# Do you hate it when authors write out dialects? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188 "2012-12-06T15:30:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/21 "2012-12-06T17:00:34Z")
I’m another one who can’t get started on _Huckleberry Finn_ because of the dialog. I wish there was a “sanitized” version written in regular speech to help me out - I’d love to actually read the entire book. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/22 "2012-12-06T17:01:02Z")
What really twists my nipples is when the author throws in terms or phrases in another language and doesn’t bother to give pronunciations. How do you pronounce sgian dubh? Can’t you just say “sock knife?” And how about the end of The Name of the Rose? I slogged through that whole damn book only to find the last phrase is in Latin! ---
**Author:** ![DeweyDecibel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DeweyDecibel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeweyDecibel)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/23 "2012-12-06T17:33:34Z")
There’s a knack to writing it that some authors have, others don’t. I’ve run across dialect that was so bad I refused to (or couldn’t) read it. However, in the hands of a good author, I like it. Cloud Atlas is an example of it done well, in my opinion. The genius of that section is that you don’t have to catch every word, you can just read and it kind of washes over you and makes sense eventually. Try too hard and you miss it, but just read it and it flows. Kind of like listening to dialog in a movie with strong accents - at first it confuses you, but then it clicks. Oddly enough, the only part of Cloud Atlas I had trouble with was the Adam Ewing (1860s sailor) part. No idea why that one was hard for me as opposed to Sonmi or Zachry. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/24 "2012-12-06T17:58:48Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > Irvine Welsh uses Scottish dialect for much of the dialogue in his books, and I enjoy it. I do have some friends who vehemently disagree with me on it, though. > > Overall, if the dialect has a sense of realism or at least seems to be internally consistent (not being Scottish, I have no idea if Mr. Welsh is accurate or not, but he’s consistent in usage), I tend to like it. My one exception would be the folksy dialect James Whitcomb Riley used in his stories and poems… can’t stand that. You want Scottish dialect? Robert Louis Stevenson wrote stories in it, and I’ve read works by more recent authors copying him. Utterly unitelligible (if you’re not Scottish) without a glossary. Don’t believe me? Try reading _Thrawn Janet_: > **[The Merry Men and Other Tales and Fables/Thrawn Janet - Wikisource, the free...](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Thrawn_Janet)** ---
**Author:** ![Dublin11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Dublin11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dublin11)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/25 "2012-12-06T18:17:39Z")
I cannot stand it. Unless the author is from the same part of the world a me, his phonetic rendering of even a bog standard word will not be the same as mine for the same word. And if the author is doing his phonetic rendering of slang term that I don’t even know when it’s spelt properly I tend to lose interest pretty damn quick. Huckleberry Finn and Wuthering Heights were both required reading for English literature when I was at school. A whole class of baffled kids in the back end of Ballymacnowhere in rural Ireland trying to decipher not only the decidedly foreign Huck from the Deep South of America, with his odd phrases, but also the equally foreign mumbly Joseph from the North East of England with his strange terminology. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/26 "2012-12-06T18:56:12Z")
I normally don’t like written-out dialect in novels, because I find it annoying and condescending (and often racist, especially when it’s done with black or Asian characters). That said, though, I did quite like Chuck Palahniuk’s _Pygmy_, which was written entirely in very strange English. Not sure if you’d call it “dialect” per se, but it definitely took some getting used to. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/27 "2012-12-06T18:58:27Z")
