What Corona virus has done to my hellos and goodbyes

The way I greet people and say goodbye to them has changed lately, online and off.

The Corona virus is affecting so many areas of my life and this alteration in my language is one. 

Here's how I might have opened a conversation pre-CV. 

Hi - how goes it?
Hello hello! 
Hiya! 
Wotcha!
Ey up! 
What's occurrin'? (Blame Gavin and Stacey for that one.)

I'd like to reassure readers that these greetings are used with friends and family. I promise you, I take a more formal approach in emails or phone calls to bank managers and prospective employers.  

'Ey up, Mr Bank Manager. Kindly extend my overdraft limit.'

Here are my favourite ways to say goodbye. 

Bye! Speak soon. 
Cheers!
Take care!
See ya.
See you soon. 

But look at the greetings I'm using as the CV outbreak intensifies:  

Hello - how's everyone? 
Hi - all well? 
Hiya - how're you and yours? 
Hi - hope you're well. 
Hello - how's it all going? 

And the goodbyes?  

Bye. Take care.
See you. Look after yourself.  
Bye. Stay safe. 
Bye. Keep in touch.
'See' you soon. 

Of course, we often - if we're sensitive - adjust our language for individuals, such as those suffering illness or going through a family crisis. 

But I'm so conscious at the moment that I'm adjusting for everyone I speak/write to.

The changes are complex. Even as I'm composing this post, I realise that I could write a full 2000-word linguistic analysis on these alterations in greetings and goodbyes or, as they're officially termed, salutations and valedictions.







COME BACK, EVERYONE! I ONLY SAID I COULD.


But if I were to write that analysis, these are the differences I would want to explore. 

1. Tone and formality. There's been a shift in my language from bright and jokey to a more sober mood, Gavin and Stacey abandoned. With the greetings, perhaps I'm afraid of starting off too cheerfully in case there's bad news to come from the other person. With the goodbyes, maybe I'm more conscious of the transient nature of life. The dreadful possibility that I might not see that person again is in sharper focus now than it's ever been. 

2. Vocabulary and meanings. In both greetings and goodbyes, there's been a change. The language is much more specifically to do with welfare and health. Also, the inverted commas around the word 'see' ('See' you soon) imply a change in the meaning of 'see'. At the time of writing, I can't 'see' anyone socially. It's used ironically.

3. Sentence moods - There are four sentence moods: statements, questions, commands and exclamations. I am a banana. Are you a banana? Eat that banana. How big that banana is! The balance of sentence moods has changed in my language. My greetings have become more questioning than exclaiming, reflecting a more tentative, anxious approach. In the goodbyes, there's more use of commands, urging people to look after themselves (Take care. Stay safe. Keep in touch.) 

4. Pragmatics - this is to do with the meanings behind the vocabulary. I don't need to say 'Take care not to catch Corona virus' or 'Stay safe because of the virus'. In the current context, everyone knows what I mean. I don't have to spell it out, and probably wouldn't want to. I am euphemising all over the place. 

So, how can any of this be applied to creative writing?

The role of pragmatics in written dialogue. A famous writer (but not so famous that I can recall which one) said that the best fictional dialogue is when what the characters say is not necessarily what they mean. As in real-life conversations, people don't really express their true feelings. So much is hidden and there for others to infer. I've found that a helpful benchmark for dialogue-writing. 

The role of tone in characterisation. One way to give your character a unique feature that differentiates them from other characters is to think about the tone in which they normally speak. (Truculent? Falsely breezy? Pessimistic? Brash?) Also, how will you achieve this? Short sentences? Too many exaggerations and superlatives? Inappropriate interrupting of others' conversations? 

Changes in characters. Throughout a story or novel, your main characters particularly are meant to exhibit change. Whether change in personality, or ambition, or life direction, or philosophy, or behaviour, or physical appearance, change has to be tangible. One way to achieve this is in how they speak. Does their tone mellow over time? Do they use fewer swearwords? Do they change from false positivity to sincerity? 

Sentence moods. Statements will make up the majority of our narrative prose. But a wider variety of moods - turning some statements into questions or commands - brings writing to life.

So, I'll finish this post with an example of the effect this variety of sentence moods can have on a piece of writing. The first passage below has only statements. The second, statements, questions and a command 'Imagine'. Can you see the difference? 

1. She picked up the phone then put it down again. She wondered whether she should call. Perhaps he'd be busy with a client, or out on a factory visit. That would be embarrassing, if she interrupted while he was at work. But she had to speak to him, surely. It was imperative, now that she knew the truth. 

2. She picked up the phone then put it down again. Should she call? Imagine if he were busy with a client, or out on a factory visit. That would be embarrassing, if she interrupted while he was at work. But she had to speak to him, surely. Wasn't it imperative, now that she knew the truth? 

Take care, everyone. Stay safe, especially bearing in mind what's occurin'. 

Fran is a writer and English teacher from Warwickshire. Her new book 'Miss, What Does Incomprehensible Mean?' published by SPCK releases on 21 May and is available to pre-order from SPCK, from Amazon or from Foyles Bookshop 

Find out more about Fran from her website at www.franhill.co.uk