Is there a GitP dialect?

[super dark33]

So i watched this video by the PBS Idea Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDPasRas5u0

And naturally, i thought of InternetHome: Giant in the Playground.

So I ask you, do you think there is a GitP dialect?

[Tvtyrant]

So basically it is referencing a mixture of subject jargon and collectively held values?

Sure, the D&D/GitP community has a massive emphasis on legalistic interpretations, which shows up in the D&D, comic thread, and especially versus threads.

It also has jargon like RAW, RAI, Oberon Fallacy, Snowbluff Axiom, Rudisplork (newest one I think), Grod's Law, Monkday, etc. These make no sense to an outsider, and act as a barrier to entrance into the community.

Also celebrity posters exist on the forum, who act as shorthand for certain viewpoints.

[Pyromancer999]

So basically it is referencing a mixture of subject jargon and collectively held values?

Sure, the D&D/GitP community has a massive emphasis on legalistic interpretations, which shows up in the D&D, comic thread, and especially versus threads.

It also has jargon like RAW, RAI, Oberon Fallacy, Snowbluff Axiom, Rudisplork (newest one I think), Grod's Law, Monkday, etc. These make no sense to an outsider, and act as a barrier to entrance into the community.

Also celebrity posters exist on the forum, who act as shorthand for certain viewpoints.

It is a dialect with certain Jargon, but it's not exclusive to GiantITP. The jargon is shared by several websites that discuss the legal aspects of 3.5 and the like, so technically not a GiTP dialect, as it's not exclusive to GiTP.

There are a couple terms that are exclusive to GiTP, like Rudisplork, but that is not enough to constitute a whole dialect, and is more just some people making up new words as they go. Not sure if people can come to a consensus on what terms like that mean, for at least some of them.

So, a bit of gray area, but overall no dialect, I'd say, although there is potential for one to form.

[Lord Raziere]

It certainly does, though by such a measurement, I don't really possess the dialect or really am a part of the community, since I do not like legalistic interpretation or use any of that lingo myself, despite being here for some time myself. But there are exceptions to every community I guess. such things mostly come up in threads I mostly avoid.

[Tengu_temp]

Using blue text for sarcasm is unique to the GitP forums, as far as I know. And I don't mean that in a good way.

[Archonic Energy]

AFONAL day. almost all links go back here
also we may have the most posts of a particular comic involving birthdays and Death's abacus
*stabbity*
The feud
white text? I'm not sure about it, but while I'm here... *stab the hippie*

[Heliomance]

There is no dialect, citizen. Go back to your fun.
Bananas.

[Jayngfet]

So I ask you, do you think there is a GitP dialect?

Most people use DM instead of GM or another specific game term to refer to the person running the game. Mostly because this is a comic based on a DND game and most of our other long discussed gaming comics are DND based.

Then of course comes the inevitable euphemisms. Mainly because of the fact that GITP forums are supposed to somehow be more kid friendly than every single other thing on the site, and most of the prominent posters who were ever that young to begin with have long since become adults.

[KuReshtin]

The yellow berry/fruit that we do not talk about.
The one that is harvested from trees that walk.

[Knaight]

Using blue text for sarcasm is unique to the GitP forums, as far as I know. And I don't mean that in a good way.

It's also basically dead. It was a localized linguistic fad which never really attained particularly widespread use, and has now gone out of fashion.

[geonova]

At least in the 3.5 threads we use Swordsage'd instead of Ninja'd, mainly because a swordsage is a better ninja than a ninja.

[RabbitHoleLost]

I know, back in my hayday's on this forum, that there were lots of words and phrases used specifically in SMGB and FFRP/Town that could have counted as a dialect specific to that particular subsection of the boards.
But skimming through it, none of that has survived, really.

[Archonic Energy]

It's also basically dead. It was a localized linguistic fad which never really attained particularly widespread use, and has now gone out of fashion.

that reminds me, I was going to try to start a thing where everything in dark orange needs to be read in a British accent*.



* the reader gets to pick which British accent. I would default to west country because why wouldn't you

[Eldan]

Heck, we even have subaccents by board. And sometimes subgroups on board. The TW crew is pretty tight-knit, though we mostly hang out on Skype these days. On the other hand, whenever I have a look into Friendly Banter (especially Random Banter) or Art, I'm quite confused.

