Melissa over at Dear Mr. Dickens created this little gem of an infographic, and I simply had to share. Anyone who's ever read or loved a Dickens novel will understand. Bleak House is bleak, man. Thanks to Leila for the heads up.
Have you ever been reading a book, moving along quite nicely, and then-- bam --a character whips out a particular term of endearment that just yanks you right out of the story? It happened to me recently, and I'm sad to say I couldn't recover. I did try. But she just kept using that term and I . . . I had to get the hell out of Dodge. Buh-bye, story. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. I'm not saying this is the norm (thank goodness). I can put up with a certain amount of treacly back and forth when it comes to the exchange of terms of endearment, especially if they fit the characters, their background, culture, the tenor of their relationship, etc. And the history of these terms at home and from around the world is often fascinating (at times hilarious). But there comes a point where I can't see past the cheese and/or weird anymore and I do not want to be with these people any longer . Shallow? Perhaps. But it's a very individual thing, isn't it?...

Love that Dickens chart!!!! And I love Dickens's novels.
ReplyDeleteMe, too! A TALE OF TWO CITIES is probably my favorite, which is why I'm so looking forward to Sarah Rees Brennan's retelling of it.
DeleteThe spontaneous combustion is my favorite literary death ever but I really want to check out Dombey and Son now to learn about this dismemberment.
ReplyDeleteHa! How could it not be?
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