Forum: Story Discussion and Feedback

Right, but
"Emend by Eclipse" is fairly different from most do-overs in that there are two of them, who explicitly know about each other from very early on. Anachronisms don't matter when the speech partner is a fellow time-displaced, they come up with code for the rest, stuff that can be said around people not in the know and not raise too many eyebrows.

and none of us were around in the mid 1800's - so presumably it's worth making an effort.

Or not.
If the author really succeeds in exclusively using the idiom spoken and written back then, most readers wont like his story, even have problems understanding it without the extensive use of a glossary.
Flavor the story with some use of the idiom, but don't overdo it. Probably state in the beginning of the story you used modern language to make reading easier.

Ever tried to read unedited prose printed in the 17th or 18th century or even the early 19th century? It's a PIA.

I don't think me reading German texts written back then is much different from you reading English texts of that time.

HM.

Ever tried to read unedited prose printed in the 17th or 18th century or even the early 19th century? It's a PIA.

I don't know what German was like back then, but in English literature that period favoured formal language and very long sentences with complex grammatical construction, but they also used a lot more punctuation which helped make it easier to understand. Of course, most of what I've read were classics; I'm sure there was a lot back then which was less readable, but which no one today bothers to study.

Aside from the fact that styles change, it's worth noting that it used to be common for books to be read aloud rather than reading being a solo activity. Families would read together in the evening with one person, usually the patriarch, reading aloud to everyone else. It was also common for public venues like coffee shops to host public readings of new titles. As late as the early 20th century many authors made most of their money by going on tours where they would do readings.

Some scholars think that part of the reason for the longer sentences is that they work well in spoken form. The modern style of having short sentences helps readers stay focused, but sounds clipped when spoken aloud.

The law lecturers teaching at the Inns of Court in London were / are called Readers. I've read a claim that this dates back to a time when there was only one set of books and the job of the Reader was to read them to the students.

Ever tried to read unedited prose printed in the 17th or 18th century or even the early 19th century? It's a PIA.

I don't think me reading German texts written back then is much different from you reading English texts of that time.

I have newspapers from the 1860's. They are quite easily understood.

If you're talking about the early 1700's, the following seems clear enough to me:

"It is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabbin-doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms. These mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in stroling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country, to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes."
~ A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift, 1729

As for the 1600's, I agree that works of that era require some effort. Quite a bit easier for me than reading a German text, however.

But as for stories of the old west, I think it's pretty rare for anyone to be so sheltered from movies and novels that they don't know what a "hoss thief" is, or that "outlaws" didn't get "strung up" for stealing one.

Like "Acreocracy"

"ocracy" is a well know suffix having to do with forms of government.

Anyone who knows what an acre (unit of land area, still used at least in the US) is will have little difficulty figuring this one out.

Murphy bed

hat is the difference between a wall bed and a Murphy bed?
What's the Difference Between a Murphy Bed and a Wall Bed ...
The Takeaway:

Over time, the terms "murphy bed" and "wall bed" have become nearly synonymous, but it didn't start out that way. Wall beds normally use wood frames and pistons. Murphy beds typically use metal frames and springs.

asynchronous

If this is not you being funny/clever (to see how many people don't spot it), you missed the spell-wrecker autodestructing Anachronous.

Official acts would have been in Latin; the primary language of the people would have been a dialect of Frankish.

At least at the court, the ruling class were Frankish warriors. The languages used by ordinary people were different in parts of Francia. In the northern part they spoke dialects of Frankish and related Germanic dialects, While in the southern parts Gallo-Roman dialects were spoken. Over the centuries the Frankish was replaced by French (Gallo-Roman) dialects in most parts of modern France.

HM.

about Charlemagne's court where the people were saying things like "Fuck my hot pussy with your huge cock."

That was not the High Middle Ages of courtly love, Minnesang, the Provençal troubadours and northern French trouvères.
So use of vernacular language at court is quite possible. Charlemagne couldn't read or write, not even his signature.
But – without knowing the details – I doubt "Fuck my hot pussy with your huge cock" was said in public, just because there was no place for bold women at court who dared to use such words in public.

HM.

there was no place for bold women at court who dared to use such words in public

Not at court, no. But the court men (and perhaps their wives and mistresses) would talk to each other outside the court. If nothing else, there would be bordellos or their equivalents visited by the lords and their sons.

I recall reading an article about the film A Knight's Tale (2001) and its use of anachronisms. As simple and placid as early Renaissance music sounds to us today, at the time it was brand new and exciting.

Thus, the film's use of classic rock isn't just a bit of fun, it is translating a specific historical element into a context that a modern audience would understand. Tournaments were exciting! The nobles wore interesting clothing and had fancy hairstyles (nothing like what is depicted in the film, but fancy then would be boring today). The music was lively and great for dancing. And so on.

The problem you would have with using "Yo, Homies!" in an early medieval story isn't that the audience can't suspend disbelief but that different elements of the audience will interpret that phrase differently. Unless you're specifically targetting a readership which you know will understand your usage, people from different backgrounds would interpret that phrase differently. Notably, some people see it as inherently disrespectful, some as situation dependent, and some as perfectly fine.