damigella: (Lesebrille)
damigella ([personal profile] damigella) wrote2011-05-07 12:01 am
Entry tags:

A cultural divide?

"here encountering the first knot in the smooth skein of her argument." (V. Woolf, Orlando: A Biography)
"the smooth skein of his imagination had encountered the first knot:" (my fic A Member Of The Wedding)

How come quotations from Gone With The Wind, The Muppet Show or The Little Mermaid (Disney, not Andersen) are immediately recognized while a sentence lifted almost verbatim from Virginia Woolf goes unnoticed? 
Maybe I should use precise quotations. Maybe it's a US/UK issue. Feedback appreciated.

[identity profile] damigella-314.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Or because you understand English without subtitles?

[ETA: When in the US I have trouble phoning for a cab. When I have to listen to one of those annoying taped messages, I end up pressing 2 for Spanish. I never properly learned Spanish, but at least I can tell which vowel is which.]
Edited 2011-05-06 22:30 (UTC)