Not really in theme, but my wife told me to go fly a kite the other day. I love that expression! It's so random and stupid, and flying kites are fun. Kind of like telling somebody to go drink a beer when you're really telling them to fuck off. Do kids still fly kites? Are there FAA restrictions now?
My dad used to tell people to take a long walk on a short pier. His other favorite was "Dunk your head in a bucket of water three times and only pull it out twice," but that one's not as good.
Love those, too. Direct commands with death resulting. But flying a kite is fun. So you're telling me to go have fun? Okay.
Unusual swearwords from Scotland ... Dobber Bampot Lavvy heid Bawbag Jobby Walloper ... and, of course, the direct command ... Awa' an bile yer heid! ================== Most of these are extremely mild. But I know that picture - it's Robin Hood, from Conquests of the Longbow. He's in a foul mood, it looks like! ================== Aren't "Blast!", "Rats", and "Rot it all" very mild for swear-words? I don't mean to tell you how your characters should swear, Catrin. And, perhaps, I've been too conditioned to swearing, having lived in Aussie-Land for over 30 years, the land where quite a lot of people can swear up a storm in a casual, off-hand way. (And most of the time, they don't actually mean it). But then, I suppose us Aussies have a right to swear. Almost every kind of our native wildlife is either painful or deadly to touch. So even if you don't believe in any kind of god, it's nice to be able to blaspheme. Besides, if you've just been bitten by a tiger snake, injected full of venom by a redback, or stung by a box jellyfish, it takes an unusually inventive freethinker to jump up and down while yelling "Aaaah, evolutionary dead-end!" or "Aaargh, primordial-indigenous-fauna-on-a-bicycle!"
It's Mexican-Spanish, and I'm pretty sure it isn't too crass. Manny Calavera (found to the left of this post) says it a couple of times in Grim Fandango. There's very little to no cursing in that. The only disclaimer that game had was about his smoking. "He's dead. We didn't think it would be a problem."
It sure is! Man, I love that game. Absolutely perfect for my adventure game and Robin Hood obsessions.
Not saying you're wrong. But if you want to sell in the Christian market, you have to pretend we don't. And that nobody else does, either. I had a beta reader tell me I shouldn't let my nasty, mean German characters say Scheisse. It was the same as the F word, she said. I don't know about that. But I was nice and cut down the frequency in the prologue, which is from the chief antagonist's POV.
I think the implication is, "Your ideas are worse than useless. You have nothing to contribute. Leave my presence and do something your limited brainpower is up for, like flying a kite."
Hmm. It's been awhile, but I remember there being some skill to it. Especially those double-stringed kites that did all the fancy shit.
Yeah, I don't think heavy cursing from Christians is much of a Bible Belt thing either. It's not in my neck of Texas, at least. Though, some of that depends on denomination. I grew up Methodist. We don't really get in trouble for drinking, gambling and cursing and such. Some of it's generational, too.
I'm not sure where your beta-reader got that from, but "Scheisse" isn't the same as the F-word. It's the S-word. It's similar to French people saying "Merde!" It's a good idea to cut down the frequency of it, though. If your antagonist swears every few sentences, the potency and shock value of the swearword wears out quickly.
Good to meet another soul who enjoyed Grim Fandango! I played that game when it came out, back in ... oh, I'd better not say. I already feel too much like a dinosaur. Let's just say I loved Grim so much, I picked it up again when it came out on Steam. As for Manny (and others) smoking ... big deal. They're dead. =P If anyone finds that objectionable ... may I suggest they get over it and enjoy the friggin' game?
Ah, very cool. Grim tattoos. As for me ... I found (and read) a Grim Fandango book "written" (actually, 'ghost-written' -- as if a fictional skeleton can have a ghost for a biographer) by Manny Calavera, and Grim Fandango art work -- and, of course, quotes. There are always quotes. One of my favourites: LUMBAGGGGGO LEMONAAAAAAAADE!!! Gotta love the voice-artists' commitment to the scene.
I should look into that. Seems like something I would want to read. For quotes, it's "Eagles on pogo sticks" all the way for me.
It is found here: http://www.grim-fandango.com/novel.php ... among other places. Ah, yes. That scene is made of all kinds of win. "What a relief. I was getting concerned that our transportation wasn't ostentatious enough." "Get in! Or are you afraid of heights?" Grim Fandango has all kinds of funny scenes. Like this: ============== Manny: It's my boss's secretary, Eva. Eva: It's my boss's whipping boy, Manny. And later... Manny: It's my boss's secretary's Evil Twin! Eva: Just me, honey. And near the end of the game Manny: It's my ex-boss's ex-secretary, Eva. Eva: You're never going to let me forget that secretary thing, are you? ============== Or, if you look at the hole-punch on her desk: Manny: Could I take your hole punch? Eva: Ha! I doubt you could take my half punch!
In my writing I have not been comfortable showing expressions with expletives. But, clever expressions may be as good a way to write something in place of single word expletives as it really seems, so I want to start with putting that to use.
How about telling people to take a long walk off a short ledge (or into Mount Doom)? Yes, that only works if they're familiar with LOTR. But meh.
