History Main / RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic

Some literary work has an ambiance that's simply incompatible with natural speech; for example, FairyTales.

[[/folder]]

People in fiction don't speak like we do. In Real Life people stutter, pause, repeat themselves, correct themselves, go off on tangents, have verbal tics, use, like, filler words, trail off, drone on, mumble or slur their words, repeat themselves, talk over each other, use bad grammar, and more.

* Although ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' also applies for the first kind, other characters fit here. Tavros has a tendency to speak very awkwardly with lots of 'uhh's 'err's, to highlight his nervous, dorky personality, while Roxy is [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl perpetually drunk]] and has a tendency to make spelling errors she sometimes corrects. So what happens when [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=002999 the very awkward Tavros tries to troll the incredibly eloquent Dave?]] One of the most popular SugarWiki/FunnyMoments in the entire series:

* ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' has examples both ways. It mostly has no voice acting, and contains unrealistically good diction in the written dialogue, but when there's a brief voice acted bit by [[spoiler: Monika]] before the end credits, she sounds, like, a lot more hesitant and stuff than in writing. (She also sounds unpolished like that in writing when she [[SelfDemonstrating/{{Monika}} visits TV Tropes]].) The side stories in ''DDLC Plus'' also contain such written hesitations, although not to the point of being all the way realistic.

* ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' has examples both ways. It mostly has no voice acting, and contains unrealistically good diction in the written dialogue, but when there's a brief voice acted bit by [[spoiler: Monika]] before the end credits, she sounds, like, a lot more hesitant and stuff than in writing. (She also sounds unpolished like that in writing when she [[SelfDemonstrating/{{Monika}} visits TV Tropes]].)

* ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' has examples both ways. It mostly has no voice acting, and contains unrealistically good diction in the written dialogue, but when there's a brief voice acted bit by [[spoiler: Monika]] before the end credits, she sounds, like, a lot more hesitant and stuff than in writing. She also sounds unpolished like that in writing when she [[SelfDemonstrating/{{Monika}} visits TV Tropes]].

* Averted ''entirely'' by the Phone Guy in ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' during his recordings for the player. He stutters, hesitates, stumbles over some words, repeats himself, goes silent as if to think, trails off during sentences, offers random interjections of 'okay?', says 'um' and 'uh' quite a bit, and generally really does sound like some guy who's just recording a message for the player without a script and just going off the top of his head. The one exception is when he tells the company introduction since he's [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome probably reading it from a piece of paper]].

!!Spontaneous Eloquent Monologue (CharacterFilibuster)

* Like, ''Series/MySoCalledLife'' liked to use "like" a lot, to make it, like, sound more, like, real. It worked, like, really well.

People in fiction don't speak like we do. In Real Life, people repeat themselves, stutter, pause, correct themselves, go off on tangents, have verbal tics, use, like, filler words, trail off, drone on, mumble or slur their words, repeat themselves, talk over each other, use bad grammar, and more.

In fiction, characters always communicate in well-formed sentences. Sometimes they go further and speak with Creator/WilliamShakespeare-like eloquence, using [[TalksLikeASimile similes]] and metaphors that most people in real life aren't clever enough to come up with on the spot or even at all. They never stumble over their words or say the wrong thing (unless it's important to the plot). Even "realistic" dialogue is relatively free of errors and padding. It's almost as if it was written by a professional.

[[spoiler:Western Animation]]

* Averted ''entirely'' by the Phone Guy in ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' during his recordings for the player. He stutters, hesitates, stumbles over some words, repeats himself, goes silent as if to think, trails off during sentences, offers random interjections of 'okay?', says 'um' and 'uh' quite a bit, and generally really does sound like some guy who's just recording a message for the player without a script and just going off the top of his head. The one exception is when he tells the company introduction since he's [[RealityEnsues probably reading it from a piece of paper]].

* Creator/EddieIzzard uses a lot of placeholders and verbal stumbling in his stand-up delivery, though the routines themselves are pretty meticulously prepared. It works quite well.

* ''Literature/SafeHaven'' has a suprisingly realistic diction for a romantic film, with a lot of stammering, talking over each other, repetition of words, and natural delivery. It's an interesting contrast with the [[Film/AWalkToRemember many,]] [[Film/TheNotebook many,]] [[Film/MessageInABottle many]] [[Literature/TheLastSong other]] ''Creator/NicholasSparks'' adaptations, which are infamous for having modern and unrealistic PurpleProse. It also stands out as noticeably different from the book it's adapting, which is pretty much your standard Sparks novel.

