of things said could not be said in our slack and often frivolous idiom. Of course, not being specially well read in modern English, and far more familiar with works in the ancient and ‘middle’ idioms, my own ear is to some extent affected; so that though I could easily recollect how a modern would put this or that, what comes easiest to mind or pen is not quite that. But take an example from the chapter that you specially singled out (and called terrible): Book iii, “The King of the Golden Hall’. ‘Nay, Gandalf!’ said the King. ‘You do not know your own skill in healing. It shall not be so. I myself will go to war, to fall in the front of the battle, if it must be. Thus shall I sleep better.’

This is a fair sample — moderated or watered archaism. Using only words that still are used or known to the educated, the King would really have said: ‘Nay, thou (n’)wost not thine own skill in healing. It shall not be so. I myself will go to war, to fall …’ etc. I know well enough what a modern would say. ‘Not at all my dear G. You don’t know your own skill as a doctor. Things aren’t going to be like that. I shall go to the war in person, even if I have to be one of the first casualties’ — and then what? Theoden would certainly think, and probably say ‘thus shall I sleep better’! But people who think like that just do not talk a modern idiom. You can have ‘I shall lie easier in my grave’, or ‘I should sleep sounder in my grave like that rather than if I stayed at home’ – if you like. But there would be an insincerity of thought, a disunion of word and meaning. For a King who spoke in a modern style would not really think in such terms at all, and any reference to sleeping quietly in the grave would be a deliberate archaism of expression on his part (however worded) far more bogus than the actual ‘archaic’ English that I have used. 

…I can see no more reason for not using the much terser and more vivid ancient style, than for changing the obsolete weapons, helms, shields, hauberks into modern uniforms.

‘Helms too they chose’ is archaic. Some (wrongly) class it as an ‘inversion’, since normal order is ‘They also chose helmets’ or ‘they chose helmets too’. (Real mod. E. ‘They also picked out some helmets and round shields’.) But this is not normal order, and if mod. E. has lost the trick of putting a word desired to emphasize (for pictorial, emotional or logical reasons) into prominent first place, without addition of a lot of little 'empty’ words (as the Chinese say), so much the worse for it. And so much the better for it the sooner it learns the trick again. And someone must begin the teaching, by example.

ashby-santoso:

averixus:

jumpingjacktrash:

greenjudy:

existentialterror:

Sometimes I’m looking for something online - often “how to” articles - and I want to filter for - like - a website that was clearly built in 2010 at the latest, which may or may not have been updated since then, but contains a vast wealth of information on one topic, painstakingly organized by an unknown legend in the field with decades’ worth of experience.

I don’t want a listicle with a nice stolen picture in a slideshow format written by a content aggregator that God forgot. I want hand-drawn diagrams by some genius professor who doesn’t understand SEO at all, but understands making stir-fries or raising stick insects better than anyone else on this earth. I don’t know what search settings to put into Google to get this.

thank you for articulating this cri de coeur for me

ngl these days i’m just happy when it’s not a video

search.marginalia.nu is the search engine you want!

The search engine calculates a score that aggressively favors text-heavy websites, and punishes those that have too many modern web design features.

This is in a sense the opposite of what most major search engines do, they favor modern websites over old-looking ones. Most links you find here will be nearly impossible to find on a regular search engine, as they aren’t sufficiently search engine optimized.

“It is a search engine, designed to help you find what you didn’t even know you were looking for. If you search for “Plato”, you might for example end up at the Canterbury Tales. Go looking for the Canterbury Tales, and you may stumble upon Neil Gaiman’s blog.

If you are looking for fact, this is almost certainly the wrong tool. If you are looking for serendipity, you’re on the right track. When was the last time you just stumbled onto something interesting, by the way?

I don’t expect this will be the next “big” search engine. This is and will remain a niche tool for a niche audience.“

My pronominal adverbs are: hencefrom/whereupon.

strejdaking:

divinesilverdingo:

prokopetz:

stupidjewishwhiteboy:

prokopetz:

The fact of the matter is that most authors of classic sword and sorcery fantasy couldn’t write dialogue that sounds like a human person to save their lives, and that’s why we invented wizards.

Also barbarians

What Robert E Howard said: “He was a man of gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth.”

What Robert E Howard meant: He talked like the English language owed him money and he was determined to get every cent’s worth.

Conan the Linguist

Okay, but seriously, it irrationally upsets me both comic book adaptations of Scarlet Citadel change the dialogue so that Conan doesn’t casually say “genealogy” in a sentence.

I would literally pay money for a Conan the Barbarian adaptation where he’s as inconguously well-spoken as he is in the source material.