Forums » RP Discussion » Use of Proper Vocabulary

Hello everyone!

I have been thinking recently about writing and how to make a character more authentic and I would be grateful for your experience and insight on two questions:

1. If a fantasy character in a particular setting (Viking/Norse, Victorian, Potterverse, etc.) should use vocabulary from that period or setting, and avoid words and expressions which would be unknown at the time or unknown to certain people? If yes, to what extent?

As an example, in the Harry Potter universe, certain wizards would be unlikely to know words for muggle appliances, or certain muggle expressions (such as Arthur Weasley using the word "eckeltricity").

This seems to me as important for serious writing (such as writing a book), but also quite difficult for RP purposes, as it would require extensive research and also seriously limit the vocabulary of some characters.

2. Are there certain words and expressions to avoid in a particular setting?

More generally, I would love to have your point of view as to how to use vocabulary to improve a character and/or a plot line. Are there any DOs and DON'Ts, or vocabulary pet peeves?

Thank you for answering and sharing!

If doing something for a fandom then using terms and stuff that's appropriate to it makes sense. Like Harry Potter referring to muggles and such and being bewildered by technology, or say, Monster High and all the terrible terrible puns (boos and ghouls, clawculus, creepateria etc etc)

I quite like when having aliens figuring out if there's certain manners of speaking that are more well.. alien. I think it adds a degree of "other" ness but at the same time, it can be awkward to keep track.

I have one alien race who haven't got dogs or cows so have no idea what either are, so obviously have no word for either. This generally only comes into play though when figuring out names, which can never ever ever have any "dog/wolf/hound" meanings heh.

using vocab from a past setting feels like it might take a lot of work to research and may interfere a bit though.

I like the flavour such things add, but I wouldn't put that much time into ensuring it was all correct and proper. Like I mean, I LOVE the idea of old vampires using old slang and terms for things by mistake lol, but gosh it takes a lot of effort to maintain and remember.

I try to maintain a certain level of proper vocabulary for characters that are from different settings and I think this is overall a nice thing to do, helps to add that extra level of detailing on how the character interacts with the environment.

I have a medieval wizard currently in the modern era who refers to police officers as "town guards", because that's the equivalent from his time. I also have a harry potter OC that uses the adequate vocabulary, sometimes my partner uses in-context words and expressions that I don't understand the meaning but I can always just google it, seriously, most of the times it's simple as that.

I personally avoid words that I would never be able to remember and would have to copy and paste all the time, or things that sound too different from english or portuguese or french or any language I can speak or write, sorry to the folks in the Northern europe and russia with their бананы and to custom-made words people with theirs sadas-asdfs'sds'sd, I just cannot;;

Exactly, nice but only to the extent it's not burdensome for either player, right? So maybe a few expressions and words, but not so much that it becomes unintelligible? Technology terms are generally easy to avoid, but older periods or fantasy settings require more research. It would be impossible (and pointless in my view) to try to write in Middle or even Early Modern English, but reviving and using certain words (like Tolkien did with orc, for example), may be a nice touch?

Accordingly, may I add a third question to the list?

3. If you were to invent or revive a word to use in a fantasy roleplay setting, what would it be? Have you already done so?

Thank you again for your insights!

Precisely! I don't mind having to google a word or expression here or there eventually but if it barely looks like main stream English I say it's too much. People looking for that sort of immersion better check with their partners before hand

Hm.... I'm not sure! But sometimes I'm really compelled to simply translate an expression from my mother tongue and see if people understands it in english hahaha Aside from that I really like the word 'phantasmagoria', I wish it was used more often for no other reason that it would make me happier

I'm sorry, 'problem'? Eh heh heh.