> [@Dublin11](#): > > Huckleberry Finn and Wuthering Heights were both required reading for English literature when I was at school. A whole class of baffled kids in the back end of Ballymacnowhere in rural Ireland trying to decipher not only the decidedly foreign Huck from the Deep South of America, with his odd phrases, but also the equally foreign mumbly Joseph from the North East of England with his strange terminology. Try reading Caribbean books written with Creole dialect. I had [a book of Caribbean short stories](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1369011.Caribbean_New_Wave) once that was actually pretty good–except that two-thirds of the stories consisted of dialogue written in various Creoles. Not just from one island, either, from \*many \*islands. None of these countries speak the same Creole. The used bookstore wouldn’t take that book. I ended up donating it to Goodwill. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/28 "2012-12-06T19:07:54Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > Actually, in the same book, the Sonmi chapters arguably use a dialect. But it didn’t piss me off, because the odd words were used sparingly enough that they gave you a feel for the society/character without intruding unduly. It didn’t bother me at all to read “lite,” and “thru” because they were comprehensible while really supporting the whole corporate culture idea. It took me a few pages to realize that “Xultation” was “exultation,” and so forth, but it was easy to plug in to all the “ex-” words from then on. But the Zachry language was just too dense! > > I also prefer the technique of describing the person’s accent, then writing their words in normal English. Well, I loved Cloud Atlas and consider Huckleberry Finn a masterpiece, so maybe I’m not the best audience for this argument. 😉 I’d be sad if works of literature are “made easier to read” by rendering them in colloquial English. Part of their value as unique works would be lost. Sure, not everyone is going to like it, but not everyone has to like it. There is still plenty of stuff out there that can be enjoyed that is dialect-free. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/29 "2012-12-06T19:18:15Z")
Another form of this that I absolutely despise is when authors, usually in a Sci Fi setting, have characters that are using some form of text communication so they start abbreviating in ALL CAPS right there in the book. I can barely tolerate it when I get a text like that IRL - having to wade through it to receive plot points is infuriating. Here’s an example from _The Algebraist_: > [@](#): > > WHT DID U FND? > DNT NO XCTLY. I NO RLZE AT TIME. OL CAME OUT MUCH L8TR WHN JELTCK DID ANLYS. SMTHNG ABT THIS 2ND SHIP & THNG CALLD A TRANSFORM, SPSD 2 MAK RST OF DWLR LIST MEAN SMTHNG. JLTCK SNT FLEET 2 TRY FIND. NO FIND. FLT WRKD. > She felt him pause, tense. She sent: > WOT? > ALGDLY THIS ALSO Y BYNDRS WRKD PORTL. TRU? > DNT NO. I JST A MSG GRL. She paused. SO U SAY NOT ONLY U START THIS MRGNCY, U COSD LAST 1 2 & GOT PRTL DSTRYD? > YS. GES I JST ACCDNT PRN. > FKNG HEL. Yes, I can read it. No, I shouldn’t have to. The author can simply say they were coding secret texts to each other and continue normally. Why make me do heavy lifting? Oddly, when the shape of the text itself is used as an important plot point, as in _The Stars My Destination_, I’m cool with it. But the example above just seems like nothing more than an annoyance. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/30 "2012-12-06T19:20:47Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > I’m another one who can’t get started on _Huckleberry Finn_ because of the dialog. I wish there was a “sanitized” version written in regular speech to help me out - I’d love to actually read the entire book. Have you tried listening to an audio version? ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/31 "2012-12-06T19:37:15Z")
A few touches, that’s all. Enough to get the idea across. Any more than that and you’re being condescending. Besides, that’s only how the writer would spell those sounds. In other words, it might not work if the reader’s accent isn’t the same as the writer’s. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/32 "2012-12-06T19:48:30Z")
Yes, I hate it. In general, people write dialects very badly. I can’t read Sir Walter Scott any more because of all the “dinna fash yursel” and similar stuff. It might sometimes be important to the plot to indicate that characters are speaking different dialects, such as to indicate cultural or class differences that are relevant. But I believe this can be done more subtly than Sir Walter and other writers have done. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/33 "2012-12-06T20:00:01Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I like it actually, it’s difficult to read at first but it really develops a character. Especially for children’s books like Redwall. Oddly, the moles’ accent always sort of bugged me there, because I couldn’t figure out how the heck it was supposed to sound. A critical lack of exposure to the relevant English accent. When I went to a signing and saw Jacques do it live, it made perfect sense. Same for hearing it live on an audiobook. Generally I find the writing-out of dialect/accent more irritating than not. It’s a case by case thing, though–I got used to it in _ **The Moon is a Harsh Mistress** _ and had no problems that I recall with Twain. On the other hand, the original Uncle Remus stories are basically unreadable unless translated. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/34 "2012-12-06T20:12:21Z")
