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Original poster

Irritating phrases

54 replies

Hallandporridgeoats · 22/04/2024 15:04

I can be reading a great book, and then the author will introduce one of these phrases that I find so irritating...and so many seem to use them.

"She was fiercely independent" or "he was so very tired" or "she loved him so very much". Aargh.

Do you have phrases that you feel this way about?

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Gremlinsateit · 16/10/2024 07:08

All the commercial fiction writers seem to have done the same course advising them that more is more, and especially not to use “said”. So, after she had inspected her golden waterfall tresses and flashing jade-green eyes in the ornate antique mirror, she breathed (as above), murmured, muttered, stuttered, uttered, cried, sighed, pronounced, declared, whispered, professed, opined - it reads like a primary schooler with a thesaurus.

AppleDumplingWithCustard · 15/10/2024 23:30

GalileoHumpkins · 23/04/2024 14:28

Her breath caught in her throat.
He smelled like cinnamon.
I read something recently where one of the character's bowels turned watery and hit the toilet bowl with a loud splash.

His bowels hit the toilet bowl? Wow, he has real problems if his colon has dropped out. 😂

merryhouse · 15/10/2024 22:55

If you read too much Heinlein you soon get fed up of Rugged Individualists. With particular reference to the difficulty of leading a group of them.

TheJingleJangleMorning · 15/10/2024 22:42

Definitely padding.

Usually through a kitchen with a scrubbed wooden table and mismatched chairs.

moonshinepoursthroughmywindow · 15/10/2024 22:34

I thought it was only women who padded in books, but the other day I came across a man padding. In a William Boyd, of all things. I thought he was better than that.

FortunataTagnips · 29/08/2024 18:14

Edited - duplicate post

FortunataTagnips · 29/08/2024 18:14

I will admit to the occasional hand-squeeze.

SweetSycamores · 29/08/2024 17:31

"She squeezed his hand"

I've never seen anyone do this ever. An arm around the shoulder or a handhold maybe. But squeezing hands seems to be something done only in books.

FortunataTagnips · 29/08/2024 17:29

Oh yes, grinding out is extremely annoying.

GnomeMoreTears · 29/08/2024 14:51

He/she "ground out" (ie spoke, while annoyed)

LJ Ross has this every other page, and it was in evidence in the Bridgerton books too!

It creates a really unpleasant mental image of crumbled teeth, though that might be just me!!

SpanielintheWorks · 29/08/2024 14:39

I can't remember the book, but every other page went like this
He looked at her. 'What do you mean?'
She looked at him. 'Isn't it obvious?'
He looked at her thoughtfully. 'Well,' he said...

LaMarschallin · 29/08/2024 14:38

Bideshi

Gosh! How weird.
The "Flicker of Frustration" (thanks,
Grimgrump) indeed.
I've only ever had something similar just under my eye. It feels like I'm winking but, thankfully, doesn't look like it.

Grimgrump · 29/08/2024 14:33

Bideshi · 29/08/2024 14:27

Actually this happened to me the other day. Started to get this weird ticking by my jaw. I did think of it in literary terms as it's never happened before, yet I am familiar with it through books. Thought you'd like to know that.
Off to expunge my novel of various phrases....Not saying which.

Edited
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It’s the Flicker of Frustration!

Bideshi · 29/08/2024 14:27

LaMarschallin · 29/08/2024 14:13

"A muscle flickered in his cheek"
It's always a man (maybe only they have muscles) and I don't see how they do it.
Continually clenching one's teeth would make the masseter muscles bulge slightly, but then it would be "cheeks".
And, while you might clench your teeth once in moments of emotion, you wouldn't keep making chomping movements.

Actually this happened to me the other day. Started to get this weird ticking by my jaw. I did think of it in literary terms as it's never happened before, yet I am familiar with it through books. Thought you'd like to know that.
Off to expunge my novel of various phrases....Not saying which.

Limth · 29/08/2024 14:16

"Padding": Just say "walking"
"So as to...": Just say "to"
"Gazing": Just say "looking"

Novels written in the present tense, unless for very specific scene setting or narrative effect.

Legacy · 29/08/2024 14:14

CrossPurposes · 22/04/2024 15:49

I'm glad it's not just me who finds this so irritating.

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Ha ha - I came here to add this!

LaMarschallin · 29/08/2024 14:13

"A muscle flickered in his cheek"
It's always a man (maybe only they have muscles) and I don't see how they do it.
Continually clenching one's teeth would make the masseter muscles bulge slightly, but then it would be "cheeks".
And, while you might clench your teeth once in moments of emotion, you wouldn't keep making chomping movements.

VivaDixie · 29/08/2024 14:12

WalkInAStraightLine · 29/08/2024 13:29

That's so specific (and quite crap) it's making me laugh imagining it cropping up everywhere

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It really is crap 😂 I have seen it many times unfortunately and it makes my teeth itch every time 😂

WalkInAStraightLine · 29/08/2024 13:29

VivaDixie · 29/08/2024 13:16

I came on here to say exactly this.

Either an 'o' of surprise or an 'o' of wonder or something.

It irrationally irritates me! 😂

Edited
Show quote history

That's so specific (and quite crap) it's making me laugh imagining it cropping up everywhere

VivaDixie · 29/08/2024 13:16

LostaraYil · 19/08/2024 07:59

A variation of 'his mouth was an 'o' of surprise'. I swear every child uses this in GCSE English and now when I see the phrase in a real book I want to throw it across the room.

I came on here to say exactly this.

Either an 'o' of surprise or an 'o' of wonder or something.

It irrationally irritates me! 😂

Allsortsmakesnormal · 26/08/2024 08:43

I've just read It Ends With Us to see what all the hype was about - big mistake. Awful. If I read the phrase 'naked truth' ever again then I won't be responsible for my actions......

FlorbelaEspanca · 25/08/2024 22:22

Sethera · 19/08/2024 06:50

"A beat" meaning a short pause. It's everywhere and it's irritating.

There is a respectable theory in phonetics that in English stressed syllables come at about equal intervals: these are the beats. But when there is a pause the beat is silent. See David Abercrombie's essay 'Some functions of silent stress' (in his Fifty years in phonetics) and Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen's English speech rhythm: form and function in everyday verbal interaction.

LaMarschallin · 19/08/2024 13:29

I can raise one eyebrow but only the left one. I can only raise the right if I simultaneously frown with the left.
Which looks very odd.

Another irritation (to me, at least) is specific to Jilly Cooper in her later novels.
Despite putting a dramatis personae at the beginning, she still doesn't trust her readers to remember things about her characters.
For example, in "Wicked" (admittedly not one of her finest moments anyway) a pupil called Pearl has a father who - we are soon informed - is a boxer.
Every time he comes up, this is mentioned. Even Pearl talks about "my boxer dad".

JaninaDuszejko · 19/08/2024 12:34

DH pads round the house. It is not his most endearing characteristic. Just go where you are going quickly.

FortunataTagnips · 19/08/2024 11:41

@TheAverageJoanne Weirdly, I can. But it takes practice. Maybe our hero had a monobrow.