[HPforGrownups] JKR's Diction

[Margaret Dean]

No: HPFGUIDX 29366

Megan wrote:
 
> On the same lines but not quite, has anyone noticed how in GOF JKR
> initially names Ludo Bagman "Bagman" and Barty Crouch "Mr. Crouch"?
> Is this distinction designed to subtly show the respective authority
> of these two men?  It could be because Percy address Crouch as "Mr.
> Crouch" initially, so this how Harry thinks of him & Mr. Weasley calls
> Bagman "Bagman".  Along the lines of Harry's politness, the Weasley
> parents are always named "Mr. Weasley" and "Mrs. Weasley" in every
> book so far.  Just an interesting distinction between Bagman and Crouch.

How the two men are addressed may also have something to do with
their own attitudes.  Ludo Bagman has this sort of
hail-fellow-well-met personality that makes any formality toward
him sound almost ludicrous, whereas Crouch's far more formal
mannerisms almost make you want to call him "sir" -- and in any
case, =not= leave off his honorific.

As for the Weasley parents, this may be more of the "Harry's POV
Effect."  I know =I= never called any of my friends' parents
anything but "Mr." and "Mrs." (although I often knew what their
first names were from hearing my parents use them) any more than
I would have first-named my own parents.


--Margaret Dean, who may be showing her age... :)
  <margdean at erols.com>