Okay, I have a serious question. It's about swearing. I'm asking everybody, looking for opinions, then I'll do as I damned well please, of course. I'm not asking what to do, I just wanna know what y'all think.

• In my book, I have a character who speaks more than one language. Fine, that's not unusual.
• This character swears. Fine, that's not unusual either.
• I have made this character swear in a foreign language. Fine, that's not unusual either too, except that I put in a footnote translating it into English because the curse also tells you something about his people and culture, that they would consider that to be a curse. So what it means in English is actually relevant.

What I'm wondering is do you think I should do away with the footnote and just have him swear in English?

I've already heard one "yes" vote and one "no" vote from two different friends, for two different reasons. One person said "Yes, have him swear in English because it sounds like another (actual) swear word in English but isn't quite, which makes it kinda funny and shows off your sense of humour." Another thinks "No, it's classy to have someone swear in another language, and the footnote tells the reader why it's relevant."

The "swear word" in question is fog. The character is a sailor. See why it's a swear word to him? In Old Rian it's "lanbro!" and in English it's... well... "fog!" I'm sure you can see that it sounds like a rather common Anglo-Saxon swear word that we all know and love. Say it out loud in an annoyed tone of voice: "Oh, fog!" Then say it in Rian: "Oh, lanbro!" Doesn't have the same sort of kick, does it?

So waddaya think? English? Old Rian? And perhaps even more importantly, WHY do you think it?

It adds more mystery if you let them swear in the foreign language and let the reader figure out what it means. Depth of character and all that.

It'd have to be a pretty weird situation for the reader to learn the definition of the word without being obvious about it.

"Hey, Jasper, what's that white stuff coming towards us?"

"Oh lanbro, the lanbro is moving in! Well that's inconvenient. I get so confused when I can't see where I'm going in broad daylight. All that water in the air can be awfully disorienting, not to mention it's a bit chilly! Are we in London?"

I agree with the English bit. "Oh, Fog!" is much better than "Oh, Lanbro!"

And definitely no footnote. Explaining it in character would be much better!

Character one: "Oh, Lanbro!"

Character two: "What the hell is Lanbro?"

Character one: "How do you say it in your language? We are a seafaring folk, and there is nothing worse than when the clouds refuse to stay in the sky and come down to cloak our ships in miserable white.."

Chacter two: "I think you are talking about fog..."

Character one: "Very well then. Oh, fog! I like the sound of that..."

When I read the first half of your post I was going to say definately make him swear in Old Rian, partly because it does seem more natural to swear in your own language, just as it's more natural to swear than to say 'oh sugar' as you might with children. And partly other reasons which I can't remember now.

But 'fog' does sound good, so I'm slightly less convinced now.