Anyone else hate British cuteness?

[Anggul]

Are you seriously implying that Harry Potter is written for older audiences? Of course it's not going to be deep and serious, it's a children's book series.

I can't think of any time when our writers are obsessed with making things seem cute for no reason.

 

[BlackStar42]

The British don't make things cute. They just happen to be the second most sarcastic people in the world.

Who's the first? I'm quite offended over that, if there's anything we do well, it's sarcasm, cynicism and colonialism. Oh, and bitterness. And making tea.

 

[Keava]

Are you seriously implying that Harry Potter is written for older audiences? Of course it's not going to be deep and serious, it's a children's book series.

I can't think of any time when our writers are obsessed with making things seem cute for no reason.

Pretty much this.

Harry Potters starting age group is somewhere around 11-13, to get kids to read books, and that's about where it merits end. It's not brilliantly written, it's plot isn't anything amazing, but it's popular and younger audience loves it, and people who grew up on it like it.

Complaining about "funky" words in a kids books is really something very very silly. Isn't that more of American than British, to make things seem more "cute" to appeal to wider audience anyway?

 

[xXGeckoXx]

As an American, I do like British culture, especially comedy, but I can't get over their obsession with making everything cute.

I'm not even sure if cute is the right word, it's just the best word I can muster. They don't just apply cute names to things like the Japanese do, but apply cuteness and expect everyone to take it seriously. I can't get into Harry Potter, though I'm sure it's brilliantly written, just because non-magic users are referred to as Muggles. To compare, the Final Fantasy series has creatures called Moogles, but FF doesn't force us to take them seriously.

Again, it might just be the fact that I'm American. I'm used to mystical things sounding sort of Asian or Middle Eastern and putting apostrophes in random places. An ancient secret society should be called Kal'sur and the mystical weapon should be Dor'salim. So if non-magic using people in the HP universe were called Cara'sin instead of Muggles, maybe I wouldn't be posting this on the net, but as it is, Muggles is a word that forces me to accept the fact that I'm reading a book written for an 8 year old even though the later novels grow with the audience.

As it is, I hate British naming of Fantasy things. Posters should feel free to add their own grievances.

a) WTF

b) The british (a brit here) are actually known for their bizarrely DARK comedy. Black humor is the specialty here.

Red Dwarf, Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Black Adder, uh... Dad's army, all extremely British comedies that are all great.

Really, You are going to put Black Adder up there like it's funny, like it's in the same category as Monty Python and Red Dwarf? Worst, comedy ever. It makes me want to shove pins in my ears and eyes so that I don't have to see/hear it anymore.

I love Red Dwarf though, and Faulty Towers, and I am a huge Monty Python fan, but I may never forgive the British for Black Adder.

What! Blasphemy! Blackadder was brilliant, better than Faulty Towers and Red Dwarf and much less hit and miss than Monty Python (though they are all great).

Plus it had Hugh Laurie and fucking Steven Fry. What more is there to say than that?

Also, A Bit of Fry & Laurie, how good was that!

EDIT: Also, great ending too. Last part of the last episode is so sad, it's definitely one of the greatest moments in TV history.

Shhhh. A non-beleiver may live in light while we bask in the glory of all the worlds best Dark comedy.

Ps: Red Dwarf being my favorite here. Then Monty Python.

 

[InnerRebellion]

Er, what?

While I do find the rather weird obsession some Americans have with Britain weird...what are you on about, mate?

 

[Richardplex]

Why oh why are people still commenting on this thread? there's clearly no-one left here who actually thinks the way the OP thinks, so you're arguing with no-one.

 

[SsilverR]

I don't understand ... you should really come down here and clear your head up ... I can guarantee "cute" won't be on the list of words you use to describe England

LOL also, you should take a trip up to scotland and whales too .... cute LOOOOOOL ...

 

[Jon Shannow]

Why would non magic users be called Cara'sin? It is set in Britain, and muggle is the name British wizards use to describe British non magic users, why the fuck would they go into some pretentious fantasy naming bollocks when it makes no sense to and muggle is easier to say.

 

[El_Chubba_Chubba]

Cuteness? Hmmm...maybe he meant cutscenes?

Nah, he definitely meant cuteness, this is bizarre!!?!

 

[Iron Mal]

As an American, I do like British culture, especially comedy, but I can't get over their obsession with making everything cute.

Yet another Englishman here to say 'what in the Hell are you talking about?'. We don't really have a tendancy of making anything overly cutesy (as a general rule we're more cynical, witty and snarky in regards to our humour as well).

I'm not even sure if cute is the right word, it's just the best word I can muster.

That'll be because it isn't the right word, at all.

They don't just apply cute names to things like the Japanese do, but apply cuteness and expect everyone to take it seriously. I can't get into Harry Potter, though I'm sure it's brilliantly written, just because non-magic users are referred to as Muggles. To compare, the Final Fantasy series has creatures called Moogles, but FF doesn't force us to take them seriously.

I think Muggles were supposed to be something along the lines of an informal nickname, just like how you call New Yorkers Yankies, East Londoners are Cockneys or people from Newfoundland are Newfies.

I think you've missed the point completely just because that one word used in that one story sounds slightly different than something from Final Fantasy.