[Bulldog Psion]

Blue sarcasm appears to be alive and well to me.

[valadil]

Using blue text for sarcasm is unique to the GitP forums, as far as I know. And I don't mean that in a good way.

I'm not a fan of that, but I do like red mod text.

[Lord Magtok]

Is the United States still Trogland? That's still a thing, right?

[nedz]

At least in the 3.5 threads we use Swordsage'd instead of Ninja'd, mainly because a swordsage is a better ninja than a ninja.

Also Monk'd, which is a bit like Swordsage'd except it was a little slow off the mark — like someone said the same thing two pages ago.

[Aedilred]

Like Pyromancer, I don't think I'd say there's a GITP dialect. Accent is - orange text notwithstanding* - indistinguishable, and syntax and grammar is as anywhere else where English is spoken, or at least typed.

There is some apparently unique vocabulary, but it's hardly universal, often confined to individual threads, boards or cliques, or conversely used commonly with other communities. At most there's probably more of a GITP-specific lexicon. Maybe jargon.


*Why wouldn't you indeed.

[Archonic Energy]

morning farmer Lister. I'm just popping down the shops in my submarine can I buy you anything?

[Grinner]

morning farmer Lister. I'm just popping down the shops in my submarine can I buy you anything?

I couldn't help but read that with a Southern accent (Andy Griffith's, specifically).

It's not working.

[Mauve Shirt]

The GITP dialect is subtle, but can be described as a veneer of sweetness over some of the most intense passive aggression you've ever encountered.

We have memes that are specific to the playground, but memes do not make a dialect.

[Graypairofsocks]

Using blue text for sarcasm is unique to the GitP forums, as far as I know. And I don't mean that in a good way.

Could you elaborate on this?

[nedz]

morning farmer Lister. I'm just popping down the shops in my submarine can I buy you anything? I couldn't help but read that with a Southern accent (Andy Griffith's, specifically).

It's not working.

My thought was Rimmer, Arnold J.

[Eldan]

Could you elaborate on this?

Can't speak for other posters, but I think clearly marking sarcasm with something like an irony mark or a colour defeats the entire purpose of being sarcastic in the first place.

[nedz]

Can't speak for other posters, but I think clearly marking sarcasm with something like an irony mark or a colour defeats the entire purpose of being sarcastic in the first place.

In verbal communication sarcasm is often denoted by tone of voice. I've occasionally run into situations where posters took a comment literally rather than ironically. There is also the double irony of marking sarcasm as such, and it also allows for deeper sarcasm.

[Frozen_Feet]

I fail to see the point of coloring texts when we have smileys. :smalltongue:

[Gnomvid]

Aye, right ye are laddie mirk orange needs tae be reid wi' a British accent.

[Aedilred]

In verbal communication sarcasm is often denoted by tone of voice. I've occasionally run into situations where posters took a comment literally rather than ironically. There is also the double irony of marking sarcasm as such, and it also allows for deeper sarcasm.

I do my best not to make sarcasm obvious by tone of voice in speech either.

I've never been able to pin down quite what annoys me about the blue text, but I think it's at least in part because it's an obvious marker for "this is meant to be funny", which always makes anything seem less funny, somehow. And sarcasm is rarely particularly funny in the first place, especially when it's obvious sarcasm. You might as well preface it with "lol" and end it with "!!!".


Aye, right ye are laddie mirk orange needs tae be reid wi' a British accent.

I tried to say that in a west country accent and I think I broke my jaw.

[Archonic Energy]

Aye, right ye are laddie mirk orange needs tae be reid wi' a British accent.

From the first word that was "Scottish" in my head which is correct... For the moment

Unable to comment further because of the rules.

Then again if I said dark green should be read in an American accent what would you default to?
Texas? California? Canada*?
It's an odd thing

* for those pedantic people who know I mean the states but will insist on saying that Canada is in North America too... oh and Brazil for South America

[Heliomance]

From the first word that was "Scottish" in my head which is correct... For the moment

Unable to comment further because of the rules.

