tzaled honestly
RE; Spock & Idioms / Colloquialisms
I've talked about this before. I'll talk about it again. So often I find depictions of Spock that are nearly accurate in works of fiction. I've read a handful of Star Trek novels and one of the most common errors in his characterization is this: they assume he has no knowledge of the rhetorical devices of the English language. Jim says 'cool,' Spock looks on confused until it's explained to him that it means 'impressive' rather than 'cold.'
But, Allison, you say. Spock's from Vulcan. He speaks Vulcan. ESL learners often struggle with idioms, because there's no way to find their meaning through the words themselves. Terran idioms and manners of speaking aren't going to be familiar to Spock, so of course he's going to be confused.
To that I have two words: Amanda Grayson.
Never forget that Spock's mother was human; never forget that Amanda Grayson was not the kind of woman to turn her back on her own heritage to merge more seamlessly with her husband's. I'm certain Amanda used Terran phrases at home, and I'm equally certain Spock picked those up. He doesn't use them because they're too informal; they don't mesh with his style of speaking or thinking. He understands their meaning, though.
And if he doesn't? He'll attempt to figure it out through context, and if he can't do that, he'll ask. Assuming otherwise, assuming that he's always confused and unable to comprehend the way his crew-mates speak, is an insult to his intelligence. Spock is smart, and Spock is adaptive. He won't compromise himself -- which is why his English isn't casual -- but he understands the cultural differences between planets. Once he's been told what something means, he won't have to ask again.
Federation Standard -- it's English, or at least, heavily based on English. (This, of course, is because Star Trek was geared towards an English speaking audience.) Even though Spock grew up on Vulcan, he learned English as he learned his planet's native language. He isn't coming to Earth and learning an entirely new language. He's already intimately familiar with it. (Note; idioms and other similar things would undoubtedly change from planet to planet, depending on that planet's culture.) He has a human mother, so he's also familiar with Terran mannerisms regarding the language.
And -- and this is most important -- by the time Spock meets Jim Kirk, he's been living on Earth for years. I cant't find my timeline (and I'm kicking myself for it) but I believe he declined admission to the VSA in 2250; that would make him twenty. He doesn't meet Kirk until 2258; that's eight years on Earth. Spock's had eight years to learn idioms, to learn colloquialisms, to learn the idiosyncrasies of how we speak. He's learned the same about other cultures, too; Starfleet doesn't only consist of humans raised on Earth.
Also, he's known Uhura for a significant amount of time before the first movie starts. If he's curious as to something's meaning, she'd be able to explain it to him. (He probably teaches her Vulcan, at some point, too.)
Spock's not going to be floored every time he hears an idiom. Most of the time, he won't react, because he already knows what it means. If he doesn't, he'll attempt to figure it out via context clues. If he can't do that, he'll ask someone, but he doesn't need it explained to him in a condescending manner.
icons of Captain Pike for daretheuniverse
I know what they are, what I don’t know is why you’re wearing it. Unless you’re going to comic-con.
[He pauses for a moment, almost thoughtful.]
In which case, take me with you. I’ll find a costume on the way somewhere.
❝ i am on-duty.❞
( in a few years he'll be more familiar with this. transporter malfunctions are rare, but the enterprise will meet her share. now, though, he's unaware as to his situation -- although he can date the unfamiliar architecture around him with surprising accuracy. it's two hundred years old, about, but much fresher than it ought to be. )
❝ what is the stardate?❞
that one time Kirk and Bones argued about who was going to give a teenage boy The Talk while Spock laughed
Alice Hoffman, Green Angel
the lost boy; eyes of a human, soul of a vulcan, heart somewhere in between.
I faulted myself for the death of my mother, and for the destruction of my planet, despite there being no logical basis for these feelings. Neither could have been saved through an alteration of my actions alone, and yet I have found that I have created a hundred different scenarios in which I act differently and save Vulcan.
an independent roleplay blog for zachary quinto's s'chn t'gai spock.
five years of roleplay experience; three on tumblr; nearly a year of writing spock himself. familiar with source material, both aos & tos. plotted threads strongly preferred. icons & gifcons are used, and askbox is always open for plotting. skype & kik available for mutuals.
( leonard was getting more and more curious as to what the professor might need to speak to him about. bones might be one of the higher ranked cadets, having ran his own practice back in georgia, but for spock to come to him instead of the doctor in charge of the academies medical wing was strange, to say the least. ) ❝ well then, lead the way, professor. ❞
( luckily the linguistics building wasn’t to far away, and they were soon walking into the conference room in question. the cadet turned his eyes to Spock and guesturing for the man to start talking. )
( pressing his hand to the table in the center of the room, spock states his name. a few seconds later the computer beeps and welcomes him to the system. spock sits on the side of the long table, rather than at the head, not waiting for mccoy to join him before beginning. )
❝ the starfleet cadet program is rigorous. every year, we have a small number of isolated deaths from cadets who overestimate their physical limits or attempt to circumvent those limits by illegal methods. recently, there has been an increase in the number of deaths in the medical track. examinations of the bodies have been inconclusive in determining a cause, but due to a similarity in symptoms these cases have been linked. are you familiar with a lissan th'zarath? you were in the same medical ethics course last semester. she was found dead in her dorm room two nights ago.❞
❝ a religious festival? …you think so? ❞
he’s shocked enough that he’s completely forgotten the fact that he’s meant to be affecting an accent, but they’re far enough away from the natives that it doesn’t really matter too much. he’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t forget when they actually start interacting with the inhabitants of this planet. sure, the accent’s not the most important thing in the world, but anything that decreases the chances of his away team getting outed as part of the federation is, without a doubt, excellent in his books.
❝ how did we miss that piece of intel? ❞
❝ i am unsure.❞
( intel from planets this far distanced from federation outposts is often unreliable; earth is not the only planet with considerable cultural diversity between its regions. it is possible that whoever surveyed the planet originally encountered a different type of society. it is also possible that the information relayed to them is merely outdated; life is not static, and cultures rise and fall. for it to happen in five years -- the date displayed at the top of the original report -- is odd, but not explainable. )
❝ i do not believe there to be sufficient reason to discard our original plan; i would, however, advise being alert to other differences.❞
kolinahr on the streets but pon farr in the sheets
Commander Lieutenant S’chn T’gai Spock Cha' Sarek?
❝ to whom am i speaking?❞
You're are already playing. But to forfeit the game would be to forfeit lives. Tread carefully.
❝ i would not do otherwise.❞