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?

Oh very interesting, msybe I'll have to stop my padding about. EEK

@Hottubby I USED (see above!) to consider myself to be padding about the house when in socks. Not deliberately silently, more softly & cosy. Generally more slowly and without determination. (The difference between putting a few little bits where they belong & taking a basket full of laundry to put away)

if someone sent me a message to ask what I was doing I might reply 'just padding about the house' & they'd know what I meant.

seems I might see got the wrong word for it though, I'm definitely not clicking people over the head!

Yes, exactly. Same with someone “smiling” or “laughing” a sentence.

Surely they’re all descriptors which convey the mood of what you’re reading?

Otherwise it will be unbelievably dull “she walked across the bedroom then walked down the stairs. She walked the kitchen and then walked out to the car. Upon reaching work she walked to her desk”.

“She padded across the bedroom before creeping down the stairs. She tiptoed across the kitchen before walking out to the car. Upon reaching work she trudged to her desk.”

I mean, it’s not going to be part of a blockbuster novel but descriptors convey a mood even if they’re not likely in real life.

More realistic version:

She stumbled across the bedroom, falling over the dog who had decided to sleep in the most inconvenient place possible yet again. Trying to be quiet, she nearly fell down the full set of stairs because a rogue piece of bastard Lego was lurking on the top step. Instinctively recoiling as the yellow plastic buried itself into her foot, she bellowed “fuuuuck” as she slid down the first few stairs on her arse. Having woken everyone in the house, she stomped into the kitchen and went out to the car. On arriving at work she dragged herself to her desk, ready for another full day of bullshit.

I don't think padding is silent either. I think it's quite onomatopoiec. I also dislike it, OP!

I was trying to quote @mondaytosunday to say I agreed with different words being used as descriptors.

I've got a friend who is a very successful chic lit author - I enjoy her books, and she doesn't have any padding, but what she sometimes does is have confusing dialogue sections.

So Heroine will say: "What's going on?"
Boyfriend will reply: "Not much."
"And then there will be another thing in quotes."
"And another."
"And one more for good measure."
"And maybe even two or three more."
"Like this."
"Or this."
"And this."

And I don't know about anybody else, but I've completely lost who's bloody saying what by this point.

I like it, I don't know why but I like the visual.

Someone should totally work a couple of parrots into one of these books.

Re mugging, interesting. More recently it was a word that back in the 70s the tabloids used as code for "theft by a black man" because it carried overtones of violence and they wanted all the good white folk to be fearful.

<guffaws loudly before slipping away>

😂at TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

I like wearing thick socks. In a big room with wooden floors, I think I'm probably padding.

I also have just this morning handled some buttery soft leather gloves.

I need to have a word with myself.

😅

@oakleaffy People dis Jilly Cooper but she's a beautiful writer - there's a reason why her books have survived this long despite problematic characters and storylines.
I couldn't get on with Jane Austin. I tried, but god, she's dull! Maybe I'm ruined because I was raised on a diet of dodgy mills&boon!

Deadringer
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 was just waiting for this as soon as I read Post🤣

Eating anything "with gusto"
Just no

Anyone with rheumy eyes can fuck off.

Just reminds me of dirty old men. Smoky & unshaven. Urgh.

There are rheumy eyes all over the place in pat Barker novels.

Shame because I do like those books otherwise.

I pad around the bedroom every night whilst brushing my teeth. Not very romantic tbh

Yes! Ha, this made me laugh, via Twitter

Male writers writing female characters:

“Cassandra woke up to the rays of the sun streaming through the slats on her blinds, cascading over her naked chest. She stretched, her breasts lifting with her arms as she greeted the sun. She rolled out of bed and put on a shirt, her nipples prominently showing through the thin fabric. She breasted boobily to the stairs, and titted downwards.”

Jo

Always drives me crackers when the bloke does that. Why would he start cooking when you're still in bed asleep and why would the smell wake you up not the clattering of pans? Plus what if you were saving the bacon to make a quiche lorraine later and now he's fucked up your food plans?!

Totally agree about the "padding" and "slipping" I have just given up on a book (sorry I can't remember the title or the author so you could avoid it) None of the characters seemed able to pick something up normally, everything was "grabbed". She/he grabbed the car keys, a cardigan, a coffee, a tantrumming small child, the nearest blunt instrument etc etc. It seemed very bad mannered to me...

I tend to flip and flop everywhere, never pad!

Haven’t read the thread because I have respect for my blood pressure. Have we nibbled anything yet? I have sometimes refused to carry on reading because someone has nibbled instead of eating something properly.

I definitely pad across carpet. I also pad on hard floors in sheepskin slippers.

Also come to think of it, I frequently trip down the stairs, although “gaily” is never the right adverb.
Despairingly, clumsily, wildly, noisily, unhappily… this sort of thing. Not to mention turning the air blue with invective and wailing.

Don’t try Hilary Mantel then.🤓

Hate padding so much.

Also every kitchen has a scrubbed pine table and mismatched crockery or furniture. Irritates me immensely.