People can do business if they speak each other's languages, figuratively speaking and sometimes literally as well. Emil Dalmady says, "Hokay!" because van Rijn does and Flandry says, "Right? Right," because Leon Ammon does. Overdone, this would become hostile parody or mockery but Dalmady and Flandry do it right, thus showing that they are on board with what the other guy is saying. Once, when, describing a trade union victory to a fellow employee in Merseyside, I said, "It was like a goal scored in the last second of injury time!" And he replied, "Now you're speaking our language!"
A slightly different but parallel situation is when antagonists cooperate briefly of necessity. Flandry coerces Hauksberg to take him and Persis up to the orbiting space yacht. Despite their conflict and Flandry's coercion at gunpoint, Hauksberg does a good job of blustering his way past Merseian security and Flandry commends his performance. Get the other guy on side as much as possible...
Hauksberg is an OK guy except for his disastrous capacity for political self-deception.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
We all have our verbal tics and twitches! And, as you said, that use of "Right? Right!" by Leon Ammon is one example of that. And I have noted to myself how often Anderson was fond of using "trod," even at times and places in his stories when I thought it looked just a bit odd.
I agree, Lord Hauksberg really was a decent guy, despite his disastrous illusions about the Merseians.
Ad astra! Sean
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