Words you hate to see used

pickarooney · 04-07-2012 11:32am #1

Some words just annoy me when used in a story. I can't put a finger on why exactly. A word can't really be a cliché on its own but yet the use of these words makes the writing feel that way. I think it could be that in 96% of cases there's no need to use these particular words and a less ornate one would suit better. Are there any words that wind you up this way?

Emanate and reverie do it for me

--Kaiser-- · 04-07-2012 11:59am

ornate
Sure sign of pretention in my book

Dirk Gently · 04-07-2012 12:02pm

Pulling random percentages out of thin air to ornate a point does it for me.

pickarooney · 04-07-2012 1:13pm

Dirk Gently wrote: »

Pulling random percentages out of thin air to ornate a point does it for me.

Using adjectives as verbs is another one, Father.

hcass · 04-07-2012 1:32pm

Tentatively - I hate the overuse of adverbs in general but this one in particular makes me see red.

beveragelady · 04-07-2012 1:42pm

Somewhat. There is no sentence that will be improved by adding the words 'somewhat.' (Even that sentence would be less annoying without it.)

Tad. People who aren't sure how to spell 'somewhat' use 'a tad.'

Compare: "Beveragelady's contribution to the discussion was unhelpful but predictable."
"Beveragelady's contribution to the discussion was a tad unhelpful but somewhat predictable."

Insect Overlord · 04-07-2012 2:26pm

A twist on the idea of this thread:

I like the word "embrace", but the editor of Limerick's Revival poetry magazine insisted I remove it from a poem before he'd publish it.

Jogathon · 04-07-2012 2:30pm

pickarooney wrote: »

Emanate and reverie do it for me

I absolutely hate "reverie". It just conjours up images of an innocent woman being completely unaware of her beauty when we all know that in real life she'd be posing. Hate it!!!

pickarooney · 04-07-2012 2:49pm

I always thought the Kings of Leon were singing 'Dreaming of Reverie'

Insect Overlord wrote:

I like the word "embrace", but the editor of Limerick's Revival poetry magazine insisted I remove it from a poem before he'd publish it.

Why? And what did he make you replace it with?

Insect Overlord · 04-07-2012 2:52pm

pickarooney wrote: »

Why? And what did he make you replace it with?

He cut the whole line out of it. "It was a bit chliched and obvious and superflous" (sic erat scriptum).

clappyhappy · 04-07-2012 2:55pm

I hate the word "nice". There are hundreds of other words to describe something, rather than "nice". Should only be used to name the city in France or for a packet of biscuits.

pickarooney · 04-07-2012 2:57pm

clappyhappy wrote: »

I hate the word "nice". There are hundreds of other words to describe something, rather than "nice". Should only be used to name the city in Italy or for a packet of biscuits.

Che?

Achillles · 04-07-2012 3:20pm

Should only be used to name the city in Italy

Eh France maybe?:D

clappyhappy · 04-07-2012 3:24pm

Yes sorry, don't know what I was thinking of. Shall edit :eek

Antilles · 04-07-2012 3:45pm

Achillles wrote: »

Eh France maybe?:D

Never! Viva Garibaldi!

Toasterspark · 04-07-2012 9:52pm

Anyone that uses big, complicated words that require a dictionary to work out what they're trying to convey. I wish some authors would stick to simple words.

Antilles · 04-07-2012 10:07pm

I hate it when authors make up their own words to give their work some colour, when there are real words which would do the job just as well.

I read a lot of SF/F so I see it a lot.

echo beach · 04-07-2012 10:57pm

I hate to see any word in print that isn't used in speech.
Some politicians use 'emanate' a lot, so I'll modify that to words that ordinary people don't use when speaking. If you wouldn't say it then don't write it, unless it's a historical novel and people used to say it.

When did you last hear somebody say 'reverie'?

I don't like 'nice' and 'good'. The legacy of an English teacher who always stuck a red line through them with the order 'seek alternative for this lazy word'. Sadly I'm still lazy so use them more than I should but hate to see others doing it.

SpaceRocket · 05-07-2012 2:27am

'Wreathed' and 'palatial'.
I had the misfortune of going on holidays once where the only english book available to read was a Cathy Kelly.
I can now no longer see those words witout wanting to scream at her.

