Words you hate to see used

pickarooney

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--

ornate
Sure sign of pretention in my book

Dirk Gently

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

pickarooney

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

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

beveragelady

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Should only be used to name the city in Italy

Eh France maybe?:D

clappyhappy

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

Antilles

Achillles wrote: »

Eh France maybe?:D

Never! Viva Garibaldi!

Toasterspark

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

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

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

'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

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--

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

--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

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

Kinski

--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

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

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

Dove as a verb. It's dived.

McChubbin

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

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

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

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