Olden day talk, did they really say that?

jonbeeza

jonbeeza

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Just been watching the series, The Last Kingdom set in England back in 872 and England has fallen to the Danes. They keep using words that sound too modern, and I keep saying I bet they never used words like that! It is really doing my missus's head in, and she shouted at me, "and how do you know they did not say that"

Words they said were, Turd / Humping / C*ck / and I am sure I heard the word Wa*****g :eek: .

Just done a search on the net, and it seems the word Turd was actually from way back middle English (1066 until the late 15th century ) toord, tord, evolved into a Turd.:) . The word C*ck it seems is also a Danish word, from the same time. Could not find anything for the other words though, just wonder are they really that old?

I do apologise to the missus for the words that were indeed used way back in the day :)
 
If they used the genuine language of the period (Anglo-Saxon Old English) it would be subtitled and on BBC4...

The fact you can understand what they're saying at all (assuming you're not a student of Old English) is enough to know they're almost entirely using words that sound too modern.
 
Probably artistic licence more than anything.
 
All of the words mentioned go waaaaay back.
Don't be surprised if they drop the f-bomb either.
 
In 872 I doubt many people would be able to understand the language they were speaking. So to be concerned when a TV show in modern English, I imagine, is using words that aren't from that the 870s when they are a speaking modern English is a bit strange. Considering in the 800s it was old English and not many people can comprehend that now.

Would you have preferred a subtitle show with people speaking exactly as they did in the 870s?
 
Alastair said:
If they used the genuine language of the period (Anglo-Saxon Old English) it would be subtitled and on BBC4...
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Yup, middle English from the era of Chaucer is incomprehensible enough, Old English is impossible, the verb conjugations look nothing like we are used to.
 
HuntingMartians said:
In 872 I doubt many people would be able to understand the language they were speaking. So to be concerned when a TV show in modern English, I imagine, is using words that aren't from that the 870s when they are a speaking modern English is a bit strange. Considering in the 800s it was old English and not many people can comprehend that now.

Would you have preferred a subtitle show with people speaking exactly as they did in the 870s?
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Yes I love films with sub titles, especially French films :)
 
People do not take this thread so serious, I am only posting this in fun. :)
 
jonbeeza said:
I have no issues, I am only posting this in fun. I am not taking this seriously, as I said only a bit of fun. :)
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jonbeeza said:
People do not take this thread so serious, I am only posting this in fun. :)
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I'm going to go out on a limb here and ask....you wouldn't be posting this in fun, would you? ;) :lol:
 
Posting for fun. You will have the moderators chasing you.
 
Ic ácræfte ðú bist oncnæwe ne.
 
viv1969 said:
I'm going to go out on a limb here and ask....you wouldn't be posting this in fun, would you? ;) :LOL:
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Some may think I am being very serious, judging by some of the replies. They reply in a very stern fashion, absolutely no idea why some do this :)
 
Oddly, the swear words are amongst the oldest words we have.

I appreciate its not a serious issue, that doesn't mean we can't have an interesting discussion, etymology is an interesting distraction.
 
It seemed serious enough to disrupt his wife's enjoyment of the programme, according to the opening post..
 
Phil V said:
Oddly, the swear words are amongst the oldest words we have.

I appreciate its not a serious issue, that doesn't mean we can't have an interesting discussion, etymology is an interesting distraction.
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Thought some may be modern abbreviated local slang. Some Northern words, are not known by my Southern friends. Or at least the meaning of the word rather :)
 
jonbeeza said:
Thought some may be modern abbreviated local slang. Some Northern words, are not known by my Southern friends. Or at least the meaning of the word rather :)
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If you travel around North Yorks, Northumberland and into Scotland. You'll find a lot of Norse place names. There's also a lot of Northern dialect words that have their origins across the North Sea, likewise a lot of East Anglian slang originates in the Netherlands.
 
Phil V said:
If you travel around North Yorks, Northumberland and into Scotland. You'll find a lot of Norse place names. There's also a lot of Northern dialect words that have their origins across the North Sea, likewise a lot of East Anglian slang originates in the Netherlands.
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I grew up on the Cheshire Merseyside border and I found words and meaning did not differ greatly. I lived in Wigan for a short period of time, and had a little difficulty understanding some locals :)
 
TCR4x4 said:
Not to mention all the Danes are also speaking English...

