I'm reading the last of them now (Masters Of the Vortex). I had just assumed
that they were just an equivalent to OK, just used to show some difference in
the language (another example being "Clear Ether" and usage of words like
"Flit" and so on) they do give the books a stragely, not-written-today
feel, which I think kinda works though I have never attempted to copy in my
own writing (maybe I should).
Never before thought of Q and X being similar to O and K before, that's quite
clever...
Richard
> Getting back to Smith, I always thought that QX was a sneaky way of
> At 11:25 AM 1/20/03 +0000, Richard wrote:
> difference in the language (another example being "Clear Ether" and
Changing the language does make things more interesting. If you haven't
read it, try to find Eluki bes Shahar's "Butterfly and Hellflower," which is
the book club compilation of "Hellflower," "Darktraders," and "Archangel
Blues." She has a lot of fun with language development and even commenting on
it within the story (from the point of view of a "Librarian," a sentient
computer). Good books. ^_^
> Never before thought of Q and X being similar to O and K before, that's
> quite clever...
Yeah, I missed that, though what with typing and all I tend to type in "okay"
rather than OK just because I don't want to hit the shift key. <grin> So I,
too, missed the shift... Phil is probably right on that one, though why they
would move away from the easier "O" to a "Q" is a bit of a question. But who
can tell...?
'Til later,
> Phil is probably right on that one, though why they would move away
Obviously, looking at a Qwerty keyboard, it was caused by a left-hander.
And you thought there was nothing sinister involved...
The_Beast
On Mon, 20 Jan 2003 07:25:33 -0500 Aaron Teske
> <mithramuse@njaccess.com> wrote:
> Never before thought of Q and X being similar to O and K before,
> Yeah, I missed that, though what with typing and all I tend to type
Me, too -- typing "okay", that is. However, I have read of certain
publishers who insist on using the "OK" form, and it's quite common
usage in the great wide world -- for instance, there's an ad for
something (shows you how good the ad is as an _ad_ that I can't
remember what it's for, only the repeated imagery) showing a factory
monotonously turning out "OK's" until some dangerous radical manages to enter
"What if?" into the system... at which point the whole complex blows up! Could
it possibly be a Microsoft ad, in which case Irony reigns supreme?
> Phil is probably right on that one, though why they would move away
Don't ask me; linguistics is nothing if not unpredicable, and it could
be something as simple as messy handwriting -- I can think of a way to
scrawl OK that could be taken as QX -- or something far more complex...
...though personally, I favour the theory that the term is degenerate from
advertising for the QXC home shopping channel...! <eg>
Phil
----
"I think... I think I am! Therefore I am... I think?"
-- The Moody Blues
<School teacher from southpark voice> lets have no more puns or I'll have to
break out the narns, mmm QX
Richard
> >Phil is probably right on that one, though why they would move away
> From: "Aaron Teske" <mithramuse@njaccess.com>
> of the art in long-distance and airborne radios -- e.g., QNH and QFE
E. E. (Doc) Smith was born in 1890 and that for him it wasn't language
evolving but language original. I suspect that he may have been into amature
radio and just as nobody today would question the use of "browser" or "html"
in a story so in his day amature radio
terms would be up-to-date.The first book in the lensman series
(Triplanetary) shows a copyright of 1948 (I checked my copy) which is actually
pre computer (not counting the clasified ones).
Smith wasn't that bad but he continuously used the term "hot jets" in his
Lensman series which drove me up the walls till I noted the copyright date and
figured that the "hot jets" was the new and improved of his day.
I guess its strange that Science fiction is so easy to date (particularly as a
result of the language), it is always so tricky to get things to sound
futuristic 50 years down the line.
Richard
> E. E. (Doc) Smith was born in 1890 and that for him it wasn't language
> evolving