It z a truʈ yṇvrṣli acnolijd, ɖt a sngl man in pześn v a gd fortyn, mst b in wont v a wîf.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice

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It wz ɖ bst v tîmz, it wz ɖ wrst v tîmz, it wz ɖ ej v wizdm, it wz ɖ ej v fūliśnis, it wz ɖ eṗc v b’lif, it wz ɖ eṗc v incṛdyḷti, it wz ɖ sīzn v Lît, it wz ɖ sīzn v Darcnis, it wz ɖ sprñ v hop, it wz ɖ wintr v dsper, w hd evrʈñ bfr s, w hd nʈñ bfr s, w wr ol gwñ d’rect t Hevn, w wr ol gwñ ḍrect ɖ uɖr we – in śort, ɖ pirịd wz so far lîc ɖ preznt pirịd, ɖt sm v its nôziist oʈoṛtiz insistd on its biyñ rsivd, fr gd or fr īvl, in ɖ s’prḷtiv dgri v cmparisn onli.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities

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Mis Brŭc hd ɖt cnd v byti ẃć sīmz t b ʈroun intu rlif bî pur dres.

Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress.

George Eliot: Middlemarch

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Alis wz bginñ t gt vri tîrd v sitñ bî hr sistr on ɖ banc, n v hvñ nʈñ t d: wns or twîs ś hd pīpt intu ɖ bc hr sistr wz rīdñ, bt it hd no picćrz or convseśnz in it, “n ẃt z ɖ ys v a bc,” ʈt Alis, “wɖt picćrz or convseśnz?”

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversations?”

Lewis Carroll: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

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Last nît I dremt I wnt t Manḍli agn.

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.

Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca

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It wz a brît cold de in Epril, n ɖ clocs wr strîcñ ʈrtīn.

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

George Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-Four

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F y riyli wont t hír abt it, ɖ frst ʈñ y’l probbli wont t nǒ z ẃr I wz born, n ẃt mî lǎzi ćîldhd wz lîc, n hǎ mî peṛnts wr okpîd n ol bfr ɖe hd m, n ol ɖt Devid Coṗfīld cnd v crap, bt I d’nt fīl lîc gwñ intu it, f y wont t nǒ ɖ truʈ.

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.

J D Salinger: The Catcher In The Rye

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Đ past z a foṛn cuntri: ɖe d ʈñz difṛntli ɖr.

The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.

L. P. Hartley: The Go-Between

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It wz a qir, sultri sumr, ɖ sumr ɖe ilectṛktd ɖ Roznbrgz, n I dd’nt nǒ ẃt I wz dwñ in Ny Yorc.

It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.

Sylvia Plath: The Bell Jar

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Đe se ẃn trubl cmz cloz rancs, n so ɖ ẃît ppl dd.

They say when trouble comes close ranks, and so the white people did.

Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea

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It wz ɖ de mî granmuɖr xplodd.

It was the day my grandmother exploded.

Iain Banks: The Crow Road

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