that-don%e2%80%99t-bother-me-none

Recently I was watching a biography on Ivan the Terrible (and dude, when they said ‘terrible’ they weren’t talking his body odors.)  

But ole Ivan might have had a reason behind his madness. He suffered from chronic debilitating arthritis and one of the constant methods they used to medicate his condition involved using mercury.

Now, obviously the mercury wasn’t doing much more than driving poor Ivan insane, so he’d regularly have foreign doctors visit his court to see if another cure couldn’t be found.   

When that little tidbit drop, the writer in me thought Wow, wouldn’t it make for a fantastic romance to have an English doctor hero come over and fall in love with a heroine who was minor Russian royalty, all against the backdrop of Ivan’s court? Imagine the intrigue and danger, and the rich historical details of setting and behaviors.  

Having said all that, I have noooo problem whatsoever with so-called historical romance, because I’m reading for character/romance.  Sure, a sense of authenticity by way of seamlessly integrating details and mores of the times is preferred, but it’s not a deal breaker.  A vaguely historic feel with a few phaetons and pelisse’s thrown in is just fine as long as I’m engrossed in the story.   

Another thing that I shrug off is the character for whom English is a second language.  A couple of days ago I ran into a friend; she called out to me and we exchanged a few words. At the end of our conversation she said, ‘Okay then, ciao’.  And I have a coworker who sits besides me spends a lot of time on the phone in personal phone calls. Those conversations are always a mixture of English and Persian. 

You know where I’m going with this, right? 

While I can see why having a character say something in one language then repeat it in English (presumable for the reader’s benefit) seems kinda dumb; it’s not something I get hung up on. The smattering of foreign phrases into English dialogue–based on my personal experience as in the examples used above—really doesn’t bother me.  

Using syntax and cadence to ‘show’ the speaker’s accent is very appealing. There’s a certain deliciousness in reading the word choices and picking up the subtle rhythms but in the end? I dinnae care. Och! Lol.

So what about you guys?  Are there things that others rhapsodize or rail about, that  you just shrug off?