Quatermain · 05-07-2012 2:34am

Toasterspark wrote: »

Anyone that uses big, complicated words that require a dictionary to work out what they're trying to convey. I wish some authors would stick to simple words.

Sirrah, I'm anaspeptic, prasmotic, even compunctuous to imagine you would think of such pericombobulations.

--Kaiser-- · 05-07-2012 9:27am

The only word I can think of is:
pulchritudinous
It means beautiful (from the Latin pulchrutudin) but it such an ugly, ungainly word that it doesn't suit its purpose. Then again, I've only seen it used by one writer, AA Gill, who has introduced me to so many wonderful words such as tinntinabulation (the ringing of little bells) and bituminous (relating to coal and tar substances) that he can be forgiven. Truth be told, I love words; the big, the small, the pretentious, the archaic and the ridiculous (honorificabilitudinity!)

Das Kitty · 05-07-2012 10:01am

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

The only word I can think of is:
pulchritudinous
It means beautiful (from the Latin pulchrutudin) but it such an ugly, ungainly word that it doesn't suit its purpose. Then again, I've only seen it used by one writer, AA Gill, who has introduced me to so many wonderful words such as tinntinabulation (the ringing of little bells) and bituminous (relating to coal and tar substances) that he can be forgiven. Truth be told, I love words; the big, the small, the pretentious, the archaic and the ridiculous (honorificabilitudinity!)

I'm with you. I love all sorts of words.

The only things that irk me are repetition and poorly chosen words.

I wouldn't agree at all that a writer should only use words that people speak regularly. If we were to stick to that, the pool of words from which we can choose would be ever decreasing. There's also the factor of different people using different words. I've said the word reverie in a sentence *shock*. Just because no one you know would, is not to say that no one does.

Word choice can be very important in characterisation. For instance, if a character were to eschew rather than avoid something, it gives the reader a clue to the type of character he is. Slightly pretentious.

pickarooney · 05-07-2012 10:31am

Totally agree on pulchritudinous. It's the least apt-sounding word in the English language.

Kinski · 05-07-2012 10:51am

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

It means beautiful (from the Latin pulchrutudin) but it such an ugly, ungainly word that it doesn't suit its purpose.)

I've seen a male columnist use it in the Irish Times; in a article about the annual media hoo-haa over the Leaving Cert, he referred to pictures of "pulchritudinous schoolgirls" in the papers...presumably because he didn't want to write "hot schoolgirls" and have everyone think he was a massive perv.

odds_on · 13-07-2012 9:32am

Toasterspark wrote: »

Anyone that uses big, complicated words that require a dictionary to work out what they're trying to convey. I wish some authors would stick to simple words.

Toasterspark, you have given me hope!

pickarooney · 13-07-2012 11:02am

I'm in the middle of reading a fantastic book on Authonomy, about to give it 6 stars and a bookshelving and there it is, sitting in the middle of the page, like a pig with a flick-knife ****ting on the axminster.

Reverie.

You have to let things go sometimes.

coolbeans · 13-07-2012 11:09am

Dove as a verb. It's dived.

McChubbin · 15-07-2012 6:40pm

As a reader of erotica, I find using the words "her sex", "down there" or "his member" or "her flaxen quim" drives me batty.

Das Kitty · 15-07-2012 6:57pm

McChubbin wrote: »

As a reader of erotica, I find using the words "her sex", "down there" or "his member" or "her flaxen quim" drives me batty.

My pet peeve in that regard is "her breast tips" when referring to nipples. Sounds like a starter in a Barbecue.

juan.kerr · 15-07-2012 7:01pm

clappyhappy wrote: »

I hate the word "nice". There are hundreds of other words to describe something, rather than "nice". Should only be used to name the city in France or for a packet of biscuits.

Don't see the problem with the word nice - sometimes something is just 'nice'.

pauline fayne · 22-07-2012 5:07am

Myriad. I don't know why it annoys me , I guess I'm just cranky !

pickarooney · 23-07-2012 8:32am

pauline fayne wrote: »

Myriad. I don't know why it annoys me , I guess I'm just cranky !

Especially when it's used incorrectly, e.g. 'a myriad of'.

