# Is there a reason for The Village's lack of contractions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2004, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347 "2004-08-11T13:30:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![curious\_kell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@curious\_kell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious_kell)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/1 "2004-08-11T13:30:42Z")
Is there any historical/psychological reasoning behind the villagers of M. Night’s The Village refraining from the use of contractions in their speech? Do contractions detract from the “perfect” society? What’s the deal? (Or should I say…“What is the deal”?) :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/2 "2004-08-11T16:18:58Z")
Why? Because talking without contractions sounds stilted and formal, which we interpret as old-fashioned or foreign. Movies and TV shows do this all the time…androids, aliens, old-fashioned people, wise seers, wizards, historical figures, kung-fu masters, sentient computers, foreigners…none of them have the ability to use contractions. It’s just a shorthand way of making the characters seem odd or out of step with our familiar world. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/3 "2004-08-11T16:26:17Z")
Also, because it helps make\* **The Village** \* an excruciatingly lame movie, which seems to have been M.'s driving goal. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/4 "2004-08-11T20:41:44Z")
What is your meaning? ---
**Author:** ![yellowcakesolid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cdc98d/32.png) [@yellowcakesolid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowcakesolid)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/5 "2004-08-11T23:48:02Z")
Assuming it’s not done for artistic reasons as you suggest, the only other explanation I can think of is ease of translation. For international distribution, they want to make the dialogue as easy as possible to translate into Spanish, French, etc. I can’t give you a source for this, but I remember hearing about the simplification of dialogue for translation purposes when Signs came out. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/6 "2004-08-12T01:46:19Z")
All sortsa spoilers comin’ up: The over-all idea behind the creation of the village was to live in a society where people treated each other with respect and decency. The formal speech patterns was part of that: the idea being that the excessive formality of the 19th century was an outward showing of respect for other people. So the elders who founded the village raised their children not to use contractions, under the theory that if they talk the talk, they’ll be more inclined to walk the walk. Which is fuckin’ stupid, really, but it’s the sort of crap that would appeal to an over-educated, socially stunted, emotionally damaged college professor like Edward Walker. Alternate explanation: the speech pattern comes with the clothes. Ever been to a Ren Faire? If you go in costume, it’s damn near impossible not to do that cheesy “thee and thou” crap. The characters might never have meant to talk like that, but something about wear corsets and bowlers just washes the contractions right out of your speech. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/7 "2004-08-12T03:43:49Z")
[QUOTE=Miller The formal speech patterns was part of that: the idea being that the excessive formality of the 19th century was an outward showing of respect for other people. So the elders who founded the village raised their children not to use contractions, under the theory that if they talk the talk, they’ll be more inclined to walk the walk.[/QUOTE] Except, they used contractions in the 19th century. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/8 "2004-08-12T04:19:02Z")
Does not this movie suck? Do not you wish you had your money back? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/9 "2004-08-12T05:26:54Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > Except, they used contractions in the 19th century. Hey, it only has to make sense to the characters in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![BooBoo316](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@BooBoo316](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BooBoo316)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/10 "2004-08-12T13:17:49Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > Does not this movie suck? Do not you wish you had your money back? Truly, the movie did mightily suck. Alas, the cineplex elders decreed there shall be no refunds because “those we do not speak of” need to pinch as much coin as they can before bad word of mouth slays the box-office beast. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/11 "2004-08-13T02:07:14Z")
\*Question: \*_What was the number one topic of conversation among the Villagers?_ \*Answer: \*_They mostly spoke of Those We Do Not Speak Of._ Pray help me to reconcile this; I cannot do the math. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/12 "2004-08-13T02:58:39Z")
Shouldn’t they have said, “Those of whom we do not speak,” instead? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/13 "2004-08-13T06:26:52Z")
> [@DeadlyAccurate](#): > > Shouldn’t they have said, “Those of whom we do not speak,” instead? Shouldn’t they have said, “_Those other than of whom we have nothing to talk_”? ---
**Author:** ![finette6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@finette6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/finette6)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/14 "2004-08-13T06:27:20Z")
The thing that bugged me the most was that even though half of the elders were women, they still set up fashions to include floor-length dresses and corsets! Why, I ask you, why? Since the kids were all brought up to believe whatever the hell the parents told them (as we all are, I suppose, just with a wider array of example to choose from), they could have let the women dress just as practically and comfortably as the men. Also, just how large of a quantity of consumnable stores was brought along? two or more decades is a lond time to keep wearing the same clothes and such. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/15 "2004-08-13T15:44:28Z")
Well, yeah, they knew they’d always need new Derby hats, but the forgot the medical supplies. Makes perfect sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/16 "2004-08-13T16:46:47Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Also, because it helps make\* **The Village** \* an excruciatingly lame movie, which seems to have been M.'s driving goal. Helps you determine quicker that the screenwriting was farmed out to drug-addled semiliterate sweatshop workers in Indonesia. > [@yellowcakesolid](#): > > Assuming it’s not done for artistic reasons as you suggest, the only other explanation I can think of is ease of translation. For international distribution, they want to make the dialogue as easy as possible to translate into Spanish, French, etc. I can’t give you a source for this, but I remember hearing about the simplification of dialogue for translation purposes when Signs came out. How would that make it easier to translate? That doesn’t make even the slightest bit of sense, especially when you consider how lame it made the script sound in its native language. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-for-the-villages-lack-of-contractions/259347/17 "2004-08-14T00:25:44Z")
Go no further, ye who wish to remain unspoiled! I’m going to chalk it up to play-acting on the part of the people who started the village in the first place. For whatever reason, they really thought going back to the 19th century would be the utopian thing to do, so that’s what they did. Not necessarily having the best grasp of what things were like in the 19th city, they decided to go for an overly formal, stilted, contraction-free form of speech. It’s silly, but I don’t think the Elders were really thinking things through when they started the whole mess in the first place.