So I noticed one of my characters has a verbal tick.

[Naruzeldamaster]

She uses the word 'faye' a lot.
In my setting I use the word Faye to describe the 'fae' folk, you know, pixies and such. Especially the wind god who commonly takes whatever form she wants (you know, being wind god) but typically the form of your average pixie like critter.

Generally the Faye folk can shape shift, and the Dragon Kin have a good amount of respect for the faye folk. I was thinking the word Faye could mean something for her species.
Like it's more an expression than a proper word. And the context with which you use it changes it's meaning (like how Japan has several meanings for one phrase)

For the character that is introduced to the readers first, she uses 'faye' as a form of confusion/surprise. While another dragon kin might use it for some other reason, like censoring the word F*.

 

[pmmg]

I am not sure I am following the question here.

Faye means fairy, right? I dont think it matters how you spell it, and if its in dialog, I am not sure any would know the spelling was off.

If you want to add other meaning to the word, you risk confusing the reader, but they may pick it up by context.

If one was to substitute Faye for the word Fuck, it might make for some fun sentences.

What the Faye?
I had a Faying good time
I'll Faying faye you up, you faye?

Seems like it could work for me, but...would such words pop out when one really wants them to dig in?

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

I am not sure I am following the question here.

Faye means fairy, right? I dont think it matters how you spell it, and if its in dialog, I am not sure any would know the spelling was off.

If you want to add other meaning to the word, you risk confusing the reader, but they may pick it up by context.

If one was to substitute Faye for the word Fuck, it might make for some fun sentences.

What the Faye?
I had a Faying good time
I'll Faying faye you up, you faye?

Seems like it could work for me, but...would such words pop out when one really wants them to dig in?

In this world the Faye folk are form less, and change form according to whatever mood they're in (some of the stronger ones pretend to be humans...)
I was thinking it'd be neat for the word Faye to mean almost anything as a cultural bit for the dragon kin as a nod to that.
But specific people only use the word for exact things. The most common one is using the word to express shock/confusion/surprise.

 

[pmmg]

Like Superman might use 'Great Scott?'

Do you fear it wont present well? I dont see why it could not work in that way.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Like Superman might use 'Great Scott?'

Do you fear it wont present well? I dont see why it could not work in that way.

Yeah, pretty much, the word itself doesn't have a 'meaning' per say, it's more an expression. Like how people say con sarnit all in old westerns sometimes.

I was more debating if I should make it a cultural thing (Since the dragon kin have a huge respect for Faye folk in their culture) or if I should just keep it a verbal tick specific to that character.

 

[pmmg]

So the character with the tick is not a faye? is instead a dragon?

A reminded of a joke, what does the bear say to the rabbit... Anything it wants.

Otherwise, might not the faye types not really enjoy this? and wish them to stop.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

So the character with the tick is not a faye? is instead a dragon?

The character with the tick is a dragon kin, and it is part of dragon kin culture to respect the fae folk/wind god since they kinda need the wind to you know, fly without some form of air ship. They are often confused/surprised the first time they see a faye change form, so that's how that usage of the word within their culture came about.

A reminded of a joke, what does the bear say to the rabbit... Anything it wants.

I thought you said you don't 'do' humor seems like you can if you try. Nice joke though, simple and effective pun. (my puns are usually more convoluted hence why most of them suck)

Otherwise, might not the faye types not really enjoy this? and wish them to stop.

I mean the Wind God is the leader of the Faye folk, and she's about as chaotic as you could get without actually being 'evil'
The Faye folk are surprisingly respective of other cultures, so long as they are respected back also. (which like 95% of the cultures do in their own way) At first they were in fact offended at how the dragon kin were using the word, then they looked into the cause, and being the chaotic little gremlines they are, they drafted up an agreement that it's mostly ok to use it that way.

 

[Finchbearer]

Faye is also a very recognisable name…

 

[Gurkhal]

I don't think that using "Faye" with different meanings depending on context should be a problem.

If you are worried someone who knows might explain it to someone who don't know in the story and the reader should be ready for this.

Don't underestimate the intelligence of your readers. I'm perfectly sure they would catch up on this.

 

[Finchbearer]

The name Faye does indeed derive from ‘fairy’, so it does make sense in that context. However if I were to read it in the text I wouldn’t be able to remove my mind from the name that is commonly given to girls. Maybe it’s more commonly given as a name in Europe, but you still need to consider these things carefully and not just about your own pre-existing cultural knowledge.

 

[Dankolisic]

She uses the word 'faye' a lot.
In my setting I use the word Faye to describe the 'fae' folk, you know, pixies and such. Especially the wind god who commonly takes whatever form she wants (you know, being wind god) but typically the form of your average pixie like critter.

Generally the Faye folk can shape shift, and the Dragon Kin have a good amount of respect for the faye folk. I was thinking the word Faye could mean something for her species.
Like it's more an expression than a proper word. And the context with which you use it changes it's meaning (like how Japan has several meanings for one phrase)

For the character that is introduced to the readers first, she uses 'faye' as a form of confusion/surprise. While another dragon kin might use it for some other reason, like censoring the word F*.

If you think of giving them a word to express their culture, then make it similar to their words but not the same, or create a new word.
It would be very confusing to me if I was reading a book and something like that happened. Like:
2 Dragon Kins are surprises by Faye.
Dk1: Faye! What shall we do now?
Dk2: I don't know, the Faye are fast, we cannot outrun.
F: What the faye are you doing in Faye land?

I just made this out, but the thing I'm trying to say is if you do not implement the word good into the reader and he does not become familiar with the words used in the world, you risk confusion, and after all, something that is relevant for the plot will be backshadowed because the focus of the reader would either be to understand the complex phrases and how do they correlate or, after the reading, they wouldn't know how to answer various lore questions because they did not pay much attention.
Sometimes i give my raw writings to my wife to read them. Usually she laughs a lot, but she makes some very good points. If I don't implement some way to explain to the reader(in this case, my wife) what's going on, she will just stop at the sentence, think twice what that means, and then carry on with no recollection about what it was.