23-07-2012 9:52am

pickarooney wrote: »

Especially when it's used incorrectly, e.g. 'a myriad of'.

wha?

A myriad is primarily a singular cardinal number; just as the "thousand" in "four thousand" is singular (one does not write "four thousands people") the word myriad is used in the same way: "there are four myriad people outside". When used as a noun, meaning "a large number", it follows the same rules as that phrase. However, that is not the case originally in Greek, where there is plural.

In English, the term "myriad" is most commonly used to refer to a large number of an unspecified size. In this way "myriad" can be used as either a noun or an adjective.[1] Thus both "there are myriad people outside" and "there is a myriad of people outside" are correct.[2]
Merriam-Webster notes, "Recent criticism of the use of myriad as a noun, both in the plural form myriads and in the phrase a myriad of, seems to reflect a mistaken belief that the word was originally and is still properly only an adjective.... however, the noun is in fact the older form, dating to the 16th century. The noun myriad has appeared in the works of such writers as Milton (plural myriads) and Thoreau (a myriad of), and it continues to occur frequently in reputable English."[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myriad

pickarooney · 23-07-2012 10:34am

Fair cop, guv. Still, I've never seen it used as a noun where it didn't sound pretentious.

--Kaiser-- · 23-07-2012 12:59pm

pickarooney wrote: »

Fair cop, guv. Still, I've never seen it used as a noun where it didn't sound pretentious.

I dunno, if you really wanted to be pretentious you'd use 'plethora'

pickarooney · 27-07-2012 7:10am

Another thing I can't stand is 'well' used in this way:

"he hadn't been beaten up by high school kids since, well, high school"

It's like the author is saying "I can't think of an apposite simile here so I'm just going to re-use this word but just so you know I'm aware of that, here's a 'well'. Okay, let's get back to the story then."

--Kaiser-- · 27-07-2012 8:59am

pickarooney wrote: »

Another thing I can't stand is 'well' used in this way:

"he hadn't been beaten up by high school kids since, well, high school"

It's like the author is saying "I can't think of an apposite simile here so I'm just going to re-use this word but just so you know I'm aware of that, here's a 'well'. Okay, let's get back to the story then."

Well, I don't know, if it's used, um....well then it can help to voice a charachter. I mean, think of Holden Caulfield for chrissakes. His voice was full of repititious uses of hackneyed phrases but the end result was, well...swell

Iomega Man · 27-07-2012 9:57am

"Final" and "Reminder"...

Arlecchina · 27-07-2012 10:28am

For some reason the words 'flavourful' and 'flavoursome' make me shudder.

Also, this is pretty much a given, but almost any speech tag but 'said' or 'asked' jumps out at me and hits me over the head.

Das Kitty · 27-07-2012 10:40am

Arlecchina wrote: »

Also, this is pretty much a given, but almost any speech tag but 'said' or 'asked' jumps out at me and hits me over the head.

Amen.

Mewling seems to be an increasingly common thing in speech tags. Gives me the heebee jeebees.

pickarooney · 27-07-2012 11:23am

Arlecchina wrote: »

Also, this is pretty much a given, but almost any speech tag but 'said' or 'asked' jumps out at me and hits me over the head.

You should try translating a dialogue-heavy French text.

elle soupira -- she said
elle exclama -- she said
elle gémissa -- she said
elle conclue -- she said

Even in books for toddlers they go mental using every possible verb to avoid using 'said'.

HidePork · 05-08-2012 5:05pm

Tad, Embrace, Nice, Amen, Dove - lot of music groups getting a mention in this thread

Chloris · 05-08-2012 5:11pm

George R.R. Martin is a sucker for just using "said". It gets annoying because he's not being descriptive enough and it makes it more difficult to imagine how the dialogue is really taking place; the dynamics of the relationship can be expounded upon far more effectively if the author uses synonyms. Even "replied" would do because characters aren't simply speaking into thin air, they're addressing somebody else's prior statement.

Does anyone else find that, no?

Rubecula · 05-08-2012 5:17pm

Not keen on spelling mistakes, yes we all make them, especially me. However I do not like to see them in published works as the works are supposedly proof read. The main annoyance is American spelling though. (eg color instead of colour) Irritates me when the computer tries to tell me that the correct spelling is wrong too.

