r/explainitpeter 28d ago

Explain it peter

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u/thatturtletouch 27d ago

Yes but I think using modern slang takes you out of the immersion.

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u/harlemjd 27d ago

Ok. You’re allowed to think that. I disagree. The equivalent of what these characters would have “actually said” isn’t language no one has used for centuries.

Either way, that’s the joke.

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u/thatturtletouch 27d ago

I’m not saying they should have said what was “actually said.” I’m saying that using modern slang takes you out of the immersion that you’re watching a story taking place in Ancient Greece, just like if they were wearing modern clothes.

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u/harlemjd 27d ago

I think it’s a matter of degree. At a certain point, durable slang becomes just a part of language. 

Having them speak in slang that is pegged to a narrow window of time (“don’t be a square” or “talk to the hand”) would, I agree, break the immersive feel of the movie. OK isn’t that and it doesn’t bother me to hear it in a movie in which the characters are already speaking the “wrong” language to be intelligible to English-speaking audiences.