If you had a conversation with a person in 1770 would they understand?

[green papaya]

If you went back to the years 1680 - 1769 era and tried to blend in with the locals do you think your modern English would still be understandable to the people of the day?

What if you asked them if they knew of any good places to get a good steak or a few beers?

 

[tonyb]

It might take a week or two to get the hang of Modern English circa 1770. But fitting into the culture? I dunno, man.

 

[Stearmen]

Burn the witch! I'd fit right in to the 1600s!

 

[sheeplady]

No.

When I was a kid my family volunteered at a 1774 historical house. We had the historical dress and I normally did hearth cooking. As a result, I can fire a flint lock (load one too), cook over an open fire, play chicks and hens (can't remember if that's the right name or not, the hoop game with the sticks), and know what side of my skirt my pocket should be if I'm available or not.

I'm pretty sure they'd torch me. That's not really a passable skill set.

But as an aside, text from that period is really difficult to read, and prounciations were quite different. So, no. I couldn't understand them either.

 

[GHT]

Of course you wouldn't understand them, before you kicked us out, we would send our prisoners to you. Transportation we called it, a particularly unpleasant way of getting rid of what the aristocracy called, the riff-raff. Prisoners in England, were known for using prison slang so that the jailer or gaoler as it was then, wouldn't understand them.
Post 1771, Australia became the preferred destination to send prisoners that had been sentenced to 'Transportation.'
Putting mockery aside, language spoken in the 18th century would be familiar to our ear, you only have to read Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, circa 1719 to see how modern english was formulating and if anyone has seen the TV series: "Garrow's Law," they will know the the english spoken is only 'quaint' in some of the expressions.
Set around trials at the Old Bailey in Georgian London against a backdrop of corruption and social injustice, Garrow's Law is a legal drama inspired by the life of pioneering barrister William Garrow.

The series is based on real legal cases from the late 18th century, as recorded in the Old Bailey Proceedings. From rape and murder to high treason and corruption, each episode begins with the investigation of a real crime sourced from the published accounts of Old Bailey trials, available in a fully searchable edition online. In an age when few of the accused could afford defence counsel, Garrow and his associate John Southouse (pronounced soot-house), a solicitor, work to uncover the truth or fight for justice, championing the underdog and pioneering the rigorous cross-examination of prosecution witnesses that paved the way for the modern legal system.

 

[scotrace]

Depends on where you landed, of course, but most of it would be pretty difficult to understand.

About 45 minutes in, you get a feel for the English of the Puritans in around 1700:

 

[LizzieMaine]

No.

When I was a kid my family volunteered at a 1774 historical house. We had the historical dress and I normally did hearth cooking. As a result, I can fire a flint lock (load one too), cook over an open fire, play chicks and hens (can't remember if that's the right name or not, the hoop game with the sticks), and know what side of my skirt my pocket should be if I'm available or not.

I'm pretty sure they'd torch me. That's not really a passable skill set.

But as an aside, text from that period is really difficult to read, and prounciations were quite different. So, no. I couldn't understand them either.

They'd hang me in a minute, just like they did my great-x grandmother, and I'd go out just like she did, telling the magistrate exactly where to get off.

Colonial-era texts are easier to read than the King James-era stuff -- the typography and spelling tend to be very confusing if you aren't familiar with their quirks. As for spoken speech, there are Americans today who are utterly helpless in the face of a Welsh or Scottish accent, so I'd imagine it would be even worse in the 18th Century.

 

[green papaya]

my grandmother was born back in the 1870's and she was easy to understand

 

[MikeKardec]

When I was a kid my family volunteered at a 1774 historical house. We had the historical dress and I normally did hearth cooking. As a result, I can fire a flint lock (load one too), cook over an open fire, play chicks and hens (can't remember if that's the right name or not, the hoop game with the sticks), and know what side of my skirt my pocket should be if I'm available or not.

That's so cool. I was always fascinated by the people who populate the modern "Colonial Williamsberg" and "Old Sturbridge" attractions.

Of course you wouldn't understand them, before you kicked us out, we would send our prisoners to you. Transportation we called it, a particularly unpleasant way of getting rid of what the aristocracy called, the riff-raff. Prisoners in England, were known for using prison slang so that the jailer or gaoler as it was then, wouldn't understand them.
Post 1771, Australia became the preferred destination to send prisoners that had been sentenced to 'Transportation.'

When I lived in Oz I was always going afoul of Aussie English and they had similar issues with me. I had to communicate often complicated social and cultural ideas and as soon as examples were called for many conversations bogged down severely. Aside from the complex, I remember a moment when I made a comment to a particular co worker and she replied with: "Beggers?" To which I said, "What?" She said, Beggers??" I said, "WHAT?" She said, "BEGGERS?!" I finally said, "What the hell are you saying?" She said, "I BEG your pardon, I don't understand you." In Australian slang, "Beggers?" We were standing the middle of a parking lot both screaming our version of "what" at each other as if we were deaf!

I'm convinced the modern ability of Australians to use and instantly invent slang is an evolution of that prison slang or Cockney rhyming language, which it also often resembles. I often wonder if the tendency of some Australians to have different nick names in different groups of friends (one of the guys I worked with had 4 different nick names just among his coworkers, the most amusing of which was buckets because of his tendency to play bush ranger as a kid and put a bucket on his head a la Ned Kelly) wasn't also to confuse the authorities. Personally, I like this idea ... of course we all have alter egos on line these days. Any Aussies here? Please weigh in, I could have this terribly wrong!

