For me, language is a staircase that leads me to my other world. The English we speak today is not the English of two hundred years ago. Apart from the thousands of new words and phrases coined to describe the huge technical and industrial developments of the intervening centuries, the meaning of many existing words has changed. Slang and catch-phrases wander into fashion and out again. And so, parallel to writing, I read. Contemporary novels, diaries, plays, essays, magazines, advertisements, newspapers—whatever comes to hand. Apart from providing essential insights into the way people thought and lived then, they also help form an appreciation of the language they used.
If I were to attempt to write in exactly the style of those long-ago authors, I would end up with an inert pastiche that would neither attract nor hold a modern reader. I therefore try to convey the flavour of the period in my writing with slight variations of syntax and a carefully chosen vocabulary that avoids verbal anachronisms. If I’m not sure whether a word or phrase was used in the way I want to use it during the regency I double-check. With considerable etymological and historical information, the following are invaluable sources of authentic vocabulary and style.
The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles 1936
A Dictionary of the Underworld, Eric Partridge 1959
A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English Eric Partridge, Reprinted 1982
Captain Grose’s 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue gives a fascinating insight into Regency slang and cant, most of which would not have been used in the presence of let alone by ladies; today we would describe it as 'not safe for work'.
If I were to attempt to write in exactly the style of those long-ago authors, I would end up with an inert pastiche that would neither attract nor hold a modern reader. I therefore try to convey the flavour of the period in my writing with slight variations of syntax and a carefully chosen vocabulary that avoids verbal anachronisms. If I’m not sure whether a word or phrase was used in the way I want to use it during the regency I double-check. With considerable etymological and historical information, the following are invaluable sources of authentic vocabulary and style.
The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles 1936
A Dictionary of the Underworld, Eric Partridge 1959
A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English Eric Partridge, Reprinted 1982
Captain Grose’s 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue gives a fascinating insight into Regency slang and cant, most of which would not have been used in the presence of let alone by ladies; today we would describe it as 'not safe for work'.