From: tbarnes@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes)
Subject: Avoiding OOP phrases
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 18:31:03 GMT

 Greetings All,

  This was meant to be a follow up post, but my newsreader got away from
me...

   Lothar's Rules for Avoiding Garishly OOP phrases.

1) LOOK UP A PERIOD SUBSTITUTE - The OED lists the first usage of a word
in English in the correct context.  jakes, garderobe, neccessitatas are
all period names/euphemisms for latrine. Toilet, WC and portacastle
aren't. Why use an OOP period phrase instead of an equally good period
phrase?

2) DEEMPHASIZE THE MODERN ASPECTS OF THE OBJECT - "Station Wagon" sounds
modern, "Wagon" sounds medieval, or even better "Wain". "Computer"
sounds modern, "Demon in a Box", "Scribe in a Box", "Golem" and a
million other euphemisms sound contrived, cutesy and have the effect of
being very modern sounding because they emphasize the "weirdness" of the
object in medieval society. Personally Lothar wouldn't touch anything
advertized as a "Demon in a Box" or a "Golem". Try "scribe", "machine",
"engine", or "servant". A computer is all of these things. Noone ever
said a servant had to be human.

3) IGNORE OR CHANGE ASPECTS OF A CONVERSATION THAT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE
OR FANTASTIC USING MEDIEVAL TECHNOLOGY. - Don't say "I took I-70 to the
airport, caught the 9:45 flight to Los Angeles International Airport,
rented a car and drove to the hotel" or "I'll sent you e-mail on
git-net" when you can say "I travelled X hours to reach my hostel" or
"I'll send you a message". Mundane specifics can be discussed at the
post-revel or in the parking lot. Of course you must be careful to get
you time scale right. If you say "I travelled 12 hours to get to Cathay"
you are describing a medieval fantasy. If you say "I travelled many
leagues/miles to Cathay" or "I travelled a long time to reach Cathay" a
medieval person might still think that you're a liar, but at least they
won't dismiss you as a blantant liar.
    This technique can be used to discuss mundane events at SCA events
while still maintaining a medieval facade. Even if both you and your
friend know that your "scribe" is actually a batch of silicon chips,
your "barber" actually has an MD and has performed "chiurgery" that
actually consisted of reducing an open fracture and pinning the bones
back together, and your "pilgrimage" actually took you to lands
undreamed of by medieval people, you can still talk in a way that a
medieval person might understand.

I offer the following glossary

autocrat - prob. o.k. as stands, but how about "host", or "steward". The
obvious choice of "Seneschal" is already taken.

feast-o-crat - "head cook", "butler", "cook"

dragon - "wagon", "wain", "cart", "chariot", "car"

computer - "scribe", "engine", "machine", "servant"

sewing machine - "seamstress"

washing machine - "laundress"

toilet - "jakes", "neccessitas", "garderobe"

telephone - "I will speak to you at your home", "Talk to me at home", "I
will speak with you later", I will call (you implied)". There doesn't
seem to be a good one word euphemism for this one.

printer - "press", "scriptorium"

glasses - "a pair of glasses", "spectacles", "lenses"

I'll bet that if the collected minds of the Rialto work on this we can
banish some of the more garish neologisms and verbal anachronisms from
the society.

Good Luck,

  Lothar \|/
          0



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