* The first incarnation of the Doctor in ''Series/DoctorWho,'' whose speech pattern came from the fact that Creator/WilliamHartnell kept flubbing his lines. Since the brand-new video technology was [[TechnologyMarchesOn positively archaic]] at the time(edits would be performed by literally taking a razor blade to the magnetic tape, which was difficult to do when the frames couldn't actually be seen with ease[[note]]the emergence of computerized editing software in the 80's made it far easier to do this[[/note]]), all video recordings were done "live" like a stage play and reshoots were very rare and costly, meaning the gaffes were just left in. This also led to other very visible flubs, like a moment in ''The Web Planet'' where an actor in a monster costume with limited visibility walks directly into a studio camera while it's recording.

* The first incarnation of the Doctor in ''Series/DoctorWho,'' whose speech pattern came from the fact that Creator/WilliamHartnell kept flubbing his lines. Since the brand-new video technology was positively archaic by the standards of the Adobe Premiere era (edits would be performed by literally taking a razor blade to the magnetic tape), all video recordings were done "live" like a stage play and reshoots were very rare and costly, meaning the gaffes were just left in. This also led to other very visible flubs, like a moment in ''The Web Planet'' where an actor in a monster costume with limited visibility walks directly into a studio camera while it's recording.

In fiction, characters always communicate in well-formed sentences. Sometimes they go further and speak with Creator/WilliamShakespeare-like eloquence, using [[TalksLikeASimile similes]] and metaphors that most people in real life aren't clever enough to come up with on the spot or even at all. They never stumble over their words or say the wrong thing (unless it's important to the plot that they do). Even "realistic" dialogue is relatively free of errors and padding. It's almost as if it was written by a professional.

** NeilFlynn as The Janitor improvises quite a bit of his dialogue and goes off on some pretty in-depth and quite wacky/surreal stories of questionable authenticity. Of course, there's plenty of outtakes where, in his attempts, he just completely derails.

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[[BrickJoke Repet]][[NonSequitur ition]]. [[TheStinger Er, wait...]]

Note that this trope is an AcceptableBreakFromReality; real dialogue can be unreadable. Journalists [[GenreSavvy know]] that anyone can be made to look stupid in an interview simply by exactly writing down their speech, word for word. Verbal imperfections that we automatically filter out face-to-face become grating when written down. [[note]]A detailed exploration of this can be found [[http://gavthorpe.co.uk/2008/05/07/realism-is-fake/ here]].[[/note]] We enjoy the fruits of script-writing and acting more when they are free to be polished. Part of the reason is to make speech come across [[RealityIsUnrealistic the way it's heard]] [[RuleOfPerception rather than the way it is]]; humans are well-adapted to interpret speech, and as a result, what we experience is an interpretation of speech rather than a recording of it. Also falls under TheLawOfConservationOfDetail -- because the time it takes for a character to correct themselves could be used for more dialogue.

Note that this trope is an AcceptableBreakFromReality; real dialogue can be unreadable. Journalists [[GenreSavvy know]] that anyone can be made to look stupid in an interview simply by exactly writing down their speech, word-for-word. Verbal imperfections that we automatically filter out face-to-face become grating when written down. [[note]]A detailed exploration of this can be found [[http://gavthorpe.co.uk/2008/05/07/realism-is-fake/ here]].[[/note]] We enjoy the fruits of script-writing and acting more when they are free to be polished. Part of the reason is to make speech come across [[RealityIsUnrealistic the way it's heard]] [[RuleOfPerception rather than the way it is]]; humans are well-adapted to interpret speech, and as a result, what we experience is an interpretation of speech rather than a recording of it. Also falls under TheLawOfConservationOfDetail -- because the time it takes for a character to correct themselves could be used for more dialogue.

People in fiction don't speak like we do. In Real Life, people repeat themselves, stutter, pause, correct themselves, go off an tangents, have verbal tics, use, like, filler words, trail off, drone on, mumble or slur their words, repeat themselves, talk over each other, use bad grammar, and more.

Note that this trope is an AcceptableBreakFromReality; real dialogue can be unreadable. Journalists [[GenreSavvy know]] that anyone can be made to look stupid in an interview simply by exactly writing down their speech, word-for-word. Verbal imperfections that we automatically filter out face-to-face becomes grating when written down. [[note]]A detailed exploration of this can be found [[http://gavthorpe.co.uk/2008/05/07/realism-is-fake/ here]].[[/note]] We enjoy the fruits of script-writing and acting more when they are free to be polished. Part of the reason is to make speech come across [[RealityIsUnrealistic the way it's heard]] [[RuleOfPerception rather than the way it is]]; humans are well-adapted to interpret speech, and as a result, what we experience is an interpretation of speech rather than a recording of it. Also falls under TheLawOfConservationOfDetail -- because the time it takes for a character to correct themselves could be used for more dialogue.

