Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

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  • Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

    I started this thread in "Screenwriting" because I wonder if this reportedly-real quote would be believable in a script.

    It's from Maureen Dowd's recent column in the NY Times:
    Mazzetti writes that Sir Richard Dearlove, the head of MI6, the British Secret Intelligence Service, watched one of the first drone strikes via satellite at Langley a few weeks after 9/11. As he saw a Mitsubishi truck in Afghanistan being blown up, Dearlove smiled wryly. “It almost isn’t sporting, is it?” the Brit asked.
    That sounds like vintage (i.e., ancient) Terry Thomas (for example). In other words, to my American ears, it just sounds too central-casting perfect.

    Indeed, it seems just so perfect that, if I were writing seriously on that same subject, despite the fact that Manzetti (who wrote the book from which Dowd quoted) is a NY Times reporter, I'd feel compelled to ask Dearlove if he really did say that. And if so, whether he said it in a self-mocking way; or as the kids (and Madonna) say today, "ironic".

    So, 2 questions.

    Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

    Even if Brits really do - Would that seem believable as dialogue, especially in a non-comedy?

  • #2
    Re: Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

    “It almost isn’t sporting, is it?” doesn't really make sense to me, I gotta wonder if that's a slightly misheard quote.

    Alas no one does the "Oh, I say, chaps!" thing any more, that went out with the British Raj. But there are plenty of ex-public schoolboys (i.e. private school education) who speak "proper". Haven't you heard the Prime Minister?

    ETA:

    Just to clarify. I don't have problems with the phrase, "It almost isn't sporting" -- I had problems with the quoted “It almost isn’t sporting, is it?” sentence -- the "is it?" didn't sound like it belonged with "It almost isn't sporting"
    Last edited by dpaterso; 04-18-2013, 10:06 AM.

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    • #3
      Re: Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

      Funny, Manchester, I always thought you were British.

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      • #4
        Re: Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

        It sounds fine to me.

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        • #5
          Re: Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

          Brits talk like that all the time. But more to the point, it's really a demographics question - depends who you're marketing to. If it's the Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels crowd then procede with the cool and gritty stereotype. If not, or if it's a story Not solely about gangsters or kids, then consider dialogue that's actually character driven. I have relatives there, and there really are tons of people that Do Not speak the way you see the TV shows and 'gritty' crime movies.

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          • #6
            Re: Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

            As a Londoner, I can only point out that Britain has absolutely loads of regional and social dialects.

            "Almost isn't sporting" means that there's no contest in war any more... not that the victor should care. It's classy... almost something from Bond.

            But yeah, some people do still speak this way, but this doesn't bother anyone; what is really grating on the ear is the fake street-trash dialect of inner-city London punks. Just watch Attack the Block (or actually, spare yourself) and you'll know why "everyone" hated the film.
            Cufk, Tish, Sips.

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            • #7
              Re: Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

              Clarification - Character Driven, meaning if it's a dude with an office job, of course he will speak a little slang. It will not, however, taint his entire lexicon. I'd go far as saying that most baby boomers* speak proper English and are turned off by stuff like Attack the Block. Street slang has always been around. It's nothing new (Think - Get Carter, 1971. The Italian Job, 1969). In other words, a little common sense...






              P.S. - My Moms step kids speak mostly 'Not' in street slang, so it's really more of a socioeconomic issue, not a generational one.
              Last edited by nativeson; 04-18-2013, 08:06 AM.

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              • #8
                Re: Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

                Um, Michael Caine is Cockney London's finest acting product and clearly proud of his heritage. True, slang changes all the time, but Caine's accent and vernacular is quite realistic in those films.

                There's a scene in one of those EXCELLENT Crank flicks where Jason Statham says someone is brown bread.
                This is a natural phrase, but his character plays on the fact that nobody understands the term by spieling off a handful of Cockney rhyming-slang phrases all to say the same thing : dead.
                This was clearly a joke, but if someone's from a certain area, toss in some slang/regional dialect to add realism to that character.

                If you have a House of Lords-type character, he'd almost definitely speak the way quoted in the O.P.

                In short: research your characters and make their dialogue believable.
                Cufk, Tish, Sips.

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                • #9
                  Re: Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

                  Yes that's fine, albeit upper class.

                  As is 'dapper' and 'fetching'.
                  Twitter @sjgrierson
                  https://twitter.com/sjgrierson

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                  • #10
                    Re: Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

                    A posh person or someone from an upper-crust education/background would say that phrase (which to me, means "That simply isn't fair or on a level playing field).

                    As someone mentioned, a common/working class citizen probably wouldn't say that phrase.

                    It's a class/status and style thing.

                    EJ

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                    • #11
                      Re: Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

                      Would saying "That's not cricket." be about the same as "not being sporting." Would it be the same as one saying "that's not kosher"? Also is the use of sporting have its roots in actual sport, like cricket?


                      Thanks


                      Mark

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                      • #12
                        Re: Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

                        Tangent!

                        I'm not an accent expert by any means but I always thought Fred Armisen and Bill Hader do killer cockney accents in this skit:

                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m17M_rv9Xv8

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                        • #13
                          Re: Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

                          Originally posted by Bobby Dazzler
                          "It's just not cricket."

                          Unsporting, unfair, cheating, not right, not playing by the rules, etc.

                          As far as I know, it comes from the quaint notion that cricket was seen as a "gentleman's game" full of good sportsmanship.

                          Then Jardine ruined it with Bodyline!

                          And Trevor Chappell sealed it with the underarm.
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                          • #14
                            Re: Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

                            Originally posted by Bobby Dazzler
                            Haha!

                            How could you do that to your baby brother?

                            I know, right? Can you imagine how the next few Chappell family Christmas lunches went?
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                            • #15
                              Re: Do Brits (still) really talk like this?

                              Originally posted by nic.h View Post
                              And Trevor Chappell sealed it with the underarm.

                              Glad to see you Ozzies still remember...

                              as to the topic pretty sure you'll find the English speak something like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnFvbOwToxA
                              I heard the starting gun


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