Another "foreign word" question - hijack vs. carjack

SecretScribe · Mar 7, 2008

Hi there

My novel is set in South Africa and I am having problems with particular South Africanisms. Main one struggling with now: hijack. In South Africa this is the word used for a carjacking and no one will ever call it a carjacking, they call it a hijacking. But foreign readers do not understand this word at all (well, none of my beta readers have). What do I do with this word?

Also, do you write one version for the local market and one for international readers? I am querying agents in the UK.

Birol · Mar 7, 2008

You must write so that your audience understands what you have written. That means, either substituting 'carjacking' for 'hijacking' or finding a way to make the use of 'hijacking' clear in the text.

Mumut · Mar 7, 2008

Can you have the first use of the word questionned by a non SA character who has it explained that over here we call carjacking hijacking?

citymouse · Mar 7, 2008

Why not say something like "They hijacked a car and..." ?
C

SecretScribe · Mar 7, 2008

I don't have foreign characters, this is the cops talking to each other. They are talking about the victim's boyfriend who is missing. His mother thinks he may have been in an accident or been hijacked. She wouldn't say carjacked, and neither would the cops. So for an international version I could probably use carjacked, but it does fall wierdly on my ears. For a South African market it would just sound stupid. Thing is, it is such a huge part of the SA experience of daily life that it is not something you can really take out of a crime novel set in that country.

hammerklavier · Mar 7, 2008

Mom: "What if he's been in an accident? Or highjacked?"
Cop: "What kind of car was he driving, Ma'am?"

-- later --
Cop: "I'm sorry to inform you... your son was highjacked, we have yet to find his car"
or "His car was found 40 kilometers from where we believe the highjacking occured."

IceCreamEmpress · Mar 7, 2008

"Maybe he was hijacked. Has anyone been able to find his car?"

"Carjacked" is a contraction of "car" + "hijack" anyway, so as long as you emphasize the car, people will get it. It's true that in the rest of the Anglophone world, we usually say "hijack" of planes and buses, now that "carjack" has become so common. So the answer is to include "hijack" and "car" in the same or adjacent sentences.

Craig Gosse · Mar 7, 2008

I'm a Canadian, and I have to say - while we *understand* what those darn 'Muricans' mean when the say 'carjack', WE don't use it. (No more that we use 'skyjack' for the forcible take-over of an aircraft...)

Since 'hijack' (or 'highjack') means to 'take control of a vehicle by force', we just use the simple expedient of identifying WHICH vehicle was taken by force:

"Sir - he hijacked a car!"
"Sir - he hijacked a bus!" (Busjacked...?)
"Sir - he hijacked a plane!"
"Sir - he hijacked a submarine!" (Subjacked?)
"Sir - he hijacked the Oscar-Meyer Wienermobile!" (Wienerjacked!)
"Sir - he hijacked a prototype Rocket-propelled Hydrogen-fueled hot air balloon!" (Protohydro.... Hydro-proto-rocket.... balloono-rocket... Sir - he hijacked a prototype Rocket-propelled Hydrogen-fueled hot air balloon!)

Etc., etc., etc...

C. Gosse

Danger Jane · Mar 7, 2008

I'm just your average American teen, and I would know what you meant by hijack in that context. Then again, my best friend's South African...I'd still know it.

Craig Gosse · Mar 7, 2008

Danger Jane said:
I'm just your average American...

...You have 1.3 kids?

I refer you to Mr. Samuel Langhorne Clemens:

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

SecretScribe · Mar 12, 2008

Thank you so much guys! I love Wienerjacked :roll:

- now, how to work that into the novel???

Sassee · Mar 12, 2008

Wienerjacked... lol...

I'd say use hijack, just make sure it's used in context like the examples listed above. Might be a regional thing if your betas didn't make the connection. (For the record, I grew up in KC area and have lived in Denver area for almost 5 years now, and I haven't heard the word "carjacked" uttered almost ever. I know what it means upon hearing it but I just don't hear it used often.)

SecretScribe · Mar 12, 2008

Thanks SASSEE. Do you guys also use hijacked or do you have a different word for it?

DWSTXS · Mar 12, 2008

You could always 'slang' it and just say the car was 'jacked'

Sassee · Mar 12, 2008

SecretScribe said:
Thanks SASSEE. Do you guys also use hijacked or do you have a different word for it?

We usually just say the car was stolen. My husband the smartass likes to use the phrase "I got f****ed at the used car lot," but that's not too common. Honestly I would just stick with the original slang you wanted to use.

DWSTXS said:
You could always 'slang' it and just say the car was 'jacked'

This is also an acceptable alternative

nevada · Mar 12, 2008

you cant say the car was jacked cause that means something else. to jack a car is to use a jack to lift up the car to remove a tire, for example. I say use hijack. people aren't stupid. They'll figure it out.

Another "foreign word" question - hijack vs. carjack

SecretScribe

Birol

Around and About

Mumut

Well begun is half done...

citymouse

fantasy dweller

SecretScribe

hammerklavier

It was a dark and stormy night

IceCreamEmpress

Hapless Virago

Craig Gosse

Bored fanatic

Danger Jane

Craig Gosse

Bored fanatic

SecretScribe

Sassee

Momma Wolf

SecretScribe

DWSTXS

Mr Mojo Risin...

Sassee

Momma Wolf

nevada