Sister Erica Of the Banned Word
Did you see this??? I laughed my banned word for rear end off.
Now, there is no way I could ban curse words. I feel a well-placed banned word is sometimes the ONLY word for certain situations. I like my curse words. A lot.
But as a writer? As an editor?
My list would include the bland--pretty, nice, handsome, lovely, beautiful, etc.
My list would also likely include plenty of adverbs.
And then the qualifiers. Very, really, very much, so much, a lot, sort of, kind of, etc.
So . . . any words make your list?
14 comments:
I would have liked her! I'm guilty of using 'very' way too much in the blog I just wrote, LOL. But I swear and promise I never use it in my fiction. Same goes with 'really.'
Just yesterday, I was reading something and came across the word(s?) per se. What exactly does that word mean? It's like a rhythm thing or something. It's like a non-word.
(Should we add 'like' to that list, too?)
I think it all depends on the narrator, Erica. Holden Caufield, for example, probably uses every word you mentioned.
I would never try to ban other writers from using whatever words they felt necessary to express themselves, but I personally choose to not use the N-word and the C-word.
And, my hat's off to Lee Child for writing a popular hardboiled series (the Jack Reacher novels) without using ANY curse words. He shows us it can be done, and done quite well.
Spy:
Yeah, we can ban per se. ;-)
My Baby Girl is fond of the "air quotes" with all sorts of words.
E
Jude:
This was all in fun. If Salinger wanted to use the word "jackass" a thousand times, I'd still buy his book. ;-)
E
Hmmm. Jackass...
That wasn't a Freudian slip, was it? ;)
Jude:
Might be.
;-)
E
Hmmmm... This is a tough one because I can't think of any words I'd ban off the top of my head. Use sparingly, perhaps. ;-) My curse words are a different story. Take those from me...and it's on.
Skitter.
This word disturbs me and I don't know why.
I see no reason to ban a word simply because it is misused. Blame the writer not the word.
I've learned not to trust anyone who uses the word "paradigm" or hides body parts in the refrigerator.
marcia:
A woman after my own heart. ;-)
E
Hi Heather:
Sometimes there are words that are great--like skitter, or for me, akimbo--but they make you stop because their usage is so rare, I think.
E
ewoh:
Good point, Father Ewoh.
E
stephen:
I LOVE the word paradigm. As for body parts . . . my fridge is my business. :-)
E
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