 

[sheeplady]

That's so cool. I was always fascinated by the people who populate the modern "Colonial Williamsberg" and "Old Sturbridge" attractions.

It was *very* cool. I believe I still have my clothes. They had to be hand sewn (not machine- and were inspected before you could start, although there were loaner clothes). I did the volunteering every Sunday from 1pm to 4pm, March to October from 12 to 16. We would have 100 visitors to this little colonial house every weekend... 500 to 1,000 on the big weekends (sugaring off, apple harvest, and the militia days). Once we even had close to 100 Canadian reenactors come down (they were the "red coats") and they fought a "skirmish" on the big lawn against the regional reenactors... they camped out for days. It was free to come to the grounds, if you entered the "upstairs" of the house you had to pay, but you could come see us cook downstairs, or out in the garden, or walk the grounds for free.

As a result, I love cooking over an open fire. My husband is always on about getting us a barbeque... give me a fire pit and a grate. He's also always doubting me on how to cook things in a fire. I always look at him like, "I know fire." I get confused by a microwave but I've yet to burn anything on an open fire. (We cooked on a woodstove growing up, too.)

Sadly, the program feel apart right after I graduated high school. NY state laid off a lot of people, and the site went from 2 paid staff to one part-time paid staff, and it takes staff lead to support that sort of thing. The older volunteers, some of them became sick or died. They closed and shuttered the historical site about five years ago. It cost $75,000 a year for the state to keep it up (grounds, staff, etc.). They also closed a nearby historical monument. The house I volunteered at was the general at one of the critical battles of the Revolutionary war; the monument was for the bloodiest battle of the Revolution- the turning point.

The battlefield cost $3,000 a year to mow; the state decided it was "too much money." So much for the dead. The one good thing is that I got to take my husband to see the house before it closed.

ETA: Well, glory be, turns out it reopened in 2016. There may be hope for NY state.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^
Not that this observation is any reflection on your husband, but I am every year amused by the fellows who haven't cooked anything besides a frozen microwave burrito in months suddenly become culinary masters come cookout season.

 

[sheeplady]

^^^^^
Not that this observation is any reflection on your husband, but I am every year amused by the fellows who haven't cooked anything besides a frozen microwave burrito in months suddenly become culinary masters come cookout season.

That's hilarious. my husband knows better than to expect to ever be able to barbeque or use my fire pit. That is strictly my territory. I told him that if he builds me a fantastic outdoor kitchen, fire pit, and oven; perhaps I may allow him to use it. Perhaps.

(Likely not, as in never.)

 

[MikeKardec]

That's hilarious. my husband knows better than to expect to ever be able to barbeque or use my fire pit. That is strictly my territory. I told him that if he builds me a fantastic outdoor kitchen, fire pit, and oven; perhaps I may allow him to use it. Perhaps.

(Likely not, as in never.)

He needs to stop objecting and start eating. Seriously, a woman who can cook with an open fire and knows how to use a musket? He needs to 1) appreciate, 2) not piss you off.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

If you went back to the years 1680 - 1769 era and tried to blend in with the locals do you think your modern English would still be understandable to the people of the day?

Where there's a will, there's a way. If folks from the Northern states can communicate with the rednecks down in the 'white South'...anything's possible.
If you happened to land in a French, German; Dutch, Danish or other such European speaking community of the time, asking directions to the nearest steak house may be a little tricky if English is your only language, though according to many British tourists, if you speak loudly & slowly, everyone can understand English.

 

[ChrisB]

I'm not always sure that people in 2017 can understand me.

 

[MisterCairo]

Yes.

 

[sheeplady]

He needs to stop objecting and start eating. Seriously, a woman who can cook with an open fire and knows how to use a musket? He needs to 1) appreciate, 2) not piss you off.

I shot skeet in college. When we first started dating I relayed that a shot gun can remove a limb at 25 feet.

He stays on my good side.

 

[EngProf]

Where there's a will, there's a way. If folks from the Northern states can communicate with the rednecks down in the 'white South'...anything's possible.
If you happened to land in a French, German; Dutch, Danish or other such European speaking community of the time, asking directions to the nearest steak house may be a little tricky if English is your only language, though according to many British tourists, if you speak loudly & slowly, everyone can understand English.

As a Southerner I *definitely* resent the "redneck" label. Another thread got shut down due to insulting name-calling. You ought to know better...
As for the 'white South' reference I am not exactly sure what you are getting at, but would prefer not to know.
Surely you can comment on the difficulty of persons from different regions understanding each other without resorting to insults.

 

[Harp]

The series is based on real legal cases from the late 18th century, as recorded in the Old Bailey Proceedings. From rape and murder to high treason and corruption, each episode begins with the investigation of a real crime sourced from the published accounts of Old Bailey trials, available in a fully searchable edition online. In an age when few of the accused could afford defence counsel, Garrow and his associate John Southouse (pronounced soot-house), a solicitor, work to uncover the truth or fight for justice, championing the underdog and pioneering the rigorous cross-examination of prosecution witnesses that paved the way for the modern legal system.

I must look for this. The infamous Courvoisier case and the moral dilemma murder most foul posed for silk Charles Phillips would also prove production.

 

[dnjan]

As a Southerner I *definitely* resent the "redneck" label. Another thread got shut down due to insulting name-calling. You ought to know better...
As for the 'white South' reference I am not exactly sure what you are getting at, but would prefer not to know.
Surely you can comment on the difficulty of persons from different regions understanding each other without resorting to insults.

Having grown up in the "north" (45 minutes southwest of Chicago), a redneck was a farmer.
Possibly different regional interpretations.