Then again if I said dark green should be read in an American accent what would you default to?
Texas? California? Canada*?
It's an odd thing

* for those pedantic people who know I mean the states but will insist on saying that Canada is in North America too... oh and Brazil for South America

I do occasionally wonder exactly what the "default" American accent is that us non-Yanks imagine when we think "American accent".

[The Glyphstone]

The only real problem with the blue-text is when people somehow get it into their heads that it's 'official' or somehow sanctioned. This results in problems for my tentacular alter ego when people make rule-breaking posts, then protest later because 'it was in blue, so it was obviously meant as sarcasm you humorless jackbooted thug'.



Then again if I said dark green should be read in an American accent what would you default to?
Texas? California? Canada*?
It's an odd thing


For me, I'd assume a Boston/Maine nasal tone, but that's because I grew up in New England. A Texan or Deep Southern drawl would also be distinctive regional dialects I'd consider 'American'. Not sure what Californian sounds like other than peppering your speech with surfer lingo and valley girl slang.

[Anarion]

I actually posted a comment on that video about this site as an example of in-group jargon, although I did not use the site by name, instead just saying it's a D&D forum (yes, I'm well aware that fails to do this place justice).


The only real problem with the blue-text is when people somehow get it into their heads that it's 'official' or somehow sanctioned. This results in problems for my tentacular alter ego when people make rule-breaking posts, then protest later because 'it was in blue, so it was obviously meant as sarcasm you humorless jackbooted thug'.


You're jackbooted?

[Siosilvar]

I do occasionally wonder exactly what the "default" American accent is that us non-Yanks imagine when we think "American accent".

I imagine the most popular ideas are either a light Southern drawl or the Midwest-ish newscaster accent that's supposed to be the most understandable English accent around.

[CWater]

I fail to see the point of coloring texts when we have smileys. :smalltongue:
But see the forum lacks one particularly smiley needed for this tone. The sort of dry smile-but-not-really. I don't know how to describe it in English with words either. ':smallamused:' is not it, too smug and well, actually amused. :J


I do my best not to make sarcasm obvious by tone of voice in speech either.

I've never been able to pin down quite what annoys me about the blue text, but I think it's at least in part because it's an obvious marker for "this is meant to be funny", which always makes anything seem less funny, somehow. And sarcasm is rarely particularly funny in the first place, especially when it's obvious sarcasm. You might as well preface it with "lol" and end it with "!!!".


There's many types of sarcasm, but agree that the particular type where the point is that what you say is so bizarre and/or wrong in itself that the other person should realize that the speaker cannot be serious, does not indeed require a hint in tone of voice. (That's even kind of against the point.)

Some other types of sarcasm need the tone to work though.

[The Glyphstone]

But see the forum lacks one particularly smiley needed for this tone. The sort of dry smile-but-not-really. I don't know how to describe it in English with words either. ':smallamused:' is not it, too smug and well, actually amused. :J



There's many types of sarcasm, but agree that the particular type where the point is that what you say is so bizarre and/or wrong in itself that the other person should realize that the speaker cannot be serious, does not indeed require a hint in tone of voice. (That's even kind of against the point.)

Some other types of sarcasm need the tone to work though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law

Created specifically because sometimes you just can't tell if they are serious, regardless of how bizarre the statement is.

[Eldan]

I imagine the most popular ideas are either a light Southern drawl or the Midwest-ish newscaster accent that's supposed to be the most understandable English accent around.

In my head, the American "standard" accent is Texan Oil/Cattle Baron. Mostly because it seemed to be a stock character in German TV for a while and all Americans talked like that. That or that rather featureless Hollywood movie speak that registers as "no accent" to me.

[CWater]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law

Created specifically because sometimes you just can't tell if they are serious, regardless of how bizarre the statement is.

I suppose so. -_-'

[Anarion]

In my head, the American "standard" accent is Texan Oil/Cattle Baron. Mostly because it seemed to be a stock character in German TV for a while and all Americans talked like that. That or that rather featureless Hollywood movie speak that registers as "no accent" to me.

"No accent" as noted in the video, is actually a flat American midwestern accent. It's not really possible to have no accent anyway, since the absence of a speech marker from any other place anywhere in the world is, itself, a speech marker.

