4.15.1 ELDER LANGUAGE
For those hardy few trying to speak the elder language properly: please stop. Most of you have it horribly wrong! Throwing in thee and ye and the occasional 'eth' at the end of verbs just doesn't cut it. Now, if you're serious, here are a few tips. WORDS ABOUT PEOPLE ------------------ Thou - you, one person, subject of sentence. e.g. Thou art a fool. Thee - you, one person, object of sentence. e.g. I throw a rotten vegetable at thee. Thy - your, one person. e.g. Thy face bringeth new meaning to the term 'pox.' Thine - 'thy', before a vowel. e.g. Thine abilities are below my scorn. Ye - you, plural. e.g. Ye varlets, I despise the excrescences you call speech. Your - your, plural. e.g. Your odor exceeds that of a pack of sweating yaks. ACTION WORDS ------------ Let's pick a couple of action words completely at random and use them: I kill. / We kill. NOT I killeth. Thou killest. / Ye kill. NOT Thou killeth. He killeth. / They kill. Now make it an order: Kill thou! / Kill ye! Or a question: Killest thou him? / Kill ye him? Thou art. (meaning: you are) Thou wert. (meaning: you were) Thou wilt. (meaning: you will) Thou shalt. (meaning: you shall) OTHER FUN WORDS --------------- aye - yes nay - no anon - soon adjure - warn hither - here thither - there kine - cows coney - rabbit poltroon - coward pusillanimous - cowardly miscreant - evildoer knave - crafty, unprincipled person fain - gladly prithee - 'would you please...?' doom - judgement withal - in addition veritable - true; real forsooth - indeed; truly assay - to try an - if mayhap - maybe/perhaps methinks - it seems to me verily - truly; really repair (to) - go to craven - coward boon - favour, blessing lest - or (a threat) - "Follow, lest I become wroth!" avaunt - away (as in, 'let us go!') for the nonce - for the (present) occasion yon - that (as in, 'yon tome that lieth upon the pedestal') vouchsafe - condescendingly grant or bestow (also, deign) zounds! - by gods wounds! drat! - may god rot it USEFUL FOR INSULTING -------------------- sirrah - contemptuous for 'sir' varlet - rascal, knave mountebank - trickster coxcomb - conceited popinjay - vain, blabby person poltroon- coward slubberdegullion - wretch PRACTICE TIME ------------- Sirrah! I insult thee yet and anon. Let thy kine wither and thine insolence be revealed as is meet for such a miscreant. To thy kin, varlets and popinjays all: I pronounce doom most hideous upon ye. Come hither and I shall prove upon your bodies the verity of my claims. Your poltroonery is but the beginning of the infamy which shall be made known withal.
