Some Words Are Uglier Than Others (or the OCD thread)

edwinmahadi · Feb 23, 2015

Hey? Have you guys ever found yourself hating on and refusing to use certain words, and would do all you can so they don't appear anywhere in your writing?

Mine would be any short word ending with the letter 'T', for example, it, fast, just, put, wet, cat (sometimes this is unavoidable), bat, hat. I hate seeing them in my manuscript and I edit them out (something about 'out' doesn't annoy me, though) or find ways to spin them around so I could say stuff like its, faster, kitten, drenched, bats, the stuff on heads. The only T's I can manage are contractions of 'not', for example, can't, won't, don't as the apostrophe sort of saves the word (notice I didn't wrote 'it' here) from being a total pain.

Also I hate seeing any word that has X or Z, and I can't for the life of me write down and keep: export, zest, Zachary, exodus, extract (a word I wish was never made). I can do with 'existential' as the x is so far submerged by the other words, but not 'exist'.

Do you find the same problem when writing or editing your drafts? And do you feel that it's a blessing (as it improves creativity) or a curse (as it makes things all the bloody difficult)?

JHFC · Feb 23, 2015

Yes, there are certain words I just hate, for no reason.

Fatigue is one. I also tend to hate any description of food that is sensual, for some reason. Decadent, juicy, savory, etc. just drives me up a wall.

I don't think it affects my creativity either way.

Lissibith · Feb 23, 2015

Hm. Not really. The only time I get bugged by a certain word is when I realize I'm using it too much in a particular work.

Katharine Tree · Feb 23, 2015

There are very few, and I think they're all associated with overuse on the internet. "Whilst" and "whatnot" are the two that easily come to mind.

I came in here ready to point out the historical tendency for words derived from French to be preferred by English speakers with pretentions. They generally do sound prettier than their Anglo-Saxon counterparts.

Jamesaritchie · Feb 23, 2015

Tazlima · Feb 23, 2015

I don't have an aversion to any particular words because of its sound. However, I do have one word I've purposely avoided throughout my WIP. You see, my MC's name is "Shadow" (There's a plot-driven reason for the weird name. I know it sounds super-cheesy).

Anyway I've avoided using the word "shadow" anywhere else in the MS. This is primarily to avoid dopey-sounding repetition (i.e. "Shadow looked at his shadow"), or risk creating similes with an unintentional double meaning ("So-and-so moved as silently as a shadow"). It also eliminates the risk of confusion as to whether the subject of a sentence is the character or an actual shadow.

It's only a very minor nuisance, but a nuisance nonetheless. I'd hate to have a whole list of words to avoid.

DadofSnorf · Feb 23, 2015

There are certain words that drive me crazy, but they drive me crazy because of the way they sound. So I generally have no problem writing them, since I don't have to listen to someone say them.

Tazlima said:
I don't have an aversion to any particular words because of its sound. However, I do have one word I've purposely avoided throughout my WIP. You see, my MC's name is "Shadow" (There's a plot-driven reason for the weird name. I know it sounds super-cheesy).

It's not weird or cheesy. Shadow was one of the main characters in American Gods, a book I happen to love. So there.

Neegh · Feb 23, 2015

Why would I hate a word?

What the hell did it ever do to me?

Viridian · Feb 23, 2015

I hate the word "horny."

There needs to be a sexier word for that.

"Aroused" sounds too clinical.

Katharine Tree · Feb 23, 2015

ViridianChick said:
I hate the word "horny."

There needs to be a sexier word for that.

"Aroused" sounds too clinical.

Horngry.

The beast is hooorrrnnnnngry. *rawr*

Needful?

Neegh · Feb 23, 2015

"OoOOoo Baby, I'm feeling so goatish tonight.

"I am in the mood for the Lewd."

"There's just no way else to say it...I'm as concupiscent as hell."

"Dammit woman! Let me in I'm. Can't you see I'm in full rut."

"What to be prurient with me baby?"

Hmm...

Nope. They just don't have the ring that: "Me so horny" has.