Even people learning the language pick up different patterns of speech. Chinese people in Hong Kong speak English with a British accent, while the ones that grew up in northern California all say "hella" and end their sentences with "y'know" a lot.

[sktarq]

That or that rather featureless Hollywood movie speak that registers as "no accent" to me.

Actually that's pretty close to how most people (well Anglos) speak in the the LA Basin and S. California generally if they are trying to speak clearly. It is very flat and best mimicked by moving the lips as little as possible. Also if the letter T doesn't lead the word pretend it is a d. Surfer/Valley girl exist but are pretty small communities used as social icons to distinguish something otherwise hard to distinguish.

[gr8artist]

The answer is a resounding yes. Hell, just going through the first page of this thread, I read several people using jargon and shorthand that I didn't understand, even as they were saying that these forums had no particular dialect or jargon.

[Leviting]

As a native southern Californian, I fail to recognize a California accent. However, I also fail to recognize an East Coast accent, and have been told by other Californians that I have a slight accent, despite the fact that I have lived my entire life in southern California.(with the occasional vacation)

[Hiro Protagonest]

From the first word that was "Scottish" in my head which is correct... For the moment

Unable to comment further because of the rules.

Then again if I said dark green should be read in an American accent what would you default to?
Texas? California? Canada*?
It's an odd thing

* for those pedantic people who know I mean the states but will insist on saying that Canada is in North America too... oh and Brazil for South America

Dark green just makes me think Ork.

Da red ones go fasta

[Heliomance]

"No accent" as noted in the video, is actually a flat American midwestern accent. It's not really possible to have no accent anyway, since the absence of a speech marker from any other place anywhere in the world is, itself, a speech marker.

Actually, what I register as "no accent" is approximately Estuary English. I wonder if people with strong accents - Geordie, or Texan drawl, or something - consider themselves to not have an accent?

[Mx.Silver]

The GITP dialect is subtle, but can be described as a veneer of sweetness over some of the most intense passive aggression you've ever encountered.


Hey, that's not fair. At least half of us don't bother placing any veneer of sweetness over our passive aggression :smalltongue:

[Asta Kask]

Actually, what I register as "no accent" is approximately Estuary English. I wonder if people with strong accents - Geordie, or Texan drawl, or something - consider themselves to not have an accent?

Of course. Think about India - do you think they think "gee, I'm sure talking funny." Unless someone tells them they talk funny, of course.

[GPuzzle]

Well, you guys really wanna know what's the default accent for English?

Get someone that wasn't born or raised in an English country but speaks English really freaking well. To the point you can't recognize where he's from.

That is it. People have trouble figuring it out, because it sounds similar to a lot of stuff they've heard but at the same time it's something they've never seen before.

I've seen that happening with several people in several languages. In the end, that's really the default accent because it draws from every accent.

[AtlanteanTroll]

Nah. Depends on the country and what English they learned. The question isn't the default English accent, but the default American English accent.

Though I think you still have a good point.

[sktarq]

Nah. Depends on the country and what English they learned. The question isn't the default English accent, but the default American English accent.

Though I think you still have a good point.

default would be in the mind of the listener not the speaker anyway. default is an expectation. A drifter who came to the US with little to no English would possibly be a pretty good substitute. Or get someone who is growing up in an American expat community (in a non English speaking country) somewhere that is drawn from a somewhat representative cross section of the country.

[Gnomvid]

Then again if I said dark green should be read in an American accent what would you default to?
Texas? California? Canada*?
It's an odd thing

Well here for me being Swedish I would have to say Hollywood English would be the default American accent as that's what Swedes are used to but then again people from Washington (the state) sounds pretty much the same as well (have relatives in Seattle), but ah muh self suh would prefer it to be a suthern tawk as that is much more colorful, for example: Bubba from Jawjah bard my pickup truck and done run it through that thar bob war fence after having a bit too much of Tennessee sour mash, as Ah cudn't unnerstand a wurd he sed and after all the work this caused changing a flat tar my arms are tarred.

[KuReshtin]

Well, you guys really wanna know what's the default accent for English?

