The OED discusses Buffy Speak - BtVS

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August 20 2012

The OED discusses Buffy Speak. The Oxford Dictionaries blog discusses the use of language in the Buffy-verse.

Jellas | BtVS | 13:51 CET | 11 comments total | tags: buffy speak, btvs

What a great read, thank you.

Simon | August 20, 14:03 CET

Intriguing stuff. I'm studying English Language and Literature for a degree at the moment and this is fascinating. I've also recently read a book about Slayerspeak that I couldn't put down, and this is along the same lines. Just really nice to have the uniqueness of Buffy recognised outside the fandom. Thanks for the link!

Awesome, much?

spikesdeb | August 20, 15:10 CET

Yeah, I really enjoyed that. Thanks!

Mitholas | August 20, 15:20 CET

"Bonnie Kneen is an English lecturer at the University of Pretoria. She wishes James Marsters a very happy day, and is pretty sure her students’ analytical skills would improve if they were to watch Buffy. Quality of life, too. She’s just saying."
Heh. Quality of life, too. Love it.

Xane | August 20, 15:32 CET

Thanks for that! School's starting up here today; I'll pass the article along to our instruction librarians, who are always looking for sneakily entertaining ways to impart research skills. Also, captive new Buffy audience. Indoctrinate, much?

pigwhiffle | August 20, 16:02 CET

That was full of wonderful! I have already sent it to all my grammar nazi coworkers :)

tikamajere316 | August 20, 18:07 CET

[...] other varieties of Big Bad, such as demons, killer robots, killer robot demons, cheerleaders, etc.

Ugh. I wanted to stop reading right there. That's not what Big Bad means. Very sloppy research. Significantly reduced my enjoyment of the rest of the article.

wldmr | August 20, 18:42 CET

Ugh. I wanted to stop reading right there. That's not what Big Bad means. Very sloppy research. Significantly reduced my enjoyment of the rest of the article.

I'm not sure you're right there. I know that in the fandom we talk about the "Big Bad" to mean "the major antagonist for the season" but that's not the consistent use in the series itself. Take, for example, this from "Flooded:"

DAWN: This your guy?
BUFFY: (to Dawn) You do research now? Want a cappuccino and a pack of cigarettes to go with it?
DAWN: Would you just look at the picture?
XANDER: Doesn't exactly fit the profile for your typical bank robber.
BUFFY: Maybe they turned down his loan application. (smiles at Willow, then looks at Dawn's book) That's him. Big bad. This thing was strong, guys. No weapons that I could see, but ...

Or this from "Normal Again":

Flash back to the house. Buffy enters the living room and bumps into Willow:

WILLOW: (startled, nervous) Oh, Buffy, I, I didn't see you. I was just coming to check on you. You feeling better? Did the antidote work?
BUFFY: I'm ... still pretty dazed, but, uh, better.
WILLOW: No more cuckoo's nest? (Buffy shakes her head) Well, we still have the big bad all tranked out down in the basement. In case it didn't work and we need more parts.

Those are both references to "monsters of the week." So I think you should give the (excellent) article another try.

Yoink | August 20, 23:42 CET

I really enjoyed that article. Excellent!

Bluey | August 21, 00:22 CET

Harkens back to the book Slayer Slang...

Dana5140 | August 21, 01:29 CET

Very enjoyable--thanks for the link.

roland | August 21, 02:20 CET

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