I don't want to ruin every book you're going to read from now, but have you noticed they all have the word

[Cify]

Detritus.... in therm?

And now I've noticed it I can't stop seeing the word in everything I read.

And yet I've never heard a single friend complaining about the detritus in their kitchen.

Please tell me I'm not alone? Do you notice certain words or phrases (that people don't actually say in real life) being used over and over again in novels?

Well you don’t need to mention Adrenalin at all - Tolstoy wrote some good battle scenes without Adrenalin coursing anywhere.

I'm going to be constantly noticing these now! I read one where the narrators mother "bared her teeth in a smile" all the time, like some kind of manic hyena

sometimes you want to mention adrenaline

That’s just it: a very high percentage of genre fiction authors want to mention adrenaline. It comes up in thrillers, romances, sagas ... just like the narrowed eyes, it’s overused.

< awards ScribblyGum the Nobel Prize for Literature >

Also YES, livefornaps. Every single fanfic ever written has, by law, to include the phrase "he let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding". I have to suppress the urge to shout BINGO whenever it appears.

everyone (female) blushes.
I dont think Ive ever seen an adult blush but happens in every book I read

If you ever read Mills & Boons, a story is not complete without the word, 'Sardonic'. 'His sardonic jaw clenched....'.

ScribblyGum et al: I eagerly await your forthcoming book.

I haven't noticed a lot of detritus, but I have just finished a book with a lot of padding around, which was fine because the person doing the padding was a werecat.

"Huffed a sigh" is my least favourite. It's surprising how often that turns up in urban fantasy books.

I think you lot might enjoy Robin Ince's "Bad Book Club".

I think detritus is a sadly underused word. I’ll have to remember it the next time I complain about untidiness

Biting their lip. People always bite their lip. Just the one, mind

^ this, though - I’d assumed this was a literal description of someone either biting their top lip or biting their bottom lip? It’s difficult to bite both lips at the same time.

I can only think of Detritus the troll in Discworld when I see that word.

Desultory

People always doing something in a desultory manner.

There is one author in particular who never talks about coffee, it's always java or something equally pretentious.
Coffee is always really strong too.
I want to invite him round and offer him instant

The phrase I always notice ‘and yet’ - Joanne Harris uses it a lot.

Women in crime fiction always step out of showers, throw on jeans and a sweater and pull their hair back into a simple pony tail.

Why is a cup of tea always 'amber liquid' ?!

I’m reading a book at the moment, and have read about three different characters ‘rheumy eyes’. It’s really jumping out at me.
I’m only about a third of the way through, wonder if they’ll be any more?!?

Love this thread! I am obviously reading the wrong kinds of books...
When I was a child, I always used to wonder how the Famous Five managed to munch on their sandwiches, as my sandwich-eating never produced a munching sound. I was very jealous of their munchable sarnies...
Now I think it would just drive me bonkers, like pretty much everything else about the famous five.

Mealy. That's what I do. I'm generally considered a bit of a scruff :o

She 'scraped her hair back into a ponytail'as opposed to what?

Not specific to literature but "garment" is a word that is only ever exists written down. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say it in conversation.

I once went to a hotel that had such lovely thick carpet that I thought 'this must be what they mean by padding' so perhaps they all have lovely luxurious carpet ;)

Someone mentioned all the Outlander books containing the word 'alacrity' and now I keep seeing it everywhere. People keep doing things with alacrity. I don't even know how to say it 😂

Oh and someone replies 'acidly'

I think it means she was rude. Always a female.

@MorrisZapp
You mean ç ?
The sign underneath is used in French, it means you pronounce aper-s-u and not aper-k-u.