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

Re: OT: questions about Americanisms of a different sort - okay, not so much about YOUR fic ;-P

[sholio]

Ah yes, the good old days, back before they invented this "safety" thing, when playgrounds were actually FUN. *pounds walker on recycled rubber chips*

I know exactly what you're talking about, the big spinny wheels that would occasionally send smaller children flying off to god knows where. Those were awesome! We called them merry-go-rounds; I just checked with my husband to confirm, because merry-go-round (in the US, at least) is also another word for a carousel -- the carnival ride with the horses and lights. He remembers calling them that, too.

I'm not sure when they started to disappear, though. I definitely remember them from my childhood, along with the child-crushing (i.e. fun) variety of see-saw (which we called a teeter-totter more often than a see-saw). That would have been the early-to-mid 80s. By the time my brother got to be playground-age (late 80s/early 90s) I don't have any specific recollection of them, but it's possible that they could have been around -- I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention specifically.

I would imagine that if you set your story in a less urban area -- rural school districts would have less money to replace outdated playground equipment and/or less scrutiny from citizen watchdog groups -- it would be very plausible that the Winchesters could have played on such things.

Re: OT: questions about Americanisms of a different sort - okay, not so much about YOUR fic ;-P

[derry667.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It really has been bugging me.

Unfortunately, the fic absolutely, positively has to be set in LA (it's a crossover - I seem to be entangled by x-overishness).

I'm half-tempted to just say what the heck and leave the time anachronism there. Or I suppose, I could "hang a lantern on it" and have some character say how you just don't see those things anymore...

Coz, yeah, I'm slightly set on having Dean basically do what my brother used to and unintentionally ending up with a whole bunch of kids that he has to push on the thing. It's only "window dressing" really, but I've rather set my heart on it. ;-)

But merry-go-round, huh? That's what we called the horse-&-lights carnival ride too. I suppose there are essential similarities with the playground version.

So, cheers, mate!

Re: OT: questions about Americanisms of a different sort - okay, not so much about YOUR fic ;-P

[sholio]

Omigod, Dean and a gang of playground kids, that is just the cutest mental image EVER. Yes, you must. ;) I don't really think you'd be pushing credibility to have one of those things in your story -- I recognized it from your description, and I think the only thing I'd be thinking upon seeing it in a fic would be "OMG CUTE" rather than "Hey, wait a minute, didn't they discontinue making those in 1989?"

For all I know, they could have still been widespread at that point in time.

And now I want to go around to the playgrounds in town and see if they still have anything similar ... which makes me feel creepy and ancient and stalkerish. ;)