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?

I've read far too many books where the main character is a 20-something woman called Maddie who works in London, does yoga and ends up with a different man than the one you are supposed to expect. Also why are all books about women in rural areas actually about homesick Londoners who moved to the Cotswolds to open a tea shop, but don't like mud?

Almost as bad as estate agents and their ‘oozing’ I don’t want my house ooze anything, not even fucking charm!

CaptainNelson I have a completely unreasonable, utterly disproportionate hatred of the word "munch". I especially hate it when it's used in this type of sentence: "I gave my LO a bit of toast to munch". (I also hate LO but that's a different thread.)

Someone is always languidly doing somethinf.

Women seem to be forever getting into a bath in the books I’ve read recently.

And every cup of tea/coffee they have has to be sipped because of course the liquid is scalding hot .....

Have you noticed how the baddie always gives a wolfish grin before sloping away?

Arching, lifting, raising a quizzical ... my most hated one is ‘quirking’. ‘Janet quirked an eyebrow.’

I had to read this a couple of times as my brain interpreted quirking as twerking

The heroine always steps out of her clothes. Lucky her. Mine are all so tight that I have to wrestle them off

More on products than in books but I can't stand "mouthwatering". It's TMI so makes me feel ill and puts me off the food they're trying to promote.

I always yearn to 'pad'. It sounds like the sort of thing you do in a warm, clean and tidy house while wearing cashmere. No one who 'pads' has to clean up cat sick first thing in the morning.

It always grates when books have two characters eating dinner and the meal is over after a page of dialogue.

Second line of the first page of my new book and someone is padding.

Yes agree padding is aspirational. No one can pad in a kitchen where the floor is slightly sticky

Archery something I hate on here is "for dipping"

I give my toddler houmous, sliced cheese, ham, bread sticks for dipping.

What if they don't want to dip them? Are they allowed to eat them un dipped?

It always grates when books have two characters eating dinner and the meal is over after a page of dialogue.

To be fair, Alistair, if you eat as fast as I do, then a paragraph would do! (I eat like a labrador - it doesn't touch the sides. It's not attractive but it's a difficult habit to get out of.)

Stealth I don't have such a visceral hatred of that one but I can totally see your point.

I finished my latest book earlier today. I noticed all the heroine padding twice after reading this!

I've always loved the word detritus but can't use it in real life because I don't know how to say it

To the PP who was confused by someone (usually a man) talking thickly, in my head it sounds like when you get a frog in your throat and sound a bit odd (DS1 calls it his 'Anastacia' (the singer) voice)

I hate it when people shake their heads to clear their thoughts. No one ever does that. Ever.

Coming back to say that in the proofs I’m working on, someone said something thickly a few pages back (he was drunk) - and now someone else is padding downstairs on bare feet.

I’m repeating myself because I’ve just reported my own post, above - immediately thought better of adding the photo. I don’t think the text could really be identified from that scrap but it feels wrong to have added it...

Fair enough to remove it.

I did notice there was also a dressing gown accompanying the padding! :o

Yes to the shrugging and slipping into clothes. What is it about getting dressed!?

I've also noticed "He shouldered his jacket" quite a few times. WTF?

Completely agree with the PP who mentioned about people eating an entire meal in two pages! I once read a scene in which the main character ( overweight single woman in love with her boss) would buy 2 bacon sandwiches every morning “ four bites and they were gone” Whaaaaat?!
In case you are all dying to know , she lost loads of weight and the boss fell in love with her. A classic.

Ha this thread is brilliant! I have noticed in the last few books I've read that the households all seem to have extremely well-stocked fridges, complete with a bottle of white chilling ready for a glass with dinner, yet at no point does anyone seem to go to the supermarket.

I also hate how the main female character is always clearly meant to be stunningly beautiful yet has no idea - "Jane zipped up her size 8 jeans, frowning as they slipped a little to where her hip bones jutted out. She tried to remember when she last ate a decent meal - last night's oysters and champagne hardly counted. She slipped on a simple cotton T-shirt that skimmed her taut, tanned stomach and a blue jacket that matched her eyes. She quickly brushed her long,thick blonde hair and applied a coat of mascara before sighing at her reflection in the mirror. That would have to do."