On the one side sometimes I end up with twenty (not an understatement) tabs up on a certain subject just to make sure I'm understanding and describing it correctly AND using the correct vocabulary (or the closest I can approximate) for someone Learned in that subject. I play a lot of science characters, so I do enjoy... Kind of throwing myself at these things. I once played a "medieval geologist" (before geology as a science was really recognized--in a fantasy setting no less), and spent all my time looking up when geological terms came into normal usage, and the root-words for rocks and the previous theories of rock formation before the most recent paradigm shifts, and clashing together the root-words to name common minerals myself, based on the logic of the time, and talking about geosynclinal theory, and making up observational hypotheses on the spot... All in the form of an upbeat Schnauzer. It was a ridiculous thing.

On a more serious note, I think using enough basics that you feel the character flow is good, and adhering strictly to a code/vocab/range is something to explore if 1) you LOVE consulting pages at length to find the answer on whether or not a turn-of-phrase originated from the right place at the right time to be relevant for your character to use OR 2) you and your partner(s) agree on said stringent regulations. I personally love the extra depth it gives a character, and not just in a form of an accent, which CAN easily get overbearing. Both to type out and read.

On a parting note: Especially with fandoms, fandom wikias are everywhere and definitely streamline and cut-down on the amount of digging you have to do to find an answer/look up slang/etc. Especially the examples given, like Harry Potter.

It's a joy to read setting-specific vocabulary done really well, and I envy people who can pull it off.

For the rest of us a little can go a long way: just keep in mind how the religion/culture/morals of a setting might influence its inhabitants' speech. Thanks to Christianity, we say I swear to god and don't even think about it; what might a Victorian or a Viking swear on? Their reputation? Honour? You can also make metaphors and idioms with a setting's vocabulary and people will get what you mean. If nothing else, working all that here and there into a character's speech can really anchor them to their time and place without much effort on your part.

Conversely, you should probably avoid words and expressions that anchor them to ours. Chances are you're not roleplaying an internet addict in the 2010s, and it's always a bummer when a neat-looking fantasy character just speaks like someone who reads too much TVTropes. (Guess my pet peeve.) Maybe that's what the player wants, but still, talk about wasted potential.

I try to use vocabulary to give a character a unique voice and hint at who they are. Do they have the way with words of a college grad or a grade-school dropout? Does lingo from their job creep into their lives? Et cetera. Again, a little can go a long way.

I do way too much thinking about this crap.

I actually agree with both, which is why I felt the need to start the discussion in the first place. I am new at RPing, and I realized that I could not just use neologisms and certain expressions so casually as I would normally, not if I wanted my character to sound credible. I am not afraid of doing a little research, but I don't feel that I could properly write using ONLY words that my character would know as that vocabulary may be very limited. Also, what about his/her private thoughts?

But I love reading your insights and tips, thank you for replying!

I LOVE doing the swearing thing lol.

One of my characters says "gods", plural, as he's from a culture with a polytheistic pantheon. They also have a few weird sayins like "May fate's gaze not fall upon thee" because everyone fears fate and her plans for them, those who she takes an interest in life interesting lives for sure, but they are short lives.

Others are athiests, so never say "god" at all, they usually use more profain terms lol.

My spider guy will mutter "by the weaver" but ultimately tends not to swear at all, he often will say he will "pray" on something.

I really enjoy weird speech patterns though, but that's less cultural and more some of my characters are just weird lol.

Armin, Thanasios and Jarral ALL speak without contractions, at all.
In Armin and Jarral's case it's because common isn't their first language. Armin is a trader and diplomat, so formal language is just how he was educated and Jarral is an omniglot, meaning he innately understands languages but as his native tongue is VERY formal, it means any other language he speaks is also as such. It's not that neither understand contractions, they do, they just are too used to not using them. It's a habit.
In Thanasios' case it's because he was taught to speak in a specific way by stuffy old priests.

Mourn speaks loudly and without joining words because he thinks they're pointless, some of this may be because he's deaf and lipreads so filters out the in between words anyway, but a lot of it is just because he's weird and probably a bit nuts. "means talk like this, middle words no important" he also never learns people's names and calls them weird descriptive things like "Hat lady" and "death man" and such. He's eccentric and everyone's kinda used to his oddness.
But it takes a bit of work to get into his way of speaking, both reading it and writing it. Especially when he has a lot to say.

