To think nobody ‘pads’ in real life, is this just a book thing? Stuff you only read in books…

[Hottubby]

‘She slipped on his shirt and padded across the room ‘
Does anyone ‘pad’ in real life? I have read it 4 times this week (I’m on holiday and reading a lot of chic lit!). Why is it only used in books?

Paddington bear?

"Very well" as a curt acknowledgement. I have never in my life heard anyone say this in everyday life. It's like something from the 1940s.

Cupping hands around a mug unless you are outside and it's freezing. Everyone uses the handle!

Made me 😊

Agree with padding and guffawing.

Sorry you are wrong. Padding does mean to walk silently. It has nothing to do with being sensuous or sexy or cat like.

Cambridge English dictionary
dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/pad

to walk without making a noise:

She pads around the house in bare feet.
He padded across the thick carpet.

Well I have to confess that last night I padded into the bathroom and gazed in the mirror at my not quite perfect face, my lips just a little too wide and plump for my oval shaped, finely boned face, my raven hair perhaps a shade too dark to perfectly set off my porcelain skin. Dissatisfied, my lash framed, sparking green eyes dropped momentarily to drink in the sight of my smooth, creamy, perky breasts; my lips parted, i released a breath I didn't realise I was holding, padded silently back to bed and slipped between the cool, silky sheets, falling alseep almost as soon as my head touched the pillow.

I too have read “Shit books”
In English Literature A level, the tutor asked what we liked reading.
I replied “ Jilly Cooper” whereas the others said Tolstoy and Dickens.
I was laughed at-
But on results day , I was exonerated.

It is possible to read sugar as well as “ Better” literature.

It's not 'hair' though it's 'long chestnut locks' 🙈

@Deadringer “chick lit” writer in the making

The only things padding in books I've read are cats.

But yeah I've had characters- studying their reflections in mirrors/ bodies of water.

Lots of sentences being smiled- this doesnt bother me, I just assumed they were smiling while they say the sentence.

Re guffaw- the work guffaw isnt spoken but describes a laugh/ pattern of speaking. So I wouldn't expect the work guffaw to be used in an everyday situation.

But some of these are making me laugh, and I know I'll have difficulty taking a book seriously if I see some of the tropes mentioned here.

" Put his hand on her knee"😆😆😆

How come men don’t talk normally, they ‘rasp’ or ‘husk’? Sounds painful.

His chiselled cheekbones and saturnine good looks gave her the fanny gallops.
But she was plain and small - Would he ever notice her?

No you can Google it, it means quiet light irregular steps. The posters are right , it’s nothing to do with being sensuous.

op, I pad. I don’t take issue with the verb as it’s actually an apt descriptive word.

Who says 'Jane Austen' is 'better literature?' It's all subjective. I think Jane Austen's work is as boring as fuck. I know several people who did English degrees, and they were forced to read Austen, and they said it's a pile of wanky drivel.

I hate it.

I also really hate using a comma instead of "and".

My trigger phrase is ‘with every fibre of her being’ ffs.

I think 'padding' is meant to sound feline and hence sexy, with a whiff of predatory. Definitely overused by certain types of authors.

According to DH I am a galumpher. He probably has a point, I'm near-blind in low light and have a tendency to fall over furniture. Try and make that sexy!

Or they "growl". Book man growls and its meant to be hot. If a real life man growled at me I'd ask him who the fuck he's growling at.

The protagonist is always dissatisfied with their appearance.

I love this thread!

It's all so true....padding....guffawing....all the mirror stuff

Can I add 'he gruffly whispered in her ear'

Gruffly?? What IS that?

Katie Price got published.

Jane Austen would be writing about Garry and Morghan, great material as shocking as Lydia Bennet and Wickham!

Pride and prejudice isn’t boring, it’s funny

The verb to pad, as in to walk silently comes from the term “footpad” which was what a thief who targeted pedestrians using the element of surprise was called. (Not to be confused with mugger which was the confront in a dark alley and say your money or your life type of thief).

So a footpad would sneak up on his/her victims, clock them over the head, or shove them into a puddle, rob them and then run off with their valuables.

Over time, the foot was dropped but pad was kept to mean walking silently…like you’re a footpad.

Doesn't it mean to take careful, quiet steps, like a cat might? I often think I'm "padding" from my daughter's room once she's asleep so as not to wake her!

Thank you for all your replies, I feel validated (she smiled).
And yes I’m reading a pile of shite but I have no concentration for anything else. Pads gently away…

I agree with the OP about “padded”

I enjoy reading jilly cooper as well as Jane Austen. I also know loads of people who read English literature at university so clearly I know more than everyone else.