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

[leesa_perrie]

Please, no need to hit the poor defenceless desk! (And, ow! We need your brains intact for all those wonderful stories you're going to write...)

Dukes of Hazzard - anyone in their thirties should get them, and of course the recent film would help with that.

I guess in the end, you can't always know what is cultural or not all the time! I didn't know that zuchinni was what we call courgettes (funny that neither country uses a fully English name for them!) - or that egg plants were what we call aubergines until reading various American fanfics (and talking to American fans via the net).

Oh well, gotta go. Hubby wants the comp!!