: Re: In-universe swear, curses, similies and sayings, how to make them less cringeworthy Hold Your Hippogriffs: A (more often than not) cringeworthy version of a saying (though can be invented on the

@LarsenBagley300

Vote Up Vote Down

I've never liked these 'fake words,' and I asked something similar here. I don't think there are any easy ways. Even though I dislike them as a reader, I want to use them as a writer, and so I am resigned that this is an uphill battle.

The upside is that people that learn the word eventually become the 'in group' that know, for example, what a mudblood is.

I'm (semi-)determined to use the ones I have created, but from the feedback I received on that linked thread above, I changed how I introduced them. I added more care to how they were introduced, and limited myself to 3 such words in the first novel. (one word is used frequently in chapter 1, the second is introduced around chapter 5, and the third near the end.)

My word for sh1t is based on merde. It is 'mierela.'

This word does not fit a rule about how to make a fake word for sh1t, and I might change it, but I doubt it.

I introduce it by saying "the city smelled like sewage, like mierela."

At some point the reader will accept it. I eventually got used to 'frak' in BSG but it is a bad version of the more common word it is meant to replace.

At a higher level of thought, I tried to make my swear words consistent with a language derivation approach. I tried to have them flow naturally from customs and language of the area in the world.

(0)

Login to post a comment!