early 18th Century daily speak

[lwhitehead]

Hi I was watching Black Sails a supported Pirate TV show unlike Crossbones, and it's a good show but I was wondering how did they speak back then in the early 18th Century?, the talk on the show is 21th Century a lot of salt in it.

Example 81th Century swears, I don't believe that they were as complete as we know them today. Also we must count in Pigin that talk of those trying to get there point across do to the fact that Pirate crews were made up of different nations, and they didn't all speak them same words.

LW

[William Brand]

Language. That's where Black Sails gets so many things wrong. They use modern speech for the sake of the audience, but they also make the mistake of using modern context, which is a huge mistake. The primary example is the 'F' word, which the producers of the show argue is period. Is it period? Yes, but not in the same context. Today we use it as a replacement word for nouns, verbs, adjectives, the whole lot, but in the 18th century the 'F' word had very limited context. Imagine using the word 'party' as a verb in the 18th century. Party wasn't used as a verb until the 1920s, so the language is so badly used out of context on the show, that I can't watch it. I find it distracting, along with a thousand other things wrong with the show, but back to your question.

How did they speak back then in the early 18th Century?

It's a hard question. I've heard linguists say that we spoke less, or rather, more concisely. People didn't tend to openly ramble and babble about topics. There was more brevity with talking in general. Is that true? I've noticed a certain reservation of speech in records and stories, but I don't know. I think it would vary as much as language.

Insults and profanity were certainly different. Black Sails uses profanity like a deluge at times, but with no specific aim and variety, and the 18th century had so many different insults to choose from. There are whole dictionaries of the period devoted just to slang and much of that slang is insulting and specific. Why use the same words over and over when so much delightful slang existed? It's boring, and it certainly isn't clever. Because of this, the sailors of Black Sails come across as extras in a two dimensional world. It makes them cliche. The same mistakes were made in Spartacus. There was a chance to show the diversity of the wide Roman empire, but everyone was reduced to modern tropes and language.

A pirate of the 18th century would have the language and slings and barbs of Shakespeare at his fingertips, to say nothing of the longstanding and proud tradition of layering a good insult. Why call someone a f***er when you could call them a 'vain, unctuous, droning maggot-pie' or an 'infectious drip-wit'?

Also, period sentences tend to sound out of order to our modern ear. The structure of them was different in day to day language. Instead of "What time it is?" they would have said, "Have you the time?"

I'm rambling. It's a modern mistake.

I suggest that you start by reading the dairies of Pepys and canting dictionaries.

[Jas. Hook]

Try this read... Lobcocks and Fartleberries: 18th Century Insults to Confound Your Foes. Francis Grose

Jas. Hook

[Mission]

I agree with William - read some of the period books written by sailors and you'll not only get a reasonable idea about how people spoke (to a point - the language is often a bit more formal in books), but you'll also pick up some interesting information about sailing, privateering and piracy.

Here are a couple you don't hear about as much - Edward Cooke's A voyage to the South Sea and round the World, Alexander Hamilton's A New Account of the East Indies, Lionel Wafer's A new voyage and description of the isthmus of America and George Robert's (NOT Daniel Defoe's - it was misattributed in the 30s) The four year's voyages of Captain George Roberts.

You can also find more authentic material by reading some of the notes and letters written by pirates which have been collected in E.T. Fox's Pirates in Their Own Words. (That one's not free, though.) Because these are actual letters between people during the time, the language is a little less formal than what would be found in books. (Kind of like reading Pepys, except he was a middle class gentleman, not a sailor.)

There are also several interesting (and often amusing) threads here on the forum related to this.

Pirate Words and Phrases: Meanings, Origins, Etc. - A stitched together collection of conversations on period words and such

the pirate accent - which eventually turns towards words and phrases in use at the time as well

swearing among pirates alike

[JS1990]

Thank you for all of the replies to the OP - this is a great topic that I hope to follow. Thanks for the links too - I am already reading away! :)

Warm regards

JS

[Red Sea Trade]

I watched an episode of "Turn" last night, set in 1776. It is probably the most bizarre approach to period speech I have ever seen. The British all speak like Englishmen, but the Americans have either Scottish brogues or weird, Lucky Charms Irish accents. I am glad to see that the creators want to show that 18th century speech would be different from our own, but why the unlikely regional accents? Why are Long Islanders of English ancestry speaking like they are from the Land O' Blarney? Why is Robert Rogers, born in Massachusetts, talking like a refugee from "Trainspotting"?

[Red John]

Umm, very good point about "Turn" and I'm not sure why they do that with the accents, although I have enjoyed the show very much otherwise.

But as a general truth at least we do know that all Vikings speak with Scottish accents.

That we know thanks to the "How to Train your Dragon" movies, that is except the lead character and a few of his teenage friends (another quality series that we love, odd accents noted).

And, as everyone knows, of course all pirates have Scottish accents, except for that one guy that speaks with a drunk accent . . .

[Red Sea Trade]

I think Hollywood increasingly relies on "shorthand" to take the place of dialog, plot and characterization. Everyone makes fun of the old Westerns trope of "white hats=good guys, black hats=bad guys", but modern Hollywood is no better. You can always tell the villain--he has his waistcoat buttoned. You can tell the hero--his shirt is unbuttoned and he almost never wears a hat. Thus it is with language--too challenging to research actual swear words, accents or turns of phrase. Just have a character use modern profanity, unbutton his shirt and we know everything we need to know. It is also important to make sure the hero only has a very slight accent (think Jack Sparrow). The heroine, of course, should have a noticeable accent, just because it is hot. The villain, of course, should have a noticeable accent. Upper-crust British works best, regardless of his status, but any accent will do.

Edited May 26, 2015 by Red Sea Trade

[William Brand]

Thank you, Red Sea Trade. That made me laugh and it's so true it's sad.