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I've seen newspapers handle this[1] by having other phrases for the same referent -- instead of just switching between "the pope" and "he", they'll slip in "the
by SilasX 5y ago
I've seen newspapers handle this[1] by having other phrases for the same referent -- instead of just switching between "the pope" and "he", they'll slip in "the Bishop of Rome" or "the vicar of St. Peter".
Unfortunately, I consider that itself annoying because it then creates the problem of assuming your reader knows which of those are just alternate phrases vs other entities in the story!
Side note: this story got reposted twice recently so my comment on one of them (with examples of me producing a better explanation than the ones I had to wade through) got neglected: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28241558 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28241558
[1] Oops, another anti-pattern -- saying "this" or "that" when it's not clear what you mean. Here I should have said "this problem" -- it's a great technique for clarifying your own thoughts as well!
- 8note 5y agoThe Pope is an interesting example since they represent several things, each having separate responsibilites. It just so happens that the pope has all those roles at same time time
- SilasX 5y agoYeah but they rarely use those alternate phrases specifically to refer to the authority he has in that title’s capacity.
- zczc 5y agoIn fiction writing this pattern known as “Burly Detective” Syndrome, see https://www.sfwa.org/2009/06/18/turkey-city-lexicon-a-primer-for-sf-workshops/ https://www.sfwa.org/2009/06/18/turkey-city-lexicon-a-primer..., https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BurlyDetectiveSyndrome https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BurlyDetectiveSy...
- SilasX 5y agoThanks so much, I didn't know there was a term for that! And it was hilarious reading about the UK's use of "popular orange vegetable" to refer to "carrots", a great example of taking this technique to the extreme. Fortunately, I don't think it's as bad to do that in fiction, because the author is going to establish how the world works to begin with, and therefore makes sure you have enough to know whether the alternate phrases mean that character or someone else, so, at worst, it's just cringey rather than confusing.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]