Catalyst21 he/him Posted October 29, 2011 Posted October 29, 2011 (edited) "I think I'll go for a walk...." Grandpa Smedry said cheerfully. "Wasing not of wasing is," Quentin added. the above quote can be found at the end of chapter 16 (page 248 in my paperback). Edited October 29, 2011 by Catalyst21 5
darniil he/him Posted October 29, 2011 Posted October 29, 2011 Okay, so now I wonder: did Brandon pull a Tolkien and invent his own "language" (read: slang), or was this based off of something that Brandon was already familiar with? (Great catch, by the way. Sounds just like Spook's dialect.)
Catalyst21 he/him Posted October 29, 2011 Author Posted October 29, 2011 (edited) Okay, so now I wonder: did Brandon pull a Tolkien and invent his own "language" (read: slang), or was this based off of something that Brandon was already familiar with? (Great catch, by the way. Sounds just like Spook's dialect.) it is a direct quote: “I’m dying of anticipation,” Breeze said. He turned his cane toward Lestibournes. “Spook, drink.” Spook rushed over and fetched Breeze a cup of wine. “He’s such a fine lad,” Breeze noted, accepting the drink. “I barely even have to nudge him Allomantically. If only the rest of you ruffians were so accommodating.” Spook frowned. “Niceing the not on the playing without.” “I have no idea what you just said, child,” Breeze said. “So I’m simply going to pretend it was coherent, then move on.” Kelsier rolled his eyes. “Losing the stress on the nip,” he said. “Notting without the needing of care.” “Riding the rile of the rids to the right,” Spook said with a nod. “What are you two babbling about?” Breeze said testily. “Wasing the was of brightness,” Spook said. “Nip the having of wishing of this.” “Ever wasing the doing of this,” Kelsier agreed. “Ever wasing the wish of having the have,” Ham added with a smile. “Brighting the wish of wasing the not.” Breeze turned to Dockson with exasperation. “I believe our companions have finally lost their minds, dear friend.” Dockson shrugged. Then, with a perfectly straight face, he said, “Wasing not of wasing is.” Breeze sat, dumbfounded, and the room burst into laughter. Breeze rolled his eyes indignantly, shaking his head and muttering about the crew’s gross childishness. Vin nearly choked on her wine as she laughed. “What did you even say?” she asked of Dockson as he sat down beside her. “I’m not sure,” he confessed. “It just sounded right.” “I don’t think you said anything, Dox,” Kelsier said. “Oh, he said something,” Spook said. “It just didn’t mean anything.” Kelsier laughed. “That’s true pretty much all the time. I’ve found you can ignore half of what Dox tells you and not miss much—except for maybe the occasional complaint that you’re spending too much.” Edited October 29, 2011 by Catalyst21
darniil he/him Posted October 29, 2011 Posted October 29, 2011 No, I mean the dialect as a whole, not that one line.
Catalyst21 he/him Posted October 29, 2011 Author Posted October 29, 2011 No, I mean the dialect as a whole, not that one line. If you hate Spook's dialect, I apologize for this chapter. This is the place in the book where I spent the most time on it. I really like some of the phrases here—I tried to make the dialect focus on rhythm and sounds, making it alliterative and interesting simply to say out-loud. In case you need it, here's a loose translation of the exchange in this chapter: Spook: "It's not nice to play with people like that." Kelsier: "Oh, don't worry about what he does to you. He's not worth your concern." Spook: "You're probably right." Breeze: "What are you two babbling about?" Spook: "He wants to be clever. He pushes people around because he wants to prove that he is clever." Kelsier "He's always been like that." Ham "He's insecure. I think he worries that he's really not that clever."
legacyblade Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 Wasing not of the needing new meanings.
Triumvirate he/him Posted November 18, 2011 Posted November 18, 2011 I wish I could create languages. That's just so epic. Seriously, even a slang language would be cool. Gosh, to be a linguist...
Catalyst21 he/him Posted November 18, 2011 Author Posted November 18, 2011 (edited) Just found a quote from Brandon about this: source=http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/01/your-questions-for-brandon-sanderson-answered Why does Bastille say they’re speaking Melerandian in book 1 and Nalhallan from book 2 on? When I originally wrote Alcatraz Versus The Evil Librarians, I put that in there partially as a throwaway joke. Melerand is one of the main kingdoms in Dragonsteel, and I thought it would be amusing for them to be speaking that language somehow filtered into this world. By the end of the book I decided that Alcatraz could not be anywhere in the same continuity as Dragonsteel and that I was probably wrong for including that. Though there are other jokes in there relating to my other books—it’s much like the scene where Quentin speaks in Spook’s dialect. Those were just jokes, inside references to my other books. Edited November 18, 2011 by Catalyst21
Aeshdan he/him Posted December 13, 2011 Posted December 13, 2011 I always assumed that Quentin's talent somehow knew that that didn't make sense even in High Imperial. 1
Ironeyes Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 Okay, so now I wonder: did Brandon pull a Tolkien and invent his own "language" (read: slang), or was this based off of something that Brandon was already familiar with? It says in the annotations that he based the slang off of the way somebody in one of his forums spoke– I believe he describes it as poetic in an unintelligible way.
Djando Je he/him Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 I believe that Ironeyes is right. I remember reading that somewhere, probably in an annotation. Also in the Alcatraz annotation for chapter 16 he talks about this very quote, among other references he makes, including one of the talking British dinosaurs making a reference to Micheal Crichton. (I believe he calls this chapter something along the lines of 'My Chapter for Random Obscure References'.)
Elisheva Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 So does the Ryshadium mentioned on page 240 fall into the same category? Just a nice giggle for those of us who have read The Way of Kings?
PeterAhlstrom he/him Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 I noticed that Ryshadium thing recently, and I'm not sure if it's a reference or a complete accident.
Mistrunner Posted November 25, 2013 Posted November 25, 2013 I know for a certainty that it is a reference to Spook, because I asked Brandon Sanderson himself.
Morevna Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Did anyone else notice that one of them said Rothfussians (or something like that) once (I think they were swearing or something.
Swimmingly he/him Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Note also that the nonsense Quentin said is nonsense in the slang as well.
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