A few random things

[loaded_march]

First!  I have not fallen off the face of the planet!  I've... been avoiding the interwebs by immersing myself in fic.  Also, it was the long weekend; I totally turned off my brain for the vast majority of it.

Second!  Part #10 is still in beta -- and although I have an ETA, I am not sharing it, because Things^TM happen, so it might be a bit longer.  Plus, I still have to go through it and fix it.  And believe me, there's a lot of fixing to do.  No, I am not sharing word count, even though someone came close to guessing how many words there are.  I am denying it totally until I have it posted.

Third!  I finally have a title for Part 10.  Amazingly, I have a title for part 11, too.  And the opening scenes to part 11, which I want to start writing right now, but I have a fest fic to write.

Fourth!  Speaking of fest fics -- I am in serious need of someone to Brit Pick my merlin_horror fic.  The fact that I'm coming to this realization now, when I'm only two parts into the fic, is a pretty bad thing.  So I am putting up my official Craigslist ad here:

Wanted:  One poor sap wonderful human being willing to beta a horror fic set in a modern AU.  Specific needs: British slang, location descriptions, and help me I'm lost in London address fixes.  Some knowledge of the medical profession would be helpful but not required.  Should be willing to answer frantic and frequent rare and occasional PMs with random questions as I work my way through the fic, because all these is there even slang for this in the UK? notes I've left myself all over the documents are driving me freaking crazy.

Fifth! I...  I totally had a fifth.  I swear.  I seem to have misplaced it.  I'll get back to you on this one.

Comments

Brit Speak

[gattodoro.livejournal.com]

Hi there, the only slang term for an ambulance that I've heard in the UK is 'meat wagon', though that is very non politically correct and therefore a bit old-fashioned, but I can imagine it being used by someone in a context where some gallows humour comes into play e.g. a very messy murder or fatal accident.

Two resources that you might find useful below. The first is a web page for a now defunct TV show called 'The Bill' explaining some of the jargon and acronyms used (think British version of Hill Street Blues, she says thus showing her age *rolls eyes*). 'The Old Bill' is itself a nickname for the police.

http://thebill.wikia.com/wiki/Police_lingo

The second covers Medical slang terms, including the dying art of insulting acronyms used by doctors to describe patients. it comes from a series of articles published in the British Medical Journal http://www.translationdirectory.com/glossaries/glossary224.php#Terms . I particularly like 'UBI' (Unexplained Beer Injury). See also 'Hasselhoff' and 'TEETH'.

Hope this helps.

'Gatty'

Re: Brit Speak

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

Ohhh, these are awesome resources! Once I have more of my fic done, I will dive in those to see if I can fix as much of my errors as I can.

I am trying to figure out how I can use UBI in the fic now...

Thank you!