Get someone that wasn't born or raised in an English country but speaks English really freaking well. To the point you can't recognize where he's from.

That is it. People have trouble figuring it out, because it sounds similar to a lot of stuff they've heard but at the same time it's something they've never seen before.

I've seen that happening with several people in several languages. In the end, that's really the default accent because it draws from every accent.

I'm not sure that statement holds.
I was born and raised in Sweden, started studying English in school at the age of about 10, picked up a whole lot of pronunciations of words and the flow of sentences by watching tv, since all non-Swedish language shows are subtitled and not dubbed (unless it's young kids' shows).
being an official for American Football in the UK, I get to meet a lot of players from all over the UK, and I tend to get asked a lot about where I'm from, since I don't have a British accent.
When I moved to Scotland a the age of about 24, the locals could obviously hear that I wasn't from here, and asked me, not just where I was from, but where in the US I was from.
I had apparently picked up that much of an American accent that they immediately thought I was American, even if I've only ever spent 3 weeks in the US in my entire life.

I hav3e been told, though, that my accent varies quite a bit depending on who I'm speaking to.
When I get home from work this afternoon, I'll try to dig up a link to a youtube video that I think i uploaded with me just rambling about nothing for a while, which hopefully should provide a sample of my accent, and I would very much doubt that it's a 'default accent'.

[Gnomvid]

Yeah it was the same for me when I first came here I was asked if I was an uhmurkin which I clearly was not but telly and movies and uhmurkin relatives had clearly affected my English accent although I do recall that the first 3 or so years on the English taught in School was English English and then it started to be more influenced by United States of Uhmurka English instead in school.
Nowadays I clearly do not sound like an uhmurkin any more but it's still pretty hard for people to place my origin.

[Tengu_temp]

Go go Gadget late response!


Could you elaborate on this?

Blue text for sarcasm is condescending and lazy. It either means you can't convey your obvious sarcasm using just words, or that you think the recipient is a moron who won't figure out you're being sarcastic no matter how obvious your sarcasm it. Also, if you're too used to all sarcasm being bluetexted, your inner sarcasm detector starts to detoriate instead of being honed.

Finally, it annoys me when people treat it as an official forum rule instead of something a part of the community does.

[Zorg]

The GITP dialect is subtle, but can be described as a veneer of sweetness over some of the most intense passive aggression you've ever encountered.

Don't forget sentence by sentence quote wars that become so bogged down in linguistic arguments the original point is totally lost.

[AtlanteanTroll]

I was born and raised in Sweden, started studying English in school at the age of about 10, picked up a whole lot of pronunciations of words and the flow of sentences by watching tv, since all non-Swedish language shows are subtitled and not dubbed (unless it's young kids' shows).

I assume then, you watched a lot of American TV, as opposed to British TV? I bet it would not have panned out the way it did had you been watching more of the latter.

[nedz]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law

Created specifically because sometimes you just can't tell if they are serious, regardless of how bizarre the statement is.

Kind of reminds me of the people who tried posting spoof articles over on conservipedia.

I went through a phase of using Blue ... well I do have a habit of pretending to take sarcasm at face value, which often results in :smallfurious: responses otherwise :smallbiggrin:


Well here for me being Swedish I would have to say Hollywood English would be the default American accent as that's what Swedes are used to but then again people from Washington (the state) sounds pretty much the same as well (have relatives in Seattle), but ah muh self suh would prefer it to be a suthern tawk as that is much more colorful, for example: Bubba from Jawjah bard my pickup truck and done run it through that thar bob war fence after having a bit too much of Tennessee sour mash, as Ah cudn't unnerstand a wurd he sed and after all the work this caused changing a flat tar my arms are tarred.

I visited Norway, Sweden and Denmark a few years ago and was surprised at how many people spoke good English; and also that half of them spoke British English whilst the other half spoke American.

[KuReshtin]

I assume then, you watched a lot of American TV, as opposed to British TV? I bet it would not have panned out the way it did had you been watching more of the latter.

Yep, this is true. I grew up watching such classics as Hill Street Blues, North and South, Dallas, Falcon Crest, Dynasty, and How The West Was Won.
Then all the Hollywood films were obviously using American English (unless it was a bad guy), so I got a lot from there as well.

