History Main / ArtisticLicenseLinguistics

** HollywoodApocrypha: TheThemeParkVersion of the Early Modern English used in the King James Bible, applied to all fictional religious texts.
** EverybodySpeaksEnglishInTheFuture

** EitherWorldDominationOrSomethingAboutBananas: An in-universe translation that comes up with two options, one of which is close to the intended meaning and one of which is ridiculously off.
** TranslationTrainwreck: What happens when a BlindIdiotTranslation is taken to extremes. Like an actual trainwreck, however, it can be [[GoodBadTranslation morbidly fascinating]].

** Everyone Speaks English in the future

Someone who gets a little too invested in pointing out these errors might be a GrammarNazi.

Many people assume "linguistics" to be all about correcting spelling, pronunciation and grammar "errors". In fact there is no such thing as objectively correct usage[[note]]True, as far as it goes, but there is a recognized difference between '''descriptive''' and '''prescriptive''' linguistics with widely differing aims.[[/note]], as languages evolve over time - linguists concern themselves with studying actual usage, warts and all. The following tropes are not strictly linguistics failures, simply poor usage:

There's a whole lot of science-related fail in fiction, with some fields of knowledge bearing the brunt worse than others. In the case of linguistics, the vast majority of people have no idea it exists, never mind the basics. Obviously, this includes writers. Indeed, the prevalence of this trope (and its relative lack of being noticed) can be attributed to this fact - most people recognize that when dealing with questions of physics, biology, chemistry, etc., they need to ask an expert (though many writers [[TheyJustDidntCare just don't care]]) - whereas with linguistics, most people don't even realize that there are experts to be asked, much less that their own knowledge is generally insufficient.

* YouKeepUsingThatWord: Words have meanings that are understood based on how speakers of the language use them. Some people think that using words counter to it's etymology or dictionary definition are improper and try to correct others.

* YouKeepUsingThatWord: Words have clearly-defined meanings. This is what happens when they get misused.

* AntiquatedLinguistics: TheThemeParkVersion of Victorian (essentially Present Day) English, spoken by everyone post-Regency up until the end of TheRoaringTwenties. [[hottip:*:This trope is present in most parodies of silent film, but pastiches of the 1930s onward sound much the same as the talkies of the period--normal.]]

Many people assume "linguistics" to be all about correcting spelling, pronunciation and grammar "errors". In fact there is no such thing as objectively correct usage[[hottip:*:True, as far as it goes, but there is a recognized difference between '''descriptive''' and '''prescriptive''' linguistics with widely differing aims.]], as languages evolve over time - linguists concern themselves with studying actual usage, warts and all. The following tropes are not strictly linguistics failures, simply poor usage:

* RougeAnglesOfSatin: [[SelfDemonstratingArticle Wan righters how Kant spiel really two heavenly in the spoil cheque fracture off there ward proctologist.]][[hottip:*:When writers who can't spell rely too heavily on the spellcheck feature of their word-processor.]]

* ConvenientlyPreciseTranslation: A perfect 1:1 translation achieved between disparate languages far more often than should be possible.

----

'''You Fail Linguistics:'''

'''You Fail [[TranslationTropes Foreign Languages:]]'''

'''Me Fail English?:'''

'''Linguistic Dissonance (AKA The Audience Fails Linguistics):'''

* NoPunctuationPeriod [[SelfDemonstratingArticle is when people dispense with punctuation entirely the result is difficult to read earning the ire of language purists to say nothing of most people who can read its especially inexcusable when combined with poor spelling andor grammar which makes it nothing short of incomprehensible]]

** ReLex: The language is just English with different words substituted for the English ones.

There's a whole lot of [[DidNotDoTheResearch science-related fail]] in fiction, with some fields of knowledge bearing the brunt worse than others. In the case of linguistics, the vast majority of people have no idea it exists, never mind the basics. Obviously, this includes writers. Indeed, the prevalence of this trope (and its relative lack of being noticed) can be attributed to this fact - most people recognize that when dealing with questions of physics, biology, chemistry, etc., they need to ask an expert (though many writers [[TheyJustDidntCare just don't care]]) - whereas with linguistics, most people don't even realize that there are experts to be asked, much less that their own knowledge is generally insufficient.

* RougeAnglesOfSatin: Wan righters how Kant spiel really two heavenly in the spoil cheque fracture off there ward proctologist.[[hottip:*:When writers who can't spell rely too heavily on the spellcheck feature of their word-processor.]]

* NoPunctuationPeriod is when people dispense with punctuation entirely the result is difficult to read earning the ire of language purists to say nothing of most people who can read its especially inexcusable when combined with poor spelling andor grammar which makes it nothing short of incomprehensible

* LanguageEqualsThought: Follows the controversial Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, that language dictates (and limits) the ideas people can have and how they experience the world.

** TranslationTrainwreck: What happens when a BlindIdiotTranslation is taken [[BeyondTheImpossible to extremes]]. Like an actual trainwreck, however, it can be [[GoodBadTranslation morbidly fascinating]].

* EternalEnglish: Ignores the process of linguistic change, with people 1,000 years ago or 1,000 years hence speaking in the same idiom as the creators.
* LanguageEqualsThought: Follows the largely discredited Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, that language dictates (and limits) the ideas people can have and how they experience the world.

* WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma: Frustratingly common mistakes of punctuation (especially, the use of a comma, where a colon or semicolon should go) in amateur--and professional--writing.

* PoirotSpeak: A foreign character will occasionally grasp for the right word, and will revert to his native language when stumped; however, the words in question will always be the ones the audience is likely to understand, rather than the sort of vocabulary a non-native speaker would have difficulty with.

* RougeAnglesOfSatin: Wan righters how Kant spiel really two heavenly in the spoil cheque fracture of there ward proctologist.[[hottip:*:When writers who can't spell rely too heavily on the spellcheck feature of their word-processor.]]

* RougeAnglesOfSatin: Wan righters how Kant spiel really two heavenly in the spoil cheque fracture of there ward proctologist.

* A foreign character will occasionally grasp for the right word, and will revert to his native language when stumped; however, the words in question will always be the ones the audience is likely to understand, rather than the sort of vocabulary a non-native speaker would have difficulty with.

* RougeAnglesOfSatin: Wan righters how Kant spiel really two heavily in the spoil cheque feature of there ward proctologist.

* RougeAnglesOfSatin: When righters who Kant spell rely two heavily on the spell cheque feature of there word processor.

[[redirect:YouFailLinguisticsForever]]