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Master and Commander


AliasGraceO'Malley

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Having struggled thru the books and the language, I'm wondering how much of it will be in the movie. Will they speak as they do in the book or will it be put in easier english for the masses?

Bein' a newbie to the terminology myself, I've been having a grand time figuring it all out. Sends me into me "research librarian" mode, it does. Googled the hell out of the topic and am finally getting just the faintest clue.

I love it, though. Love learning new things.

Here's to hoping they use as much of the terminology as they think they can get away with. After all, if they didn't, what on earth would they call everything aboard the Surprise, anyway? :lol:

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'allo!

I would think they'd at least lessen the amount a tad, wot fer all the Crowe fans that'll be seein' the movie... meanin' the ones that know nothing about nautical history or terminology and wouldn't understand a bloomin' word. I fancy they'll use some, but they'll make it understandable.

--Mab, thinkin' her post is pretty pointless :lol:

Prepare to be boarded!

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'allo!

I would think they'd at least lessen the amount a tad, wot fer all the Crowe fans that'll be seein' the movie... meanin' the ones that know nothing about nautical history or terminology and wouldn't understand a bloomin' word. I fancy they'll use some, but they'll make it understandable.

--Mab, thinkin' her post is pretty pointless :lol:

I think yer right...some compromise between O'Brien's prodigious vocabulary and typical Hollywood-ese seems the most likely.

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How many are goin' to see MASTER AND COMMANDER? How many are goin' en masse? How many are goin' in garb?

:o

Capt. William

Definitely goin' to the premiere.

Probably not goin' in garb.

Seems somehow disrespectful, goin' as a pirate to a movie 'bout the Royal Navy. :o

And besides, me garb ain't that great...! <----- Real Reason

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As far as the terminology goes, from what I saw on the history channel about the making of the movie, historical accuracy was paramount. They want this to be like a "window in time" to give the audience a brief glimpse of what life was really like on a ship. They claim it is accurate down to the smallest details and had experts on hand to keep it that way. I believe that they would not sacrifice the language, which would be the simplest part of it to replicate, when they've gone to such extremes to create the most accurate film possible. They even had mouth devices for the actors to wear so that they looked like they had bad teeth!

One thing for sure, it is a heck of a lot harder to read the terminology than it is to see it put into action in film or in real life. For example when the Captain shouts out

"hoist the top'sl mates!!!" and you see a bunch of guys run over and start hauling on the lines that are connected to one of the sails at the top of the mast you put two and two together and think

OH! "Top'sl" is a corruption of "top sail!" Now I get it! It has been much easier to learn the terminology standing on the deck and listening to Raul and the Captain then watching who grabs what. But beyond that, as reinforcement, I really like Darcy Lever's book from 1812, "A Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor" it is a true masterpiece of technical writing and technical illustration. It simplifies processes and makes them easy to understand with clear illustrations.

-Claire "Poison Quill" Warren

Pyrate Mum of Tales of the Seven Seas

www.talesofthesevenseas.com

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One thing for sure, it is a heck of a lot harder to read the terminology than it is to see it put into action in film or in real life.

VERY true. And actually, I find that the more I read narrative using the terminology, the more I get - albeit more slowly - because the authors DO, of course, have exposition detailing what people are doing in response to orders or with the objects mentioned. It's just more slow since an author might sometimes choose simply to have the order spoken and then turn to other matters of narrative, rather than being able to see the actual cause and effect on the screen.

The website for Master and Commander actually is pretty good on an educational level. Check it out!

Master and Commander Movie Official Page

I thoroughly enjoyed reading through it.

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Well, I think no matter who made the movie, there would be holes in it here and there. Although I don't know that it would be considered historically inaccurate to say "boat" although it is technically inaccurate.

We're human and some things are obvious. Kinda like when I get called a girl at age 41. Technically, I'm a woman, but calling me a girl occurs now and then in everyday language, even by people who interact with both women and girls on a daily basis and should be well aware of the technical differences. (see what I'm getting at?)

I'm betting there are lots of little things and I'm sure that M&C will get pulled apart at the seams by people searching for nylon thread. But at least the filmakers gave it every effort. That is more than most have done and I hope that M&C will be successfull so that more historic films will follow!

-Claire "Poison Quill" Warren

Pyrate Mum of Tales of the Seven Seas

www.talesofthesevenseas.com

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*looks under skirt, brow furrowed in confusion*

Does that mean being called a girl is a size/woman thing too?!!!! B)

I dunno m'dear. Being that I wasn't on a ship in the 1800's I really can't say what people said relaxed language. If it was ever said by the crewmen it was probably not recorded. Kinda like calling ship's guns cannons. I can vouch for the fact that that gets said on board in this day and age by seafaring folks. But whether that technical linguistic error was done by seafarers of 100 years ago, your guess is as good as mine!

But one thing I've learned is that people are people and our ancestors made technical linguistic mistakes too, just like we do. So... who knows really. But it's interesting to ponder.

-Claire "Poison Quill" Warren

Pyrate Mum of Tales of the Seven Seas

www.talesofthesevenseas.com

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Damn, I got on here too late, missed the history channel show. Maybe it will run again. I'll be going to see what they do with the book. There are alot of O'Brian fans out there looking for authenticity. i would love to see some of the original book language, as I feel it will help me with the book reading, in the same way that watching Hamlet helped me with Shakespeare. I suspect if we were familiar with the language of the time, we would know that they, like us, didn't always use the correct terms. They had common use words which were considered interchangeable by the masses. And on the ships there could be men with varying levels of sea time as well.

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I hope they keep in as much of the terminology as possible, it sounds more authentic that way. And I agree that it will be easier to understand in a movie, because you can compare what's said to what's going on.

I think this was the only series that I've had to buy a vocabulary book for, though. :huh:

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