The Disambiguation Thread

[sholio]

This followed from a conversation with with_apostrophe, who pointed out (very aptly) that American fic writers don't tend to consider people from other countries when they throw cultural references into their stories. I was trying to figure out how to annotate mine in a way that wouldn't be obtrusive or annoying, and also trying to figure out just what needed to be annotated. What's obscure and what's well-known? Eventually I came up with this instead.

Here is where you post questions about my stories. It can be a reference that you didn't get, or something plotwise that didn't make sense, or why I made a particular story decision, or, heck, somewhere that I screwed up on technology or medicine or grammar. Remember:

- There are no stupid questions (no matter what Rodney McKay might claim).

- Questions that are critical of my stories are fine. I wouldn't have posted this thread if I minded being asked about something.

Ready ... set ... ask!

(Note: The word disambiguation is snurched from Wikipedia.)

Comments

[with-apostrophe.livejournal.com]

These are not in one of your stories as far as I'm aware, and like Ang, I don't recall any off-hand, but what are "Smores" and what are "Snickerdoodles". 'Cause the first sounds like someone's trying out the famous line from "Oliver Twist" and slurring the words together, and the second sounds like someone scribbling on a chocolate bar. They turn up regularly in SGA fic.

[sholio]

Snickerdoodles are sugar cookies with cinnamon and sugar sprinkles. They're not actually that common in real life -- either that, or they're regional and I happen not to be in a region that does that; I've heard of them and had one once or twice, but we didn't make them when I was a kid.

Smores are a campfire food. I blame the Boy/Girl Scouts for the ubiquity of this one, because pretty much *everyone* in the U.S. who has camped out has probably made them at some point, even though they're sort of nasty (IMHO). They consist of two graham crackers with a marshmallow and a couple squares of a Hershey chocolate bar sandwiched between them. Either the marshmallow or the chocolate is heated up beforehand so that the filling is all squooshy. I could totally see John teaching Teyla and Ronon to make smores, and Teyla thinking they were nasty and Ronon just giving up on the busywork and eating the entire bag of marshmallows...

[nebbyjen.livejournal.com]

Um.. ever try a s'more with Reese's peanut butter cups instead of chocolate bars? Yum! I can picture Shep teaching them the fine art of cooking marshmallows on a stick, Ronon setting his on fire and it falling into the flames.

[sholio]

No, I've never tried that -- but I love Reese's cups, so it sounds worth a try! I think the aspect of smores that I find kind of nasty is the over-abundance of marshmallow; it's like a mouthful of marshmallow with a little bit of chocolate and graham cracker around it. Maybe I'm making them wrong...

[winter-elf.livejournal.com]

you use small, super toasted marshmellows and lots of chocolate :) that's my trick at least!

[with-apostrophe.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you.

[winter-elf.livejournal.com]

must be just my family. I've always made snickerdoodles :) And they are some of my friends favorites because of the slightly 'tart' taste from the cream of tarter rather than the usual suger taste from a sugar cookie.

[arionchan.livejournal.com]

Oh god I love Snickerdoodles. They are delicious beyond all telling. And you can buy them at the market in Minnesota. ^_^ Or at least my little corner of it. Though I've found them really hard to find just about anywhere else. ^_^