How do you feel about uncommon words?

[MillieDynamite]

What y'all talking about, suckers?

How High??? nocht verschteyen. (Danke, Google Translate.)

 

[ElectricBlue]

AG31: I like to see the perfect word used.

Could you elaborate on the difference between "perfect" and "right?"

For me, "right" implies a dictionary definition, a correct usage. It's a neutral word, something is either right or wrong. "Perfect" for me adds a subjective connotation, given that English very often has a choice of words with similar meanings. It's a nuance, a subtlety, nothing more, in my usage of a word.

I'd say, for example, that a hammer is the right tool to hammer in a nail, but is it the perfect tool? Not really, because a pneumatic hammer would probably be even better. Perfect places itself above all others, whereas several tools might be right for the job, depending on the actual job.

My story with Jenny https://www.literotica.com/s/we-deliver-all-things-jenny illustrates the subtlety. She uses the word "perfect" as a way of describing her view on certain things.

That's all it is, a nuance in meaning, and I chose one word over the other.

This is probably the most elaborate deconstruction of a difference I've ever written. Usually I'd just say, "Well, I used that word because it sounded right to me." I generally reject the notion of perfection, because something can always be better.

 

[Abbafan]

I am currently reading a story with quite a few interesting words. The latest being 'penumbra'. Personally, I like a word here and there I need to look up, but I think it is off-putting if there are too many.

If it's just the right word, and no other word gets the meaning across the same way, I'll use a less common word.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

What y'all talking about, suckers?

This goes back to a post by @StillStunned that German is a lovely language. It went a little sideways from there. I think @ShelbyDawn57 was responsible. She probably needs(wants to be) to be punished. No surprise, I'm sure.

 

[Voboy]

What y'all talking about, suckers?

They're talking about opening a window.

 

[MillieDynamite]

OH, well, as long as y'all get it, that's all that matters. As for me, I like my AC and don't want the window opened.

This goes back to a post by @StillStunned that German is a lovely language. It went a little sideways from there. I think @ShelbyDawn57 was responsible. She probably needs(wants to be) to be punished. No surprise, I'm sure.

They're talking about opening a window.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Wie hoch?

Scheiße. Ich habe das gerade erst bekommen. Nur ein bisschen. Gerade genug für ein Kinderspiel. (Google Translate, nochmal.)

 

[Rustyoznail]

Did you rebut him with "ignorant prick"?

Nah, I reckoned if he couldn't work it out from the context, I couldn't give a rat's.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Bottom line is that, while I don’t deliberately intend to intimidate, I had to look up the darned word the first time I saw it myself. If somebody wants to stick with a six-year-old’s vocabulary, it’s on them.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I've always thought that "mullioned" was a word with the wrong definition. It should actually mean something like "shagged so hard you can barely walk".

You're thinking of 'mullered'. Or many other words ending in -ed which probably also means 'to be very drunk' in Britglish.

 

[TheLobster]

German's actually a lovely language, when it's not being exaggerated to make a Hollywood villain sound evil.

I was almost compelled to reconsider my stance on this issue. But then I realized how ludicrous it is to call a language lovely when its word for something as fragile and beautiful as butterfly is a freaking Schmetterling.

 

[StillStunned]

I was almost compelled to reconsider my stance on this issue. But then I realized how ludicrous it is to call a language lovely when its word for something as fragile and beautiful as butterfly is a freaking Schmetterling.

From https://www.thelocal.de/20180927/der-schmetterling:

But Schmetterling has an interesting etymology. It derives from the east central German word schmetten, meaning ‘cream’, with the diminutive suffix -ling. It was believed that witches metamorphosed into butterflies to steal cream and other dairy products.

"Creamling". How can you not love that?

 

[TheLobster]

From https://www.thelocal.de/20180927/der-schmetterling:

"Creamling". How can you not love that?

This only highlights another problem with German: that half the words start with Sch- and the other half with Ge-.

It’s hard consonants all the way down!

 

[TarnishedPenny]

This only highlights another problem with German: that half the words start with Sch- and the other half with Ge-.