BenPanced · Feb 23, 2015

Because I know it bothers some more than others:

OINTMENT

WriterDude · Feb 23, 2015

No. Can't think of any words that i might avoid while writing. But the one word I have become weary of is 'lump'. Would happily never see or hear that one again.

Makeshift Bubbles · Feb 23, 2015

I've always hated the word "incredulous" (and "credulous" too, to a slightly lesser extent).

Debbie V · Feb 23, 2015

I also have a character named Shadow, a secondary antagonist. It's not the name his mama gave him, but I don't know his real name. I don't think his wife knows his real name. His daughter doesn't.

Lhowling · Feb 23, 2015

Katharine Tree said:
Horngry.

The beast is hooorrrnnnnngry. *rawr*

Needful?

I like that! I'm going to work horngry into my vocabulary!

Yeah, I don't hate on words. That said, I may replace certain words in a sentence or paragraph if it doesn't flow the way I like. But that's more of a dislike for the sound of the word than a hatred for the word itself.

Sonsofthepharaohs · Feb 23, 2015

ViridianChick said:
I hate the word "horny."

There needs to be a sexier word for that.

"Aroused" sounds too clinical.

I dunno, in the right context, horny can be quite sexy. Depends how it's said and by whom, but I can think of a couple of times when this word has done some serious damage to my composure

Katharine Tree said:
Horngry.

The beast is hooorrrnnnnngry. *rawr*

Needful?

Bwahahahahaha! Not sure whether he wants to ravish her or eat her, but that could provide some extra tension in the right* kind of scene, lol!

* I mean wrong, obviously

I can't recall any specific words I hate, or at least I couldn't until someone posted this:

DadofSnorf said:

God, I detest that word, in all its guises and contexts... :ban

Roxxsmom · Feb 23, 2015

I don't generally hate specific words for how they sound, but there are some I dislike in certain contexts, or maybe I associate them with certain icky things.

One word I've always disliked because of its association is "panties." Not sure why, but it always makes me think of archetypal dirty old men leering at little girls. Ew.

BenPanced · Feb 23, 2015

BenPanced said:
Because I know it bothers some more than others:

OINTMENT

DadofSnorf said:

jjdebenedictis · Feb 23, 2015

It's actually a really odd idea to me, to dislike a work because of a letter that is in it. To me, that editing-out process seems like it would get in the way of finding exactly the right word for a given sentence. I.e. the connotations of a word are what I'm trying to be most sensitive to, not the spelling.

However, the opposite case makes perfect sense to me. When someone says they like a word because of a letter in it, I can relate. For example, the word "Kodak" was made up by someone who loved the way the letter 'k' looks and sounds.

Kodak, kodak, kodak -- yep, I get it! That is a great-sounding word. So while I'm confused by the idea of filtering out words on the basis of their spelling, latching onto them on the basis of their spelling is something I can grok.

blacbird · Feb 23, 2015

Jamesaritchie said:
No.

Echo this.

I want my toolbox to contain as many tools as exist.

caw

Tepelus · Feb 23, 2015

I hate the word "selfie". It sounds childish and it drives me up the wall.

atombaby · Feb 23, 2015

Moist, my most highly hated word. Onomatopoeias usually don't bother me but that word just... who thought of that word. The French, actually. It's a combination of mucus and and moldy, how grotesque.

... alteration (influenced by Latin musteus, juicy) of Vulgar Latin *muscidus, alteration of Latin mūcidus, moldy, from mūcus, mucus

Most words with oi make me shudder, in fact.

blacbird · Feb 23, 2015

atombaby said:
Most words with oi make me shudder, in fact.

Well, that's your choice.

caw

BenPanced · Feb 23, 2015

A scandal is named by taking the subject of said scandal (recently, there was discussion about footballs being deflated before use in a tournament or something, so we'll go with "deflate") and tacking "-gate" at the end because Watergate. History, doomed, repeat.

Some Words Are Uglier Than Others (or the OCD thread)

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