It's a program, not real.
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Then as now, Danes always speak English to foreigners! Watching the Swedish and Danish police programs on TV it is interesting that whenever they introduce Poles, Lithuanians, Russians etc into the stories they always drop into English without any explanation.
 
sphexx said:
Then as now, Danes always speak English to foreigners! Watching the Swedish and Danish police programs on TV it is interesting that whenever they introduce Poles, Lithuanians, Russians etc into the stories they always drop into English without any explanation.
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Watching the Darts last night and the Dutch speaking English perfectly.
 
sphexx said:
Then as now, Danes always speak English to foreigners! Watching the Swedish and Danish police programs on TV it is interesting that whenever they introduce Poles, Lithuanians, Russians etc into the stories they always drop into English without any explanation.
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Could you imagine this with a comparable UK programme?
  1. The odds on a UK policeman being able to speak a foreign language..
  2. The chances a UK audience would accept a brief non-subtitled transition into a foreign language..
 
I remember The Sweeney dubbed into Afrikaans (Blitspatrollie) in SA. It didn't work very well...
 
jonbeeza said:
Watching the Darts last night and the Dutch speaking English perfectly.
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You probably know this but Frisian is the nearest language to English. "Butter, bread, and green cheese is good English and good Frise," which is pronounced more or less the same in both languages (Frisian: "Bûter, brea, en griene tsiis is goed Ingelsk en goed Frysk."), more here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisian_languages
 
sphexx said:
You probably know this but Frisian is the nearest language to English. "Butter, bread, and green cheese is good English and good Frise," which is pronounced more or less the same in both languages (Frisian: "Bûter, brea, en griene tsiis is goed Ingelsk en goed Frysk."), more here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisian_languages
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Thanks for the link, having a read of it now :)
 
sphexx said:
Then as now, Danes always speak English to foreigners! Watching the Swedish and Danish police programs on TV it is interesting that whenever they introduce Poles, Lithuanians, Russians etc into the stories they always drop into English without any explanation.
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Not quite true, although most can IME! Loads of Scandinavians stay where we do in Crete and when there's a tableful of mixed Scandinavians, they very often converse in a common language other than English.
 
I know many Swedes, Norweigians and Dutch and yes they all speak perfect English, but I'm not so sure Vikings had quite the same education as modern day Scandi's do.
 
TCR4x4 said:
I know many Swedes, Norweigians and Dutch and yes they all speak perfect English, but I'm not so sure Vikings had quite the same education as modern day Scandi's do.
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Though (and I am guessing here) Old English and whatever the Danes and Norwegians were speaking was possibly mutually intelligible like, say, Spanish and Italian where people of each nation can converse together each using her own language.
 
Nod said:
Not quite true, although most can IME! Loads of Scandinavians stay where we do in Crete and when there's a tableful of mixed Scandinavians, they very often converse in a common language other than English.
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Though they may just be each speaking his own lingo since "the languages of the Scandinavian countries, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian, ... are mutually intelligible" according to Wikepedia, like Spanish and Italian.
 
sphexx said:
Though they may just be each speaking his own lingo since "the languages of the Scandinavian countries, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian, ... are mutually intelligible" according to Wikepedia, like Spanish and Italian.
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If you watch The Bridge they switch freely between Danish and Swedish throughout each programme depending which end of the bridge they are at. Some of the original Wallander episodes do the same sort of thing, switching between the relevant Scandinavian languages (and frequently into English for dealing with Interpol/foreigners).
 
sphexx said:
Though they may just be each speaking his own lingo since "the languages of the Scandinavian countries, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian, ... are mutually intelligible" according to Wikepedia, like Spanish and Italian.
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Possibly, although speaking with them about their polyglot abilities suggests that many of them are reasonably fluent in their neighbours' tongues and if that fails, using their own language's word for something is often close enough for a half cut chat over a beer! ALL of their English is way better than my Scandiwegian of any type!!! (Which stretches as far as "Tak" for thank you...)
 
Well, we have seen Scandinavians tucking into breakfast at 9am with glasses of ouzo, so not necessarily a NIGHT out! Having said that, the EasyJet boarding queues for Manchester are full of persons rather the worse for wear after spending their last night on the lash rather than getting some kip. Glad I don't have to share either the plane home with them or their hangovers!
 
Took the missus to the out of hours walk in centre last night, the doctor who saw to us was very tall and blond. He spoke very eloquently with an unusual accent, I had a feeling he may have been Swedish, or something similar. But anyway a very nice nice man, especially as he gave my missus some very strong pain killers / muscle relaxant concoction :) .
 
A lot of Swedes have a slight American twang for some reason.. They also swear a lot in normal conversation. Well the ones I've met do!

I had a very deep and meaningful conversation with Snowy Shaw, a famous Swedish musician about this subject at silly o clock in the morning on a tour bus as we were travelling between shows...

I can't rememeber any of it mind.
 
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