# That character would NEVER say that! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 18, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080 "2020-04-18T20:22:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/41 "2020-04-20T00:50:46Z")
_Becoming Mrs. Lewis_, by Patti Callahan, a novelization of the relationship between C. S. Lewis and Joy Davidman, has a passage that made me gnash my teeth. Davidman supposedly quotes a line from Lewis’s _Prince Caspian_, and I was puzzled at not recognizing it since I’ve read the book dozens of times. I googled it and found that it was a quote from the film version and not the book. The film version appeared 50 years after Davidman’s death! ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/42 "2020-04-20T01:41:52Z")
Well, I remember a review of contemporary music which started off talking about Toad the Wet Sprocket, a band that did [not](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad_the_Wet_Sprocket#Name_origin) exist until many years later. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/43 "2020-04-20T02:13:25Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Given how vulgar the word is, yes, I can imagine a large gap between its use in oral conversation and its appearance in print. [Here’s more on the issue.](https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/n_10191/) > [@](#): > > Did 1870s Americans really use such colloquially foul language with the Tourettic frequency of a Hollywood producer? > > Jesse Sheidlower, the American editor of the Oxford English Dictionary and the scholar of cussing who wrote The F-Word, says probably not. Not that frontiersmen were genteel. “There were cursing contests when cowboys would get together and insult each other,” he says. But “the evidence that we have is that they were using more religious blasphemy than the sexual insults which are popular today.” And on the show. David Milch, the creator of Deadwood, disputes Sheidlower, but I would tend to trust an editor of the OED over a TV producer. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/44 "2020-04-20T06:10:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I find this hard to believe. Did they cite a source for this? No, they didn’t. I _may_ have the curse word wrong, but I’m pretty certain it was “cocksucker.” ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/45 "2020-04-20T06:27:36Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Disagree. This Jewish person has always heard it with equal stress on both syllables. Jewish, Yiddish speaker, heard it both ways. > [@gkster](#): > > _Becoming Mrs. Lewis_, by Patti Callahan, a novelization of the relationship between C. S. Lewis and Joy Davidman, has a passage that made me gnash my teeth. > Davidman supposedly quotes a line from Lewis’s _Prince Caspian_, and I was puzzled at not recognizing it since I’ve read the book dozens of times. I googled it and found that it was a quote from the film version and not the book. The film version appeared 50 years after Davidman’s death! Reminds me of a forgettable book I read that tried to say that an old piece of writing in Hebrew had the word “Moses” in it, and commented on it ending in the “S” sound, that being significant in some way. Except in any Hebrew document, Moses isn’t “Moses,” he’s “Moshe.” “moe-SHEH” ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/46 "2020-04-20T06:40:24Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > As noted above, I’ve noticed several examples of characters on the east coast saying “THE [highway name]”. The only thing worse is Arizona, where we are a unique blend of CA and the rest of the country. In LA it’s “the 10”, anywhere else it’s “I-10”, but in AZ it’s “the I-10”. That grates every time I hear it. Even more when they say “the I-number” and it isn’t an interstate highway! > > There was a character I think in FBI, who noted that she “was from Wisconsin”. Not without your accent you’re not, sister! She said it like it is spelled. For a native it would be an obvious “Wes Khan sin.” Not me. I say Wih- Scahn- sin. Madison native. Also, it’s Sheh-WAH-meh-gun, not Check-wah-May-kon for the Chequamegon National Forest. Looking at you, **Starman**. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/47 "2020-04-20T06:57:25Z")
There was an episode of _House, MD_ where Hugh Laurie lost his accent for one word. It was in the latter half of the series, and House references aluminum. However, it comes out of the British Laurie’s mouth as “aluminium.” That was the only time that I recall his American accent wavering. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/48 "2020-04-20T09:11:26Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > its use in oral conversation Well, I think we’re all agreed that that’s the sort of conversation in which that word would be used… ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/49 "2020-04-20T09:35:44Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > There was an episode of _House, MD_ where Hugh Laurie lost his accent for one word. It was in the latter half of the series, and House references aluminum. However, it comes out of the British Laurie’s mouth as “aluminium.” > > That was the only time that I recall his American accent wavering. That’s not quite so much a difference of accent as there actually being slightly different words in use in the two countries. Were I to say “aluminum” with my English accent it would be just that - “aluminum” with an English accent - not “aluminium”. But all I’m doing there is being picky about the idea of what an accent is. In terms of the OP, you’re bang on. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/50 "2020-04-20T13:04:22Z")
