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The way they speak...

Which way do you prefer they speak?  

31 members have voted

  1. 1. Which way do you prefer they speak?

    • The way they speak in the latter series, more evolved that way
      12
    • The way they speak in ENTERPRISE, more primitive and raw that way
      19


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Since before the advent of ENT one of the major complaints non-trekkers would bring up was the way the characters on Trek would speak. You know, that perfect proper way of saying everything, so totally un-like the way people of today use words. I think it was a big deal to many people and served to turn them off of Trek.

 

Not so on ENT huh? Whatever happened to cause them to speak that way in the future has not yet occurred during the time frame of ENT.

 

Do you think some of the things we are seeing on ENT will serve to lead up to the change in speaking styles for Starfleet personnel?

 

What could it be that causes change like that, the need for better Diplomacy?

 

What could it be? :bow:

 

Do you miss the older way the characters on later series spoke?

 

I apologize for all grammatical errors I probably did in the making of this post. :bow:

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I think the way they speak makes it more real. Maybe after a couple of centuries of travling with other aliens the human vocabulary changes a bit.

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It's an interesting point that they've decided to incorporate this concept into the show. If you go to a major urban centre with people who have come from different areas or parts of the world, I think you'll find they speak a more standardised form of their language than rural areas where people tend to grow up together. This is necessary so that people with diverse linguistic abilities and cultural backgrounds are able to communicate with each other on common ground.

 

An example is Tokyo, which attracts workers from all over Japan. Japanese has a lot of different dialects, but Tokyo Japanese is known as the standard. Part of this is a result of the fact that so many people migrate there to find work from other parts of the country after university. Another factor is that the media is centred in Tokyo, which means news, TV programs and dramas produced there are broadcast to and received by viewers across the country, and thus they need to be familiar with that standard way of speaking. Perhaps Ent. is also exploring the concept that the diverse aliens that end up interacting with Starfleet influence how they communicate with each other from a "Starfleet-is-the-centre-of-it-all" point of view.

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I like the more evolved way. The first 2 seasons of every series were raw, and there were senseless comments made in the beginning...example...TNG, Encounter at Farpoint...Q had just frozen the crewman who had picked up the phaser. Picard says "DONT YOU RECOGNIZE THIS??? THE STUN SETTING???"

I thought that was kind of dumb, the same thing in just about everything that Tasha Yar ever said. Excessive.

I know this was about Enterprise, but Encounter was the first thing that came to mind.

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I am kind of torn. (I voted new way of talking) But I was like the evolved that DS9, VOY, and TNG speak, but ENT has a certain edge to it (Trip especially) that I really have taken a liking to.

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I definitely like the fact that Enterprise is more raw; it's perfect for the era they are representing and it adds a certain dynamic the other shows couldn't explore.

Edited by ~Crims~

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I honestly had not noticed, and had never heard of this issue. I did not vote because of this, and will try to see if I notice anything in the future. This completely slipped my notice... B)

Edited by mjham

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Guest bella

I like the way they speak on Enterprise. I also think it's good how they slip from more formal to more casual depending on the situation.

 

The occasional curse adds interest, but did you know that Archer's line in Shockwave II when he tells Silik what he said was cut from the UK terrestrial transmission! It goes out at 6:40 pm on Sundays on Channel 4. The repeat is in the early hours 2am or such, later in the week. I don't know if it was included then.

 

And why do they bother with the repeat at all if they put it out at that time...?!

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I like the way they speak on Enterprise because they seem more in tune with people of our time. The only difference is that they are more advanced tech wise than we are.

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Another vote for I hadn't really noticed. Exactly what are you talking about? Are you talking about grammar or the addition of certain words like Trip's famous "if you don't start moving I'm going to shoot you in the a$$"?

 

I have noticed the addition of some commonplace expletives but I haven't really noticed grammatical errors.

 

Someone please clarify.

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I like both of them, it definitely makes it more real that they talk more "raw" on ENT. The more evolved vocabulary used on the other series also make them more real since the language probably will change a lot in the future.

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I also had not noticed this. I had never heard of an issue with non-trek fans either. The only thing I ever heard non-trekkies didnt like was all the techno babble. Anyways the only thing I really noticed that was different with ENT was Trips accent. I didn't vote since I never noticed a difference.

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I'm still not sure what everyone is talking about but the language on TNG etc is not "evolved"; it is modern American English. It is the same language used on ENT. If there is a difference it is in vocabulary choices- or formal over informal usage.

 

If it were an "evolved" language we wouldn't understand it - besides the writers can only write in a language they know.

 

ENT, because of vocabulary - not grammar - is less like the language I hear daily.

Edited by TheUnicornHunter

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Personally I like a bit of both, but if I had to go one way or the other I would vote with the "latter series" option.

ENT does have both; the humans sound very much like people sound today but Phlox has that "Galaxy Speak" which is so prevalent in latter series.

 

I guess that answers my original question of what happened or why the difference; we human's adopt the more correct sounding speaking habits of other species.

 

Score another point for ENT and it's ability to answer questions about things unexplained in the latter series!

 

:)

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I guess that answers my original question of what happened or why the difference; we human's adopt the more correct sounding speaking habits of other species.

That may be the answer for the ST world but in real life it works both ways - you pick up slang, accent and incorrect usage if you're subjected to it everyday AND don't make a concious effort to not do so.

 

Would someone please, please explain what the difference is you are all talking about? Are you discussing accent, grammar, vocabulary or the use of more colorful metaphor?

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TUH, others on the thread seem to understand what was meant but if you don't know what I'm talking about then I'm sorry, I don't know how to explain it to you other than to say (some) non Trekkers have said they don't like Trek because in real life people do not speak the way they do on Trek.

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Thanks AE,

I just wasn't sure if they meant using certain words - borderline language like A$$ which I know ENT uses more than previous series did. My mama classifies that as a "bad" word.

 

And I have noticed Phlox has an accent - not only that Fiezal had it too when she visited - I thought that was a good touch.

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Interesting point and not one I'd thought of before.

 

I think that the way they speak on Enterprise is absolutely right for the stage of development - in a century or so when there will be so many more alien races within the newly formed Federation it may become necessary for speech to be more precise in order to avoid any misundertsandings. The UT will translate exactly what is said and perhaps we humans will have to pull our proverbial socks up when it comes to vocabulary in order to make intentions 100% clear. Judging by the latter shows there won't be language experts on board like Hoshi to patch up any communication problems.

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I love that the characters are not afraid to say what they think, like the number of times they have said something like 'son of a ______' etc... it gives it more edge and passion. :laugh:

Edited by mj

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Sorry, I'm not able to vote here. Ok I see the difference in the way the characters speak on ENT and on the latter shows. But I wouldn't define the way of speaking on ENT as "Primitive" or "Raw".

 

Since ENT is the show which is the closest to our time it's appropriate that the way of speaking is close to our's - but to call that "primitive". No, I cannot go with that.

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