10 Things Non-Fans Don't Understand About Buffy The Vampire Slayer
6. The Dialogue Is Superb
The dialogue is one of the most distinctive aspects of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The writers developed a quirky vocabulary for the cast which gives the conversations a unique flavour.
‘It’s giving me the wiggins’, ‘What’s the sitch?’, and ‘Five by five’ are just some of the show’s popular phrases, sometimes referred to as Buffyisms or Whedonisms. Buffy was also the first show to use ‘Google’ as a verb.
But this quirky use of dialogue isn’t there for the sake of it. Buffyisms reflect our own adolescent conversations. Groups of friends often develop their own inner language. In-jokes, slang, and made-up vocab are simply part of growing up. In other words, it’s another method used by the writers to make us care about the characters. Combine this with the great performances from the cast, and you’ve got a match made in heaven.
For anyone interested in writing great dialogue, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a must-watch.