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Reviews For When the Boat Comes In
The phrase at the beginning was so much like German that I could read it. I remember someone saying that 90% of our language is German while the remaining 9% is Norman French with the remaining 1% is any word we like - English never found a word it didn't like. Author's Response: Well, I wouldn't say 90% but, certainly, much of the core lexus is germanic. English is such a mongrel because we've been invaded so many times! The Angels and Saxons-to whom our language owes much of its germanic heritage- invaded England (Angel-land), a previously Celtic island, so successfully that, bar one or two Celtic words, Old Saxon was spoken through all England. Then we had the viking raids and they liked it so much that many settled in the Danelaw- a part of England which roughly equates to East Anglia. So, Saxon became infused with a liberal smattering of Old Norse. Then came the Norman invasion: the Nobles spoke French, the common men spoke Saxon: that is why pig meat is called pork, sheep meat is called mutton, cow meat is called beef, chicken is called poultry, etc- one word for those who raised the animals, another for those who ate them! Latin, of course, was the lingua franca- the language spoken by all scholars- and Greek and Arabic- languages of learned cultures- were also popular-and if you're going to spend all that time studying, you're going to want to use a few of those fancy words so everyone knows that you're educated. And, as so often happens, just as Norman French and Saxon were melding into Middle English, French became fashionable and, thus, a new wave of French words hit England and, as centuries had passed, they were somewhat different to the Norman French, i.e. cotton/ chiffon. If that was not enough languages to be getting on with, the British Empire started to expand: if you go off to visit foreign lands, you're going to bring home strange souvenirs and a smattering of new words: if you're going to revert to 'lunch' after you've been eating 'tiffin' as your midday meal, you might as well have stayed at home! Then, of course, we have Aussie and American soaps injecting words, videogames, manga and anime scattering Japanese and, of course, the modern obsession with cooking has brought in a fair few new words. This Frankenstein fusion of languages is why English spelling is somewhat idiosyncratic. Thanks for the review!
Author's Response: Thanks ^^. I thought that, seeing as how so many different cultures view snakes so positively, it's a perfect foundation for a 'House Pride' speech. Binns is legendarily boring; poor kids- history, when taught well, can be really exciting. Maybe they'll have a historian in their group, though ;)
Author's Response: Thanks ^^ This explanation is one that I've always considered to be the most rational, considering how the facts of Slytherins life generally seem at odds with his dark reputation.
Author's Response: Thanks ^^ Glad you liked it
Author's Response: Thanks ^^ I hope you continue to enjoy the story
Author's Response: Thanks ^^ I'm glad you're enjoying it: while I've seen many fics which reclaim Petunia at Vernon's expense, I've not seen any which reclaim Vernon, leaving Petunia as the abuser. However, in real life women are frequently the main/only abuser, so I thought I'd have a go at an abuse story written from the opposite angle.
Author's Response: Thanks, I hope you enjoy it ^^
Author's Response: Thank you. I hope you've continued to enjoy it ^^
Anyway, the writing was lovely, and I cannnot wait to continue reading. Good job and nice take on the story, -clearly Author's Response: Thank you! I'm really glad you've enjoyed this chapter and that my portrayal of Tobias achieved what I intended ^^ I hope you continue to enjoy this story
Author's Response: Thanks ^^ It's a gritty plot but with plenty of fluffy bits, so I hope it won't be too sad overall. |
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