[Amidus Drexel]

I do occasionally wonder exactly what the "default" American accent is that us non-Yanks imagine when we think "American accent".

I'd say the midwestern accent (but not the Illinois accent, that's different :smalltongue:).

Although it's worth mentioning that "Yank" means something different to those of us in the South than it seems to mean to those of you not from the states. By that logic, choose the appropriate drawl for the region the non-Yank belongs to. :smallwink:

[gr8artist]

I had a rather unconventional american upbringing. My father grew up in the southwest (cowboy rancher speak) but moved to Louisiana (deep south/ creole) for a few years where he met my mom. They then moved to Tennessee and lived in the country (southern redneck drawl) and homeschooled my brother and I.
Since I wasn't around a lot of kids, I never developed the local accent and my parents didn't have definitive accents either.
People I meet are surprised that I was raised in rural Tennessee (incidentally, my county has one of the highest concentrations of meth manufacturers) because you can't tell by my voice. That is, unless I get upset or begin talking quickly. The more impassioned or hasty I get, the more my tone takes on a southern drawl or twang. My mom does the same thing, though she starts to sound Cajun when she talks fast.
Is that a common thing, to have an accent that comes and goes?

[Aedilred]

Is that a common thing, to have an accent that comes and goes?

Yes. I'm not a linguist, but just from observation, accents seem to be "environmentally" acquired. While it is possible to keep a pre-existing accent, if you spend time around people who speak a certain way it's very common to find that starting to seep into your own accent or speech patterns. If you have discrete groups of people with different accents who you've spent a lot of time around, an observer might notice that your accent changes depending on who you're talking to.

Many years ago I was on an exchange programme to the US, and at an introductory meeting with the exchangees from the previous year, I noticed that, while they were all British, their accents all became much more American when speaking to the American students who arrived later in the evening. 'Course, I apparently came back from the US with my accent completely unchanged (although I did pick up some vocabulary which is still knocking around in my speech somewhere).

When panicked or excited you can revert to something closer to your "native" accent, as, again, I presume, the brain can't be bothered processing your speech into your accent and reverts to instinct.

[AtlanteanTroll]

Is that a common thing, to have an accent that comes and goes?
I have a friend who was raised in Alabama, but sounds like a native midwesterner whenever she speaks except for in the situations you described. So yeah. I'd say so.

(I also know it to be true of some older relatives who get more "old country.")

[Cristo Meyers]

Is that a common thing, to have an accent that comes and goes?


I have a friend who was raised in Alabama, but sounds like a native midwesterner whenever she speaks except for in the situations you described. So yeah. I'd say so.

(I also know it to be true of some older relatives who get more "old country.")

My rural, central Illinois accent usually seeps in if I'm around people with the same type of accent. Doesn't even have to be the same region: a Tennessee accent will do it just as surely as a Southern Illinois one.

[Siosilvar]

Is that a common thing, to have an accent that comes and goes?

At least among people who try to enunciate, I'd imagine that dropping out of the "standard" accent into whatever the people you grew up around speak is fairly common.

For instance, I too start with something close to the eastern-Nebraska and Iowan newscaster accent (it helps that my parents are both from that area and I spent all of high school there) but drop into a weird coastal drawl (since I grew up in a bunch of different southern states) when I'm tired or around Southerners.

[sktarq]

Is that a common thing, to have an accent that comes and goes?

Yes. I'll just use myself for an example. I develop an English accent if any of the following things happen.
I'm drunk
I'm talking to anyone with an English accent
I'm thinking seriously about a subject
I'm trying extra hard to be clear and make my points well thought out
I'm angry
I've been thinking about my parents/family in the last five minutes
I'm seriously getting my woo on (and no I don't realize it at the time)
I want to.

Otherwise I sound like I have a more clear than average California accent.

my ex sounded like a south coast native (regional California) except when she called her mother and her Georgia debutante voice kicked in within about 5 seconds and lasted 10 minutes after the call.

So yes it is common

[Tvtyrant]

My mother regains her New York accent when she is mad enough to start cursing. It is always funny listening to her word choice and speech patterns change entirely (we live in Portland OR.)