I also like accents but yeah, you have to be careful with them or it becomes unintellegable. I'd LOVE to know enough about linguistics to be able to subtly drop accent cues, like just certain phrasiology and stuff like that.
I was talking to someone recently online and said "oh man, they're taking the piss" and they laughed and said "you're english aren't you?" and it made me think "man, there really ARE certain phrases that mark you as being from a certain place or culture." and how interesting that could be to incorperate into a character's speech patterns to give the IDEA of accent without the overbearing illegableness phonetic accentness would produce. I keep trying to look into it but I get overwhelmed easily.
It's a little easier for accents that are more familiar to me, but American regional accents?
I keep having to remember "this character is american, they wouldn't use that word!" hahaha.

I have though, a section on my long form character sheets that is "manner of speaking" because I think it's interesting. Character accents seldom come across in written form and I find that disappointing because it's a part of them, how they sound.
I wish I could convey those better, because sadly I feel a great many of my characters "sound" to the reader very well... I dunno, generically american tv show? lol.
Which definitely wasn't the intent at all.

I think it really comes down to figuring out your "niche". I like to say, there are folks who write "anime style", those that like "LotR" style, and those that write like they're being graded. "Anime style" borders "anything goes", posts can be outrageously fantastical, overwhelmingly silly, they can defy the natural law for Rule of Cool. "LotR style" can be raw fantasy, but it still follows rules, there's laws of operation that magic and creatures follow, (mostly) realistic anatomies and physics. Then there's textbook style in which even the ACCENTS must be written out PRECISELY, historical and physical accuracy must be STUDIED and written BY THE BOOK, if the anatomy isn't plausible per modern-day science they just won't touch it. There are those, too, who toe the lines between these. You can like fantasy but still go the extra mile and study accents and old laws and customs. You can enjoy being super silly and stretch the rules (or make up new ones) so things still make sense. It really boils down to what you are comfortable with writing and what makes you feel satisfied, confident, and entertained.

I have a character that I put extensive research into, but I still like to be liberal with my fantasy. If my upper-class Englishman talked like they talked in the 16th century, no one would understand him. It would take excessive effort on my part that would not only take WAY too long to write out, but it would be incomprehensible to others, and the whole thing would just be too much like "work" instead of writing for fun. So I don't take vocabulary too seriously. I try to follow certain "rules", like how he nearly never uses contractions (have not instead of haven't, is not instead of isn't) because they were considered lazy and poor form, unless he's feeling relaxed or hasty. A change in dialect like that can imply mood which is pretty handy. He nearly never swears either, unless again, he's really frustrated or being casual. I did make a point of having his father use a ton of old slang and jargon, but that's because he was an NPC that was present short-term, so I could tackle his way of speaking in short bursts.


I don't mind if others use contractions or terms out of time. I have a short list of things I personally do not like to see in medieval fantasy, the first ones coming to mind being "meh" (I don't like it anywhere, really), "dude" or other modern slang nicknames (yes, I SEEN'T IT in MEDFANT), or "and stuff". I like keeping that "mood" so when an OC says in a renaissance setting "Meh, I dunno dude, I was thinking about eating and stuff" I will die on the inside, you've just taken a piece of my soul and crushed it, know that it isn't just my character staring at yours with abject mortification and confusion.

(Same though, every once in a blue moon my vampire will say "By the Blood" and when he does, just know I'm grinning oafishly behind a screen somewhere)
I have a few friends that make a point of writing out their OC's accents, only they've done so much research and practice, it flows SO smoothly in my mind when I read it and adds a whole other flavor to their dialect.

Hahaha, so it finally seems I have found Ariadne's thread, and would like to keep pulling on it, to see what else is there.

I love that idea, adding odds and ends, splotches of colorful vocabulary to give depth to a character without becoming overwhelming and burdensome.