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Q&A "Too modern" words

Isn't this essentially the same question you already asked? At any rate, my answer is the same: Referencing modern pop culture in science fiction Pop culture references in real life affirm trib...

posted 6y ago by wetcircuit‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T09:16:36Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/37340
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar wetcircuit‭ · 2019-12-08T09:16:36Z (almost 5 years ago)
Isn't this essentially the same question you already asked? At any rate, my answer is the same:[Referencing modern pop culture in science fiction](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/35729/referencing-modern-pop-culture-in-science-fiction/35737#35737)

> Pop culture references in real life affirm tribal affiliations. Drop a recognized quote and it triggers an autonomic pleasure/reward response in your "tribe". People who don't recognize the quote do not react and are not your tribe….
> 
> When it works the viewer identifies this character a member of his own tribe. Meanwhile, the other much more interesting (stronger, badder) characters stand around befuddled, haha the joke's on them. They are not "tribe".

**The "tribe" that is being signaled with anachronistic speech, is the reader. The goal is to make the protagonist instantly more relatable** _to the reader_. Sometimes it is reversed and a humorous villain (or sidekick) is the one who speaks anachronistically, but for the same reason: to make him (or the situation) more relatable.

Other characters can then be placed on a scale of reader sympathy based on how similarly they speak to the protagonist. His friends and immediate family members may be similarly anachronistic (by degrees), meanwhile anonymous townsfolk, disapproving elders, and important historical figures will be speak more formally with some version of [Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe).

**Expect the anachronistic-speaker to be an equally anachronistic _thinker_** who can bear witness and react to the time period's social injustice, superstitions, abuse of authority, etc.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-06-30T17:38:35Z (over 6 years ago)
Original score: 5