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 Wormhole]

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 Wormhole]

"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.