: Re: Will using real-world cultural vocabulary in a fantasy setting disengage readers? If I have certain minor rituals/garments/culture tidbits in a fantasy setting that mirror those of Earth, and I

@Berumen699

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I'm interested in this question also, but for sci-fi that is unrelated to Earth or Earth culture.

As to your specific example: I am probably better educated about other societies than the average American (which isn't saying much), but I've never heard the term qipao. How about kimono? Not the same thing, but a more familiar word.

As to your general question: I put a disclaimer in my preface, to the effect that I'm not going to invent a new word for every object in my world. So if I say the people are eating chicken, that doesn't mean they are eating Gallus gallus domesticus.

As I said, I'm writing sci-fi, and my world is supposed to seem (mostly) familiar. Fantasy might be different. However, I've seen lots of fantasy books that used Earth names for weapons and classes of people, and those Earth words didn't throw me out of the fantasy world.

I think what you do with an unfamiliar term like qipao or arquebus is to use it, assuming the reader will know what that is. But since most will not, you should weave descriptive phrases into your story that will allow most readers to puzzle out (subconsciously) the main features of the item. You definitely don't assume they know what a qipao is, and then have a plot point turn on the details.

So you say something like, "As Cain lifted his arms, the long sleeves of his silky qipao fell back, revealing the twin tattoos on his forearms -- dragon and tiger. The ruffian outlaw wet himself."

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