VS in dialog (correction)

[Mark Sacks]

I agree that it feels like storytelling, so much so that I still can't
imagine anyone saying it for any other reason.

Marc
msacks at theworld.com

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> Poster:       Mark Mandel <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: VS in dialog (correction)
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> I agree. When I think of saying it that way it feels like storytelling --
> which *is *speech, but it's composed, planned for effect as is the kind of
> writing we're talking about here. In a casual note, email or otherwise,
> "said" phrase after quotation would seem out of place.
>
> So it's not actually a distinction of medium, written/spoken, but of
> casual/planned, or something like that. ISTM; do you agree?
>
> m a m
>
> On Jan 6, 2008 4:03 PM, Mark Sacks <msacks at theworld.com> wrote:
>
>> Oops--error caught in rereading. For some reason I turned "that's" into
>> "where's"; I apologize for the mistake. However, my examples, mutatis
>> mutandis, still seem appropriate; I don't think an actual person would
>> put
>> a "said" phrase at the end of a sentence. In writing, both forms seem
>> equally good.
>>
>> Marc Sacks
>> msacks at theworld.com
>>
>> -------
>> >
>> >>He notes that both of the following constructions appear in English
>> >>literature:
>> >>"'That's my car', said the Dutchman."
>> >>"'That's my car', the Dutchman said."
>> >>but has the impression that the former ("reversed-style") is more
>> >>common in older texts, while the latter ("regular-style") is dominant
>> in
>> >>more recent works.
>> >
>> > I have no idea which is/was more common. Both are frequent and
>> > ordinary now AFAIK. I just glanced at a few recent novels and I saw
>> > plenty of examples of both patterns ... as well as others, e.g.,
>> > <<The Dutchman said, "That's my car.">>, <<The Dutchman said: "That's
>> > my car.">>.
>> >
>> > Some authors seem to avoid these formulae [almost] completely,
>> > identifying the speaker (when necessary) by means of adjacent
>> > material. E.g., <<"That's my car." The Dutchman's voice echoed
>> > through the garage.>>, <<The Dutchman finally spoke. "That's my
>> car.">>.
>> >
>> >>[He's concerned specifically about "X said" vs. "said
>> >>X".] He asks, then, the following questions:
>> >>
>> >>"a) is it strange-sounding or pretentious to use reversed-style
>> dialogue
>> >>markers, that is, something frowned upon in modern English? (Read:
>> >>Don't do it.)
>> >
>> > Generally: no.
>> >
>> > However:
>> >
>> > (1) "Regular style" is usual with pronouns. <<"That's my car," he
>> said.>>
>> >
>> > (2) "Reversed style" seems more appropriate for a speaker identified
>> > by a long expression. <<"That's my car," said a tall blond Dutchman
>> > wearing a baseball cap.>>
>> >
>> >>b) does it carry some sort of archaic feel, which arguably could be
>> used
>> >>in my story (that is, my Natives use the reversed form and the
>> >>Newcomers the other), or would it just be confusing or seem as a
>> rip-off
>> >>of someone already having done exactly that as an
>> >>informational/emotional carrier?
>> >
>> > I believe it carries hardly any systematic feel at all in the
>> > original example and ones like it. I suspect most readers of fiction
>> > will not notice the difference at all (I surely don't).
>> >
>> >>c) are there geographical differences related to this practice?
>> >
>> > I don't know. Usually I don't know or care where a fiction author is
>> > located ... or is from.
>> >
>> > -- Doug Wilson
>> >
>> >
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