Early Criticism: What’s Unfounded and What Isn’t

[Detached Nacelle]

Didn't that terrible Will Smith film try and invent future slang or did they just invent future accents?

I haven't seen it since the trailer alone made me want pour sulfuric acid into my eye sockets

 

[fireproof78]

Didn't that terrible Will Smith film try and invent future slang or did they just invent future accents?

I haven't seen it since the trailer alone made me want pour sulfuric acid into my eye sockets

Yes.

As did Firefly.

And Star Trek.

And Zenon: Girl of the 21st century.

 

[Detached Nacelle]

And BSG

 

[fireproof78]

And BSG

I debated on that one but didn't think it fit due to it being before Earth.

 

[Set Harth]

Yes.

As did Firefly.

And Star Trek.

And Zenon: Girl of the 21st century.

And The Dark Knight Returns

 

[Mudd]

Firefly came closest to succeeding, but Whedon was wonderful with coining contemporary slang as well - "Buffyspeak."

I think a useful distinction is that he rarely - never? - made up words for Firefly. The worst of sci-fi slang are these meaningless syllables that track contemporary curse words - things like "frell" and "frak."

Repurposing of real vocabulary is on a different level.

 

[bdub76]

Slang done well works well. Check out P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster. It's practically its own language.

When it's done well, it really works.

 

[Ragitsu]

A pity his style of humor poisoned virtually everything thereafter.

 

[The Gatekeeper]

I think a useful distinction is that he rarely - never? - made up words for Firefly.

Yeah, I don't think any actual new words were created for Firefly. The "new" slang everyone remembers (at least, the only one which was in English) was saying "shiny" as a synonym for "cool."

And though that particular example did work, using pre-existing words in a new slang context is something that can be tricky to pull off as well. Like in Doctor Who comics from the 1990s, set in the future where young people call each other "child" like how today they might say "dude" or "bro" or whatever. It didn't work, and just added weirdness to it, and not good weirdness like Doctor Who usually has.

 

[Frontis]

I don’t believe teenagers will still say ‘bro’ more than a thousand years from now. It feels too much as if the show is about young people nowadays. They could’ve invented another word or something. I’ve just started watching, so I’ll wait with any more opinions.

Well generally I don't think it is a bad thing when young people call others they like "brothers" or "sisters".

 

[fireproof78]

for Firefly. The "new" slang everyone remembers (at least,

"Gorram"?

 

[Ragitsu]

Narrator: "It was - in fact - all founded."

 

[The Gatekeeper]

"Gorram"?

Gorram is an actual Chinese word, which roughly translated means "goddamn."

 

[fireproof78]

Gorram is an actual Chinese word, which roughly translated means "goddamn."

Today I learned.

 

[SpockOfNine]

Yeah, I don't think any actual new words were created for Firefly. The "new" slang everyone remembers (at least, the only one which was in English) was saying "shiny" as a synonym for "cool."

And though that particular example did work, using pre-existing words in a new slang context is something that can be tricky to pull off as well. Like in Doctor Who comics from the 1990s, set in the future where young people call each other "child" like how today they might say "dude" or "bro" or whatever. It didn't work, and just added weirdness to it, and not good weirdness like Doctor Who usually has.

I am trying to imagine a writer in the 90s penning the phrase "That's totes lit, fam!" or "Her eyebrows were on fleek!" and not being mercilessly ridiculed for writing terrible slang.

 

[The Gatekeeper]

I've never heard of the term "fleek" before and a quick Google search has left me even more confused.

 

[Ragitsu]

Speaking of neologisms...

Person X: "I can't"
Me: "Can't finish a sentence?"

 

[Fire(BOO!)]

I am trying to imagine a writer in the 90s penning the phrase "That's totes lit, fam!" or "Her eyebrows were on fleek!" and not being mercilessly ridiculed for writing terrible slang.

Well, they wouldn’t, since neither instances were 90’s slang. They would’ve used something in the vein of “rad” or “phat.”

If you’re gonna be outraged by something, perhaps land in the right decade first.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

@SpockOfNine you meant if someone in the 90s invented those words as imaginary futuristic Human slang back then, they would be criticized, correct?

 

[SpockOfNine]

Well, they wouldn’t, since neither instances were 90’s slang. They would’ve used something in the vein of “rad” or “phat.”

If you’re gonna be outraged by something, perhaps land in the right decade first.

My point is that real-world slang often sounds awkward or cringeworthy to people who didn't live through the period when it was popular. If a writer in the 1990s had somehow used slang that would later become common in the 2010s, it would probably have felt just as forced and cringe-inducing to contemporary readers as made-up future slang does.

@SpockOfNine you meant if someone in the 90s invented those words as imaginary futuristic Human slang back then, they would be criticized, correct?

Exactly!

Speaking of neologisms...

Person X: "I can't"
Me: "Can't finish a sentence?"