you’ve heard it a million times. “Such and such is an anachronism,” somebody tells you.

Really? Some examples are, as Tessa Dare points out, “I am sorry.” Some people say that the use of “I’m sorry” as an apology is anachronistic, dating only from the early 1900s. False! Tessa pulls up three examples from Pride & Prejudice alone.But maybe you haven’t memorized Jane Austen like Tessa has. Perfectly fine, I assure you–Google can help you out. Go to http://books.google.com. Insert the phrase you’re looking for “I am sorry” and then restrict it by date, by adding: “date:1750-1820.” Lo and behold, “I am sorry” is used in Pilgrim’s Progress, as well as by Edmund Burke (surely a crusty old man, if ever there were one).

Ditto for “bloody hell,” something that Leigh mentioned that others complained about. And we find that Regency Misses could well have heard both “bloody hell-hounds” (1772) and “bloody hell-kites” (1813). (I particularly like “You blazing imp of melted pitch!”), even if she never heard the stable hand talk.

I’ve also been told that “debutante” wasn’t used until the 1830s. This is wrong, too; it shows up in 1809 in the Quarterly Review.

On Smart Bitches, someone complains about “bloke” being modern–except it was used in 1750, in the supposedly “modern” sense.

It takes about ten seconds to check your instincts. Those of you who want to nitpick anachronisms are free to do so, but don’t do it before you’ve checked Google Books. It’s free, it’s easy, and it stops you from looking like a complete idiot. I have found that sometimes the worst people to read my writing are those who write in the historical era. There are so many misconceptions that historical romance writers have, that are completely unfounded.

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