Agent Carter - Season 2

[Christopher]

Glad they didn't kill off Skip Reming.

Oh, you mean Ray Wise. I've never heard of that character of his. To me, he'll always be Leland from Twin Peaks and the proto-Vulcan religious fanatic from TNG: "Who Watches the Watchers?" And Arturis from VGR: "Hope and Fear," I guess. Oh, and Leon from RoboCop, mustn't forget him.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The bit of language that stuck out at me this time was Dottie saying, "Try to keep up." I can't say for sure, but that seems like a fairly contemporary phrase to me.

 

[Christopher]

The bit of language that stuck out at me this time was Dottie saying, "Try to keep up." I can't say for sure, but that seems like a fairly contemporary phrase to me.

Nope, it's been around for ages.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Good to know...and it looks like it was at a relative peak in the '40s!

It seemed to me like it would have sounded more period-authentic with a "do" in front of it, but your site says otherwise.

OTOH, using the option to find actual Google Books results from the period in question, the first several hits are all examples of the phrase being used as part of a larger sentence. For me, it was the usage that seemed too contemporary...just saying "Try to keep up" as a quick quip.

 

[Christopher]

It seemed to me like it would have sounded more period-authentic with a "do" in front of it, but your site says otherwise.

I dunno -- maybe in England or among high society, but it doesn't sound like a colloquial usage.

OTOH, using the option to find actual Google Books results from the period in question, the first several hits are all examples of the phrase being used as part of a larger sentence. For me, it was the usage that seemed too contemporary...just saying "Try to keep up" as a quick quip.

I found the same thing, but maybe that's to be expected in prose works, so it doesn't rule out the isolated phrase being used in conversation.

Ah, here -- I found a 1907 periodical that used "even if I can't keep up, I am going to try."

 

[The Old Mixer]

^No examples to prove that it was used that way in the period, though...so I stand by my impression that using the phrase as a quick quip sounds more recent.

 

[Christopher]

Here we go... Turns out Google Ngram searches are case-sensitive, so I capitalized "Try" and, err, tried again. Here's a use of "Try to keep up!" as a standalone phrase in 1864, although it's apparently being used in the sense of keeping up one's composure rather than keeping pace with someone. And it's the only instance I could find. But it and the other phrase I cited do demonstrate that "keep up" did exist at the time as an intransitive phrase. So I don't see any reason why Dottie couldn't have used the phrase in 1947.

In general, a lot of things that people think are recent tend to be a lot older in reality. So it's generally best to be skeptical of the assumption that something is recent. Like how people tend to assume it's a recent trend to use "literally" to mean "figuratively," when in fact it goes back centuries.

 

[Arrrrgggh]

You do realize this show doesn't take place on our world, and it very much has an alternative history, right? So just because a phrase might show up earlier than expected, it in no way is a mistake or even really an anachronism. It just adds one more tiny difference between the Marvel universe and ours.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Here we go... Turns out Google Ngram searches are case-sensitive, so I capitalized "Try" and, err, tried again. Here's a use of "Try to keep up!" as a standalone phrase in 1864, although it's apparently being used in the sense of keeping up one's composure rather than keeping pace with someone. And it's the only instance I could find. But it and the other phrase I cited do demonstrate that "keep up" did exist at the time as an intransitive phrase. So I don't see any reason why Dottie couldn't have used the phrase in 1947.

In general, a lot of things that people think are recent tend to be a lot older in reality. So it's generally best to be skeptical of the assumption that something is recent. Like how people tend to assume it's a recent trend to use "literally" to mean "figuratively," when in fact it goes back centuries.

Yeah, I'm a little annoyed at the number of people who say are focusing on whether the language use is accurate or not - particularly since nobody making those comments actually has any first-hand memories of the time period.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Yeah, I'm a little annoyed at the number of people who say are focusing on whether the language use is accurate or not - particularly since nobody making those comments actually has any first-hand memories of the time period.

Why be annoyed? It's a period piece, so one would expect the writers to do their due diligence with language, just as they do with contemporary events, fashion, automobiles, etc. Even in semi-Steampunk world like Peggy Carter's, verisimilitude is important-- maybe even more important, to compensate. It's usually not a big deal, but it's fun (and educational) to find possible discrepancies. As I said before, much of what I write is set in historical time periods and, being a history buff, I enjoy doing the research so that everything rings true-- and I will happily slip in an anachronism if it suits the story.

 

[Christopher]

...particularly since nobody making those comments actually has any first-hand memories of the time period.

Which is why we do research. First-hand memory is unreliable anyway.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I'm annoyed because people who nitpick don't do their research before complaining. It's why they're often wrong with it.

 

[The Old Mixer]

If you saw it as a complaint, you're reading it wrong. Loosen up, people.

A simple word search says nothing about the context in which a word is being used...words and phrases can take on new meanings over time. An example that pops in my head...you'd find plenty of uses of the word "gay" in the 40s and earlier, but if somebody on the show said, "That's so gay!" and they didn't mean "happy/joyous," it would be clearly anachronistic.

 

[Forbin]

If you saw it as a complaint, you're reading it wrong. Loosen up, people.

Uh oh - "Loosen up" doesn't replace "Lighten up" in colloquial speech until the early 2070s, and then only in the garment trade.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I always suspected that Old Mixer was just a humble tailor from the future.

 

[jbny67]

I hate when producers feel the need to shove musical numbers into their tv shows. I can't think of a time when I found it enjoyable.
At least it wasn't a "special" musical episode.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I don't even think it was a particularly good musical number.

 

[Mr Light]

It wasn't the catchiest song in the world but I loved that they did it. That was the era of musicals, after all.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Oh, Dottie, you so crazy.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Anyone else tickled that Thompson planned to turn the gamma cannon into a bomb? Nah, they wouldn't....

Odd bit of phrasing that stuck out at me: "110 percent" in context of giving extra effort has a very '80s ring to my ear. I checked, the phrase was in use, but the first couple pages of Google Books results from the appropriate time range all seem to be in an economics context.