Date:  Thu, 7 Sep 1995 18:45:12 -0500

From:  Nancy Dray <nancy_dray[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UNEWS.UCHICAGO.EDU>

Subject: Anachronistic usage?



            Subject:                Time:4:56 PM

 OFFICE MEMO     Anachronistic usage?          Date:9/7/95

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The Linguistics Department at the University of Chicago got a call yesterday

(which I fielded) from someone working on a new film version of "Lolita,"

directed by Adrian Lyne. The caller was trying to find out whether certain

words and phrases in the screenplay are plausible for speech by characters in a

film set in 1947, or if they should be changed to avoid anachronism.  The

items are as follows (I've given glosses or context when she gave it to me):



(1) zit ('pimple')

(2) cool

(3) guy

(4) the use of "major" in the phrase "that's a MAJOR option"

(5) "get fucked"  (They know that "fuck" is an old term, but they're wondering

about "get fucked," in the following odd context: two girls are talking, one

says, "see you later, alligator," the other replies "in a while, crocodile,"

and the first comes back with "get fucked, Daffy Duck" (which of course also

raises the questions of when the "see you later, alligator" exchanges were in

vogue and when Daffy Duck appeared...).



I have some quick guesses for all of these, but I haven't checked any sources

yet (no time until the weekend). I wish I had asked for more context,

especially for "cool" and "guy"; the use of "cool" she's referring to may even

be the most recently fashionable one-word clipped response, but I don't know

for sure.



One idea I mentioned to her off the top of my head was to be mindful of

intonation, too, since I've seen a lot of historical shows involving teenagers

that had comically anachronistic intonation patterns, as well as some

anachronistic usage of current catch phrases. (I must admit, though, that some

of my awareness of anachronism is based on the Hollywood world, not the real

world---i.e., language from the 1950s and '60s sounds normal in a western,

because that's the way people talk in old westerns, whether or not it's the way

they actually talked in the Old West; language from the '90s, on the other

hand, sounds really funny in westerns.) I also will suggest that she be

cautious about accepting just any early attestation as confirming that a usage

is okay for any character in the movie, since some usages may have appeared

first in a very different context (e.g., there may be some early attestations

of a phrase among jazz musicians, but that doesn't mean a young white country

girl would be saying it).



But I think it's great that she bothered to check this, and that she knew to

seek out a linguist, so I'm trying to be as much help as I can. (Perhaps this

is an area where opportunities could be created for linguistic consultants and

public awareness could be raised concerning dialects, language change, etc.?)

The caller wanted the info ASAP (of course), and I promised I'd call or fax her

by Monday, Sept. 11, with whatever I had then. I'd therefore be tremendously

grateful for any help ADS-L readers might offer, including suggested references

(preferably on-line). Of course, if anyone feels like actually tracking this

down and sending me an answer I can simply fax to her, I'd be even more

grateful!



In any case, thanks much, greetings to all, and I hope to be seeing many of you

at the winter meetings in Chicago.



  Nancy L. Dray

n-dray[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uchicago.edu



*****Please note that I'm no longer on ADS-L, so EVEN IF YOU POST RESPONSES TO

THE LIST, PLEASE ALSO E-MAIL ME DIRECTLY******