Again, it might just be the fact that I'm American. I'm used to mystical things sounding sort of Asian or Middle Eastern and putting apostrophes in random places. An ancient secret society should be called Kal'sur and the mystical weapon should be Dor'salim. So if non-magic using people in the HP universe were called Cara'sin instead of Muggles, maybe I wouldn't be posting this on the net, but as it is, Muggles is a word that forces me to accept the fact that I'm reading a book written for an 8 year old even though the later novels grow with the audience.

That'll be because the books were written by an Englishwoman who was trying to make it sound very quaint and 'English sounding' (I read the first book and I was fairly certain that one was for children, it's about wizards, school and the standard Changling fantasy), it would be out of place in a very british world for people who's defining trait is being mundane to be given an elaborate or special name (it always felt implied to me that Muggle could even have been taken as a type of racial slur in-universe, of course it doesn't sound particularly graceful or special, how many racial slurs or derogitory terms can you think of that are?).

In other words, Harry Potter isn't Final Fantasy so of course there will be differences in the naming.

As it is, I hate British naming of Fantasy things. Posters should feel free to add their own grievances.

As it stands you've only named one example and seem to believe that this justifies your opinion across the entire spectrum of British fantasy.

 

[Farson89]

Well, there you go OP, you've got a full fifteen pages worth of people who have no idea what you're blithering about. That might be a new record.

 

[Sovvolf]

Where in the UK are you talking about. Cos the only parts of the UK which are cute are the same ones which can't be seen in this image:

We're so cute that we have a seasides named Grimsby and Blackpool.

 

[KingofallCosmos]

I generally don't care about pretentiousness - it just looks cool.

I mean, Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh Wgah'nagl fhtan?

How is that not awesome?

Because it looks like you're in a bad tv show trying to fend off hackers

...though I admit when read out loud it does sound out of this world. It just doesn't fit in a magic world colliding with british school life.

Edit: Anybody read some of Walter Moers' work? Also for children and adults. There the innocent/childlike approach only provides more imaginative storytelling. Children's novels hold little boundaries, whereas fantasy novels tend to reuse the same elements over and over.

...that's not from Harry Potter, that's from Call Of Cthulhu

Well, thank you for proving my last point

 

[GBlair88]

Try watching Blackadder or Red Dwarf and find it cute.

 

[Spoon E11]

Successful troll is successful.

C'mon please don't feed him.

This thread should be laid to rest. Its full of people who have no idea what OP is on about (myself included).

Where in the UK are you talking about. Cos the only parts of the UK which are cute are the same ones which can't be seen in this image:

We're so cute that we have a seasides named Grimsby and Blackpool.

Only one of which are visible on that map

 

[SemiHumanTarget]

You could also make the argument that words like "boot" and "bonnet" sound pretty cutesy to an American, but it's all a matter of perspective, I guess.

Also, the original writer's assumption about Japanese is also pretty off. If you really get to know the language, you realize they have ridiculously cute sounding words for almost everything and "cuteness" is literally built into the culture. Did you know that the sound effect "poka poka" is a perfectly legitimate substitute for the verb "to boil" in Japanese, even in newspapers?

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

At least Muggles sounds like a word. =p Kal'sur or Dor'salim looks like something that would happen after someone's cat jumped on your keyboard. And random apostrophes in names stopped being cool along with ultimate Gary-Stu Drizzt Do'urden. =p

Yeah, it sounds like someone put a few coins in the Random Fantasy Name Generator.
OT: I thought Tolkien pretty much invented that kind of naming, and he was british.

Key difference being that he was a philologist, had a professor status in "English language and literature" and on top of that he was a professor of Anglo-Saxon. He also knew Middle English, Old English, Finnish, Gothic, Greek, Italian, Old Norse, Spanish, Welsh, and Medieval Welsh. And on top of that he was at the least familiar with Danish, Dutch, Lombardic, Norwegian, Icelandic, Russian, Swedish, Middle Dutch, Middle and Old German, Old Slavonic, and Lithuanian. So I'd say he was kind of qualified to make functional fictional languages.

Which also is a key difference, you can decipher Elrond into "Elf of the cave" if you do some digging. Elvish is a functional language (if slightly incomplete), you can at least believe that it belongs to a language you're simply not familiar with as opposed to most of those "cat walked over keyboard" names you see in my trashy fantasy novels.

Not to say that Tolkien's the be all, end all of fantasy, but I'm just saying that if you're going to come up with exotic names that you best make sure there is some reason and rhyme to it. Which is why I don't have much of a problem with Muggles, it could very well be an English slang word.

 

[Extravagance]

Thank the gods for 15 pages of british people going "What the hell? Sod off" and arguing about our comedy. For no other reason than this, I'm now abit prouder to be English.

Also, OP, you're wrong, muggle is a wonderful word for kids like the books started off being, eh.

 

[Sovvolf]

snip

When watching the Lord of the rings docs for the films (which I watch a lot because I'm sad) I did hear quite a bit on the language part. I believe it was said that most of the languages like elvish and stuff are pretty much just a mish-mash of other real world languages like you mentioned. Same get for the names too. Or at least something along those lines. I know the Rohan are heavily anglo-saxon based or Vikings on horses and thus the names are very much from that kind of culture.

 

[rt052192]

As an american I have no clue what's going on