I wonder how much of a style of speech we read about was really a style of writing, and how much was it typical of the way people talked. When Steve uses Paarfi to write, we see what style of writing was being used, but don't know if that speech was common. We can emulate a past style, where we have existing examples of that writing - but when we move into more alien venues - such as the future, it gets difficult. In the near future, we can play with language and style with works such as _Clockwork Orange_. But this doesn't make sense in the far future, where they might as well be speaking Babylonian. What we *can* do is emulate a Victorian style when we want to show a formal society. It won't be Victorian, but we get the flavor. This same trick was used in movies such as _Spartacus_, when they cast Americans as the slaves, and British as the rulers. We could hear the difference and play the game. I've read of people complaining about the casting of Sean Connery as Captain Marko Ramius in _The Hunt for Red October_. They didn't like the fact that Connery has a Scottish accent. But what they missed is that he was Lithuanian. In a ship full of Russians (played by non-Scoots), this was an important plot element. Having a Scott play that role reminded us of his difference (as they all spoke Russian in English).