People in fiction don't speak like we do. In RealLife, we encounter:

* Repetition.
* [[PorkyPigPronunciation Stu-stut-stuttering]], slllurrring, lithping, or mumbrbl[[note]]mumbling[[/note]].
* [[{{Malaproper}} Collecting]] yourself, sorry, no, correcting yourself.
* Whatsitcalled, um… disfluencies, you know, placeholders while you think.
* And, like, being [[LikeIsLikeAComma all, like, incorrigible]] with their use of "like."
* Some sentence when the grammar ain't no good.
* [[{{Angrish}} Stupid people talking like they're god-damned angry]], you stupid[[SymbolSwearing @#$%]]razzafrazza*mumblegrumble*...
* [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Repetition]].
* Going off on [[LeftFielder tangents]] which aren't [[SeinfeldianConversation relevant]] to the plot. [[InherentlyFunnyWords Like platypi. Or falafels]]. (This is heard quite frequently in fiction thanks to RuleOfFunny, but in RealLife it's unlikely that listeners would [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment just let the tangents slide]]).
* Making private references or inside jokes that casual listeners would never understand. Isn't that right, Reginald?
* People getting interrupted hal--
* Awkward silences and spaces where people… [[note]]think[[/note]].
* [[RunningGag Repetition.]]
* [[VerbalTic Verbal Tics]], [[MemeticMutation desu]].
* [[PerfectHealth Sneezing, coughing]] and *cough* *cough*, ahem, and so on.
* Gasping, hiccuping, e-e-e-especially if you're ''*gasp*'' crying.
* Just letting sentences kinda…
* Pauses or, y'know, interjections -- right? -- to make sure that the person understands. Get it?
* [[{{Malaproper}} Saying the wrong word by accident]], and hoping nobody else involved in the [[SelfDemonstratingArticle constipation]] will notice.
* Being unable to choose from bemongst two words before the sentence comes out and blixing them. (This only ever happens in fiction to set up an unintentional DoubleEntendre or ThatCameOutWrong situation.)
* Oh, and sentence fragments. Obviously.
* Mispronounication and neologisms (to describe unwordiness).
* Children not talking as eloquently as [[MostWritersAreAdults adults do]].
* Uptalking? As if people were pronouncing every sentence as if it were a question? Except the last.
* Foreigners, which often apply [[StrangeSyntaxSpeaker speech constructs from own native tongue]] only because, that they not grew in English-speaking medium. More subtle than the PoirotSpeak.
* Disjointed syntax and backpedaling. For example, making a LongList of things, trailing off, starting to move on to the next topic, and ''then'' remembering one or two more things for the list and mentioning them, such as "We need [[BreadEggsMilkSquick eggs, milk, bread]]… basic, everyday things, you know… cold cuts, cheese, [[BuffySpeak that kind of thing]]."
* Impossibly long sentences where the speaker drones on and on but never stops to begin a new sentence so they just keep tossing in conjunctions like "and," "but," and "so" and in that way turn what should be a paragraph into a single sentence… and, unlike in fiction, people who speak this way may also pause at regular intervals… drawing the never-ending sentence out ''even more''.
* [[StupidlyLongFillerSound Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....]] fillers sounds. Such as, uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....
* Excessive out-loud description of events or objects in front of the speaker, often to the person performing whatever is being described or [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall to an audience that the speaker isn't actually aware of]].
* Sentence structure with oddness.
* [[OverlyLongGag Oh, and did we mention]] [[{{Bookends}} repetition?]]

In fiction, characters inevitably come out with well-formed sentences. They may have a poetic flavor filled with Creator/WilliamShakespeare-like [[TalksLikeASimile similes]] and luminous golden metaphors that most people in real life aren't clever enough to come up with on the spot or even at all. They never stumble over their words or say the wrong thing except for [[RuleOfFunny deliberate comedic effect]]. Even "realistic" dialogue is relatively free of errors and padding. It's almost as if it was written by a professional.

This trope is an AcceptableBreakFromReality; real dialogue can be unreadable. Journalists [[GenreSavvy know]] that anyone can be made to look stupid in an interview simply by exactly writing down their speech, word-for-word. Verbal imperfections that we automatically filter out face-to-face become stark and grating when written down. [[note]]A detailed exploration of this can be found [[http://gavthorpe.co.uk/2008/05/07/realism-is-fake/ here]].[[/note]] We enjoy the fruits of scriptwriting and acting more when they are free to be polished. Part of the reason is to make speech come across [[RealityIsUnrealistic the way it's heard]] [[RuleOfPerception rather than the way it is]]; humans are well-adapted to interpret speech, and as a result, what we experience is an interpretation of speech rather than a recording of it. Also falls under TheLawOfConservationOfDetail -- because the time it takes for a character to correct themselves could be used for more dialogue.