As I intimated, however, I do make a lot of spelling mistakes myself.

As for specific words, I don't really mind any words if they fit the context and/or make the reading easier and more pleasurable.

It would be a very boring world if we all liked the same thing, so I assume if we all disliked the same thing it could be just as boring.

The Mad Hatter · 14-08-2012 7:22pm

Chloris wrote: »

George R.R. Martin is a sucker for just using "said". It gets annoying because he's not being descriptive enough and it makes it more difficult to imagine how the dialogue is really taking place; the dynamics of the relationship can be expounded upon far more effectively if the author uses synonyms. Even "replied" would do because characters aren't simply speaking into thin air, they're addressing somebody else's prior statement.

Does anyone else find that, no?

No, pretty much every writer does that. "Said" is pretty much a non-word - we just scan over it. A text gets bogged down with "announced", "whispered", "replied", or whatever. Even "asked" tends to get swapped out for "said".

WHIP IT! · 15-08-2012 11:39pm

The word 'that' is grossly overused in every newspaper I read... I think the only reason I notice it is because an old lecturer had a rule: "If you have the word 'that' in a sentence, reread said sentence without the word 'that' in it and, if it still makes sense, just take it out!"

ie: "Trapattoni says he has assured the Irish players that the next game will be crucial..."

Gets right on my wick :pac:

odds_on · 16-08-2012 12:05am

WHIP IT! wrote: »

The word 'that' is grossly overused in every newspaper I read... I think the only reason I notice it is because an old lecturer had a rule: "If you have the word 'that' in a sentence, reread said sentence without the word 'that' in it and, if it still makes sense, just take it out!"

ie: "Trapattoni says he has assured the Irish players that the next game will be crucial..."

Gets right on my wick :pac:

ie: "Trapattoni says that he has assured the Irish players that the next game will be crucial..."

Agent Weebley · 16-08-2012 4:03am

WHIP IT! wrote: »

The word 'that' is grossly overused in every newspaper I read... I think the only reason I notice it is because an old lecturer had a rule: "If you have the word 'that' in a sentence, reread said sentence without the word 'that' in it and, if it still makes sense, just take it out!"

Deep down . . . is really what you think about word? A little bit of this or is necessary for conveying the message . . . just a sprinkling, though. Moderation in all things . . . or something like.

I remember reading On Speeches by Margaget Cher, and it was full of connector words like. Remember her? Nobody liked her. Poll tax: is a good idea? Totally changes the sentence. Imagine what would have happened if she relied only on inflection in sentence? What a powerful word. It can cause riots! Everything she said was full of, absolutely100% full of.

Just like Enda Kenny.

Oh, and William Shakespeare . . . ever been to his home? He lived in a ched roof cottage .. . awesome writing . . . to be or not to be . . . is the question.

Isn't awesome? Isn't absolutely awesome? Shakespeare, I would love to be, or not to be kind of writer. Dude (or Dudette) . . . I'm down with kind of chatter.

To be . . . ornottobe

or

To be . . . or notto .. . be

or

Tobeornotto . . .be

[courtesy: Monty Python]

What's the name of lecturer? He played a mind game on you, methinks. I want to send him a stern letter. Yep . . . <send> . . . just like.

Hey, come to think about it, how about Tommy Cooper and his unbelievable magic tricks: . . . Mruhahah . . . just like. [note: ostentatious outward bound open fingered hand motions, as well as square grin - looking back and forth at an open jawed and mystified audience]

. . . doesn't make sense?

PS: Mnd f tll y my pt pv? Shld r shldn't ? N, y wld jst lgh t m . . . lgh m rght t f ths frm wth my tl btwn my lgs.

Decoder: i i e ou e eee? ou i o ou i? o, ou ou u au a e .. . au e i ou o i ou i ai eee e.

[Fnny . . . th dcdr snds lk 'm mnky.] u e eoe ou ie i a oe.

PPS: that . . . is a hook?

djflawless · 16-08-2012 4:05am

50, shades, and grey in the one sentence usually makes me lack enthusiasm fairly rapid

Hunchback · 16-08-2012 4:17am

'penchant'

Urg!

Chuck Stone · 16-08-2012 4:49am

Sesquipedalian

Words you hate to see used

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