$20 Words

[ElectricBlue]

I agree with this wholeheartedly. If I'm reading smut, I don't want to have to stop and look up what a word means. Using obscure words for the sake of using obscure words is a bad way to communicate and just looks amateurish and sad.

There's a difference between using the language as designed, and dumbing down for the dumbest reader. Cat sat on the mat erotica - I assume my readers got past primary school.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

There's a difference between using the language as designed, and dumbing down for the dumbest reader. Cat sat on the mat erotica - I assume my readers got past primary school.

It may have taken ten or twelve years, but...

 

[ChuckWolf]

Only for dialogue and only if it makes sense for the character.

IMO, using big words in an erotic story just seems to me that it would distract the reader.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Have I? Appreciate the close reading, because it's not one of my go to words!

My other favourite is "susurrus", mainly because it rains in my stories a lot. Usually, the context makes the meaning clear - it's one of those neat words that sounds like the sound it describes.

And here I was hoping for some typical Australian slang. You know, Crocodile Dundee style.

 

[ChuckWolf]

Right now, I'm working on a story where one of the characters tends to use lots of new age-y spiritual terms and lingo, so there are a few eclectic words that she uses.

 

[NuclearFairy]

Have I? Appreciate the close reading, because it's not one of my go to words!

My other favourite is "susurrus", mainly because it rains in my stories a lot. Usually, the context makes the meaning clear - it's one of those neat words that sounds like the sound it describes.

Susurrus is also excellent for ghost stories.

 

[Voboy]

And here I was hoping for some typical Australian slang. You know, Crocodile Dundee style.

Mick Dundee, on analingus:

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Mick Dundee, on analingus:

Can't see that one.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I learned "ubiquitous" from Philip K. Dick's Ubik.

--Annie

 

[alohadave]

And here I was hoping for some typical Australian slang. You know, Crocodile Dundee style.

I went to the servo to get petrol for my ute, and while I was waiting, I got some dodgy chook and hightailed it to the dunny. I almost chundered all over my runners.

 

[Britva415]

I don't think "decidedly" is one of the $20 words, but it might as well be. It has the exact same effect.

 

[MrPixel]

"Gobsmacked" is always a fun one.

The last time we had this general discussion, I postulated there were no $20 words any more, as inflation had taken its toll and they are now $50.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I went to the servo to get petrol for my ute, and while I was waiting, I got some dodgy chook and hightailed it to the dunny. I almost chundered all over my runners.

sneakers mate, sneakers. From a servo, more likely a Chiko Roll. Or these days, pre-made sandwiches in a triangular plastic container.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Every word is a twenty-dollar word the first time we encounter it. If writers never used words their readers didn't already know, nobody would be learning delightful vocab like "palimpsest".

(There's also a Charles Stross novella of that name; it's not erotica but it's a fun take on the "can you murder your own grandfather" time-travel paradox.)

I don't go out of my way to show off obscure vocabulary but I'm not going to filter myself either. I have to do that often enough in my day-to-day life and it chafes so it's not something I'd inflict upon myself for the sake of a hobby. Readers can decide for themselves whether they're willing to look up an occasional word, or figure it out from context.

The one time I can think of that I did go out of my way for obscurity was "heptatych", because that story was intended to evoke a Lovecraftian atmosphere and esoteric vocabulary was a big part of his style.

I used "geodetic" in another story, but that one gets an explanation in-text because the listener isn't familiar with it. A regular dictionary wouldn't be helpful there since it's being used in a specialised technical sense.

 

[nice90sguy]

Have I? Appreciate the close reading, because it's not one of my go to words!

My other favourite is "susurrus", mainly because it rains in my stories a lot. Usually, the context makes the meaning clear - it's one of those neat words that sounds like the sound it describes.

I was referring to the fact that you actually used it in yr post!

 

[MrHereWriting]

Who enjoys using big words that are written so damn well that it makes the reader rush to a dictionary to see what it means?

Example... music and memory are ubiquitous.

If you're going to use big words, obscure words, whatever you want to call them, they should fit the narrative tone or they should fit the character using them, whether it's because of their vocabulary, they heard it earlier and are repeating it, you're writing a comedic scene, etc.

If you throw in a big or obscure word just for the hell of it, that's bad writing.

It's like Jesse, from Breaking Bad using the word "Kafkaesque." Badger and Skinny Pete look at him like "What the fuck did you just say?" but the audience knows Jesse heard the word earlier from the guy who runs his NA meetings, who sounds and speaks like an intelligent, educated man who would know those types of words.

The point is, use whatever words you like, but they work best when they fit the tone of your story.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I was referring to the fact that you actually used it in yr post!

Haha, too subtle... missed that completely!

 

[Erozetta]

I use the words that make sense for the character and the story. I don't go out of my way to include or exclude any words. I even sometimes have a character use the wrong word because it fits the character.

 

[Purechicanery]

Just yesterday, @Voboy sent me googling when he used the word "palimpsest." Very cool word, if somewhat pretentious.

Taboo/Palimpsest is my favourite sub-genre.

 

[StillStunned]

The Palimpsest Challenge: write a poem or story that's innocent by itself, overlaid with another innocent text, but when the two are combined with overlapping lines it becomes smut.

Dear brother, how I miss you!
- The lower field has been left fallow this year
But you'll be home from uni soon,
- and it's nearly time for ploughing.

 

[Purechicanery]

For a more serious answer, I mostly try to use words that I think people are likely to know. Doesn't mean I go all monosyllabic or anything, but I want most people with a decent grasp of English to be able to understand what's going on. I had a brief look at one of my stories, and I think it was pretty readable without feeling too 'dumbed down'.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

For a more serious answer, I mostly try to use words that I think people are likely to know. Doesn't mean I go all monosyllabic or anything, but I want most people with a decent grasp of English to be able to understand what's going on. I had a brief look at one of my stories, and I think it was pretty readable without feeling too 'dumbed down'.

Yet your nom de lit is "chicanery"?

--Annie

 

[Purechicanery]

Yet your nom de lit is "chicanery"?

--Annie

Haven't put it in a story yet, though.

IDK, I mostly don't need people to know what that means.

Also I feel like it's not as obscure as some of the words I've seen bandied about here.

 

[mejau71]

If you're going to use big words, obscure words, whatever you want to call them, they should fit the narrative tone or they should fit the character using them, whether it's because of their vocabulary, they heard it earlier and are repeating it, you're writing a comedic scene, etc.

If you throw in a big or obscure word just for the hell of it, that's bad writing.

It's like Jesse, from Breaking Bad using the word "Kafkaesque." Badger and Skinny Pete look at him like "What the fuck did you just say?" but the audience knows Jesse heard the word earlier from the guy who runs his NA meetings, who sounds and speaks like an intelligent, educated man who would know those types of words.

The point is, use whatever words you like, but they work best when they fit the tone of your story.

You, dear sir, are on my fave list for referencing my most beloved show.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

The Palimpsest Challenge: write a poem or story that's innocent by itself, overlaid with another innocent text, but when the two are combined with overlapping lines it becomes smut.

Dear brother, how I miss you!
- The lower field has been left fallow this year
But you'll be home from uni soon,
- and it's nearly time for ploughing.

One of the most cursed ideas I've seen this week, and it's Monday!