Snape's Speech patterns (was CHAPDISC: HBP 2, Spinner's End)

[a_svirn]

No: HPFGUIDX 142171

> Pippin:
<snip>
 Oi'm not tryin' ter turn 'im inter Stan Shunpike, who also knows 
two vocal styles.  But there 
> is a coarseness to 'Blasted thing. How are you supposed to keep 
your eyes on all three 
> heads at once' , 'Just shove a bezoar down their throats' ' a 
stream of mixed swear words 
> and hexes' and 'I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods 
like her' which is quite 
> different from the rhetorical flourishes of 'the subtle science 
and exact art'  or 'the magical 
> defense of the mind against external penetration'  and makes me 
think that Snape's 
> parents didn't habitually express themselves in double 
alliterative phrases. <snip>

I don't understand why do you think is such a contradiction. Have 
you ever known anyone who would express themselves in flowing 19th 
century-ish periods when they accidentally drop something heavy on 
their feet? Or burn their lips with a very hot tea? Or
 well, you 
can feel in the blanc according to your taste and imagination. I 
believe that should such a person existed they would certainly end 
up in one psychiatric ward or another. As for coarseness, "blasted 
thing" is certainly a rather mild one and there is nothing law-class 
about it anyway. And it stands to reason that Mudbloods are filthy, 
what else should they be? Snape's really no coarser than upper-class 
malfoys and blacks. Except that Draco wouldn't come up with 
anything "double-alliterative" even at a wand-point. 

a_svirn