THOU SHALT NOT SAY ‘OKAY’:

How to Vet Vocabulary for Historical Fiction

Pictures can be anachronistic too.

When writing historical fiction, it is crucial to use expressions and vocabulary that are true to your time period. Using modern terms or anachronistic phrases can jolt readers out of the story—or worse, cause them to chuck your book across the room in frustration (and write a nasty review).

Here are some sources to help with research:

     Merriam Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com/ has a link to a word’s history and when it either appeared in the language or shifted its meaning.

• Corpus of Historical American English (COHA) https://www.english-corpora.org/coha/

Search American English from 1810–2009 by decade or genre. [NOTE: You must register; there are tiers of access.]

• Etymology Dictionary (Etymonline) provides etymology and historical development of individual words.

  • For my fave resource, get thee to English Through the Ages, by William Brohaugh (goes back to 1150AD).

A word about syntax: Just as word meanings evolve, so do sentence structures, just not as fast (actually quite slowly, for example British English and American English are exactly the same). But unless you are writing about the Old English period (c. 450–1150 CE)—when sentences might sound more Yoda-like, as in “Much to learn, you still have”—you can mostly focus on vocabulary and idioms. Just be wary of sneaking in expressions coined decades or even centuries after your setting. I erred once with the expression “Into each life some rain must fall.” My beta reader alerted me that Longfellow wrote that in his poem "The Rainy Day" in 1841. My book took place in the late 1700s. Oops.

For more valuable advice, check out this article from History Quill: “Out of Time: How to Avoid Anachronisms in Historical Fiction.” http://bit.ly/45E12tZ