When I first read _Gone With The Wind_ at age 15, I had to skip over most of the slaves’ dialects. Even now, it’s very hard reading. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/35 "2012-12-06T20:13:23Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Another form of this that I absolutely despise is when authors, usually in a Sci Fi setting, have characters that are using some form of text communication so they start abbreviating in ALL CAPS right there in the book. I can barely tolerate it when I get a text like that IRL - having to wade through it to receive plot points is infuriating. > > Here’s an example from _The Algebraist_: > Yes, I can read it. No, I shouldn’t have to. The author can simply say they were coding secret texts to each other and continue normally. Why make me do heavy lifting? > > Oddly, when the shape of the text itself is used as an important plot point, as in _The Stars My Destination_, I’m cool with it. But the example above just seems like nothing more than an annoyance. Iain Banks likes that for some reason. Don’t try reading _Feersum Endjinn_, a third of the book is like this… > [@](#): > > Woak up. Got dresd. Had brekfast. Spoke wif Ergates thi ant who sed itz juss been wurk wurk wurk 4 u lately master Bascule, Y dont u ½ a holiday? & I agreed & that woz how we decided we otter go 2 c Mr Zoliparia in thi I-ball ov thi gargoyle Rosbrith. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/36 "2012-12-06T20:16:26Z")
I hate it. My beloved Dickens does it, and the entire middle third of Martin Chuzzlewit was torture because of it. It’s especially bad when you just can’t imagine someone saying a word a particular way. Dickens loves to have his illiterate characters say “creetur” instead of creature. But how do you pronounce that? Who would pronounce it that way by hearing it instead of reading it? He’s probably going for some subtlety that’s beyond me, but still! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/37 "2012-12-06T20:23:17Z")
I re-read Huck Finn a couple of years ago, I believe. I know it was after I hit 50. I found it to be very uneven. And the accents, for the most part, were a distraction for me. I live in Texas, and grew up here, so I’m used to hearing a Southern (more or less) accent. Now, I’m sure that pronunciation and usages have changed, but I feel that Twain was going overboard with the dialect. Yes, yes, I UNDERSTAND that Huck needed to be presented as an unschooled, nearly-feral child who was actually pretty smart, but trying to slog through the various accents led me to put the book aside many times, and I had to force myself to go back to the book. Same thing with some of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories…sometimes Sayers sets the story in the Highlands, or she has a Scot with a lot of dialog, and I just get frustrated with not understanding the words and how they’re pronounced and used. I first read _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ when I was in junior high or high school, and had no problem with grasping the speech mannerisms of the main character, and the general Loonie accent. I also had no problem grasping the slang of _Stand on Zanzibar_, to name another one. I think that the difference is that in some stories, the author assumes that the reader is familiar with the accent and slang, and in other stories, the author is careful to put enough exposition into the story so that the reader can extrapolate the meaning without a dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/38 "2012-12-06T20:33:51Z")
Twain, Ambrose Bierce, or Bret Hartt actually were pretty popular in their time because of their ability to depict accents or dialects in their stories and books. It doesn’t wash today, Perhaps it says quite a bit about their time. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/39 "2012-12-06T20:42:53Z")
I was watching one of the \*Shrek \*movies, and thinking that while it’s pretty good for now, it’s probably not going to stand the test of time, because of all the pop culture references that will fade away with time. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188/40 "2012-12-06T20:43:18Z")
The only thing I hate more than written dialect is poems or songs in prose. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-it-when-authors-write-out-dialects/643188.md?page=3)