It’s hard consonants all the way down!

And what wrong is with people who like this talk?

 

[CockSparrow]

Many years ago, the guy who edited my second book (and went on to become a good friend) used to say: 'Only use words your reader will understand. If they don't understand the words, they're not your readers.'

He also used to say: 'If you send your reader off to find a dictionary, they may not come back.'

 

[ElectricBlue]

Many years ago, the guy who edited my second book (and went on to become a good friend) used to say: 'Only use words your reader will understand. If they don't understand the words, they're not your readers.'

That's the key, but that doesn't mean dumb down to the lowest common denominator. If you do that, Dick fucked Jane is all you get.

I look at this from the other direction - I got myself a passable vocabulary, and if a reader's vocabulary doesn't match it, that's their problem, not mine.

He also used to say: 'If you send your reader off to find a dictionary, they may not come back.'

That's making ignorance an excuse for laziness, or vice-versa. How does he expect readers to get past Grade Five?

John Banville is one of my favourite authors - I'm constantly finding new words whenever I read anything of his, and think, how do you even know these words exist? Probably by ignoring his editor and skimming dictionaries - being Irish might have something to do with it .

 

[Gamblnluck]

I am currently reading a story with quite a few interesting words. The latest being 'penumbra'. Personally, I like a word here and there I need to look up, but I think it is off-putting if there are too many.

I tend to think it is offputting as well. If you use it, have one of the other characters ask what was meant. Then explain it. Use stuff like that sparingly. Make it an addition to the story not something the reader has to either ignore or go to a dictionary.
Too many authors want to be superior to their readers or their fellow authors.

 

[XerXesXu]

Too many authors want to be superior to their readers or their fellow authors.

I'd expect 'authors' to have larger vocabularies than their readers. I imagine most people have the same expectation.

Some authors (aspirational) are also journalists (paid job). Journalists on mass circulation newspapers (Sun, Mirror, Mail) are instructed to write for people whose lips move when they read, short sentences, small, common words. As authors they write aspirationally and make full use of their vocabulary and mastery of language. Some are more and some, less able.

Word choice depends on your vocabulary and your aspirations. Who do you aspire to write for? I'm not an author, I'm a recreational writer, I write for people similar me. I've used 'penumbra' a couple of times. No problem.
Recently, I rewrote 'soughing zephyrs' because many people similar to me would struggle with that combination of words.

 

[AG31]

My view, after twenty-odd years (some of them very odd) as a professional editor is that writers only use fancy words if they're more concerned with people admiring them for writing than reading what they've written.

Really?
I stumbled on this thread as I was posting a similar one. Might my post bring to mind some authors who use "fancy words" to good effect?

 

[StillStunned]

Really?
I stumbled on this thread as I was posting a similar one. Might my post bring to mind some authors who use "fancy words" to good effect?

I suppose it's a tricky one. In the lines you quoted, only "atavistic" is a word that wasn't common in the books I grew up reading and the movies I watched. I definitely think that people have stopped using the full range of words that the English language offers, and sometimes a word - for example "repugnant" - is perfect for a sentence or scene. The combination of sounds and meaning immediately creates associations that aren't quite the same as with "distasteful" or "horrible".

Still, I think that it's important to choose those words wisely - for their sound or their connotations. If you can do that, it can make your prose read like poetry.

But randomly throwing in "big words" to appear more "writerly" just makes you look like you've right-clicked the "Synonyms" feature in Word.

 

[AG31]

But randomly throwing in "big words" to appear more "writerly" just makes you look like you've right-clicked the "Synonyms" feature in Word.

Ha! I didn't know there was such a feature!

 

[alohadave]

But randomly throwing in "big words" to appear more "writerly" just makes you look like you've right-clicked the "Synonyms" feature in Word.

Signed,

Baby Kangaroo Tribiani

 

[ArdentHemingway]

I think it is off-putting

Contrariwise, it demonstrates immense skill.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Contrariwise, it demonstrates immense skill.

Or ready access to a thesaurus.