I notice verbal anachronisms in a fair few British TV period shows set within the last three or four generations (say, since about 1900). The further back they’re set, the more latitude you have to allow, otherwise writers start producing loads of “Ho! Varlet!” and other Victorian attempts at the mediaeval. But when it’s within living memory, or even a couple of generations’ oral tradition, it can’t be that difficult to get a sense of how people spoke - or didn’t - then. One that sticks in the mind was a series set in the run up to the Suez nonsense in 1956, where a character was talking about a party she was going to even though she thought it was a “pity invite”. Whaaat? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/51 "2020-04-20T14:00:04Z")
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” takes place in the late '50s, but I’ve heard a number of terms that sounded anachronistic to me: perp walk, nerd alert, avoiding drama, fat suit, play date. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/52 "2020-04-21T02:53:51Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Nope. There is a well known Bangor on Hood Canal – where the deadliest submarines dock – which is most definitely _not_ pronounced “banger”. At least, not by the locals. I’m glad to hear that. But Jeopardy was wrong, then, because that’s where I learned the banger pronunciation is the much more common, much to my confusion (and horror). ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/53 "2020-04-21T03:41:13Z")
Brits go to “Hospital” and “University”, instead of “_the_ hospital” or “_the_ university”. Furthermore, they park their cars in a GAR-idge, unlike how 'muricans park in gah-RAH-jes. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/54 "2020-04-21T05:58:35Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#): > > Brits go to “Hospital” and “University”, instead of “_the_ hospital” or “_the_ university”. > > Furthermore, they park their cars in a GAR-idge, unlike how 'muricans park in gah-RAH-jes. The elderly Irishman I used to work with in the 70’s always pronounced it GAH- razh. And I’ve never heard any American ever pronounce it gah-RAH-he. Is this a typo, joke, or have I been missing something? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/55 "2020-04-21T06:41:38Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > In the TV show “Hawthorne”, they refer to the highway as “The 64”. The show takes place in Richmond, Virginia. Prefacing the highway number with the definite article is unique to southern California. Nothing wrong with a Californian moving to Virginia and teaching the natives how to talk right… ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/56 "2020-04-21T06:42:24Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” takes place in the late '50s, but I’ve heard a number of terms that sounded anachronistic to me: perp walk, nerd alert, avoiding drama, fat suit, play date. I give this show some latitude because I don’t think you could tell this story to a modern audience limiting yourself to 50s vernacular. Still, the first time I heard “nerd” with the connotation of “brainy but awkward” was in the 70s on _Happy Days_, which was set in the 50s. Maybe it was an actual term in Garry Marshall’s neighborhood growing up? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/57 "2020-04-21T06:44:08Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > As noted above, I’ve noticed several examples of characters on the east coast saying “THE [highway name]”. The only thing worse is Arizona, where we are a unique blend of CA and the rest of the country. **In LA it’s “the 10”** , anywhere else it’s “I-10”, but in AZ it’s “the I-10”. That grates every time I hear it. Even more when they say “the I-number” and it isn’t an interstate highway! Really? I’m from L.A. County. It’s the Santa Monica Freeway. Yes, from one end to the other. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/58 "2020-04-21T06:47:16Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > And that has jarred loose a memory from way back. As a 50’s kid I’d often watch Art Linkletter’s House Party (TV) with my mother. Even to idiot kid me it always sounded odd to hear him pronounce Los Angeles as “loss ANN guhleeze.” And he LIVED there. > [@terentii](#): > > Art was Canadian too. Born 17 July 1912 in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. And Linkletter didn’t call it Hoose Party? Mind. Blown. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/59 "2020-04-21T08:08:46Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > The elderly Irishman I used to work with in the 70’s always pronounced it GAH- razh. > > And I’ve never heard any American ever pronounce it gah-RAH-he. Is this a typo, joke, or have I been missing something? Broadly speaking, the American pronunciation of “garage” has emphasis on the second syllable, but I think the way that was described was a bit confusing. Something akin to guh-RAHZH is what I think was meant. Brits are more likely to have GA-rahzh or GA-ridge (first syllable as in “gas” in both cases). Anyway. Does any of this refer to a particular character’s unlikely speech, or is it just general transatlantic differences? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/60 "2020-04-21T09:14:55Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Really? > > I’m from L.A. County. It’s the Santa Monica Freeway. > > Yes, from one end to the other. Not true. It stops being the Santa Monica Freeway in downtown LA and becomes the San Bernadino Freeway. Most people I know simply call it the 10. i [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080.md?page=4)