Forum: Author Hangout

Wheezer
12/24/2018, 6:08:58 PM

Ditto for fanny. In the USA it is another word for buttocks, not vagina or pussy.

I thought she was an American humorist, author and actress?

But (not butt, different word), I agree. It is just a minor annoying inconsistency. Like using bonnet for hood--or is it the trunk--or mum for mom, or lift for elevator, or combi for mini-bus, or utility--I think that's right--for a pick-up truck. Perfectly good words in their dialectic context, but they must be used appropriately for the desired dialect.

These terms, for me anyway, are almost as disconcerting as an older character saying that they never thought of being sexually attracted to 15 year old girls only to admit later in the story to having an affair with a barely 18 year old 30 years younger than themselves. An example of a discontinuity from a story I recently enjoyed.

kara

"Sweet fanny, Adams."

"Other phrases about:
People's names
What's the meaning of the phrase 'Sweet Fanny Adams'?
Nothing.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Sweet Fanny Adams'?
The eight-year-old Fanny Adams was murdered in Alton, England in August 1867 by Frederick Baker, a 24-year-old solicitor's clerk. Her dismembered body was found in a field near the town. sweet fanny adamsShe was buried in Alton cemetery. The inscription on the headstone indicates the strength of feeling against the murderer:

Sacred to the memory of Fanny Adams aged 8 years and 4 months who was cruelly murdered August 24th, 1867.

Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear Him who is able to kill both body and soul in hell. Matthew 10:28.

This stone was erected by voluntary subscription."

The case was the source of enormous public concern and newspaper reports of the time concentrated on the youth and innocence of the victim. Everyone living in England at the time would have known the name of 'sweet' Fanny Adams. With typical grisly humour, sailors in the British Royal Navy came to use the expression to refer to unpleasant meat rations they were often served - likening them to the dead girl's remains. Barrère and Leland recorded this usage in their A dictionary of slang, jargon and cant, 1889:

"Fanny Adams (naval), tinned mutton."

It wasn't until later that 'sweet Fanny Adams' came to mean 'nothing'. The term 'fuck all' has long been with us with that meaning, although how long isn't clear as politeness caused it not to be recorded in print until the 20th century. It surely dates back to at least the early 19th century. The coincidence of Fanny Adams' initials caused F.A. or 'Fanny Adams' to be used as a euphemism for 'fuck all'. Walter Downing, an Australian soldier who fought in Europe in the First World War, wrote an glossary of WWI soldier's slang called Digger Dialects in 1919. He is the first to record the link between F.A. (meaning 'fuck all') and Fanny Adams:

"F.A., 'Fanny Adams', or 'Sweet Fanny Adams' - nothing; vacuity."

I have noticed that you DO make that effort in your works, sir. Some writers seem to go to great lengths to maintain consistency in dialogue, some don't.

It is not usually a total buzz kill while reading, but it does drop a reader (at least me) out of the immersion in the story.

kara

As a non-US person living in the US, I no longer use terms like lift, bonnet, petrol... I use the appropriate US word, as I think most other Ausse ex-pats do. So, I think that an non-US character living in the US would not use the "non-US" term. But that's just me...

So, I think that an non-US character living in the US would not use the "non-US" term.

I would think a lot would depend on how recently they came to the use and whether or not it's intended to be a permanent relocation.

I would think a lot would depend on how recently they came to the use and whether or not it's intended to be a permanent relocation.

Exactly right. And some will even code-switch -- use Australian terms when talking/writing to other Oz people; and American terms (and spelling!) for US audience.

I am guilty of this code switching. Though not in a US / Non US situation. Even within the US there are regional slang... Pidgin in Hawaii for example. Having grown up in Hawaii I tend to drop back into pidgin with another pidgin speaker but otherwise use my normal California speak the rest of the time (okay, occasional bouts of Taglish sneak in also).